Rock, Paper, Shotgun

I think the singular of synapse should be synap. What do you think? Ah, Saturday is no kind of day to be worrying about those things. This week’s Spotlight On Biscuit sees PC gaming celebutante Total Biscuit talking us through indie tactics sensation Frozen Synapse. It’s been released, you know! 55 mission single player campaign, comprehensive multiplayer, the whole bit. Meanwhile, I’ve been thinking (and eating) my favourite biscuit of all time. What could it be?
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Mode 7′s turn-based yet lightning-quick combat strategy game Frozen Synapse finally got a proper, big-boy release yesterday. A fair chunk of you will have played it already, as it’s been in a purchasable beta form since the beginning of time or thereabouts, but if you’ve not glanced back at it since the early days, you’re in for a meaty treat. In addition to a host of improvements to the UI and multiplayer, the singleplayer elements have worked out far better, and far more substantial than I’d imagined.
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Kieron and Quintin‘s excitement about Mode 7′s Frozen Synapse has been somewhat infectious, which means it’s safe to say there’s rather a lot of people looking forward to the imminent release of the fast-paced simultaneous turn-based action strategy-em-up. It’s so soon! This Thursday! And it’s found itself a publisher in Matrix Games. There’s some new pictures, one of them moving, below.

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“Give me 1,200 words. I’m going to make you pre-order something you’ve never even heard of,” began Kieron’s preview of turn-based tactical squad combat game Frozen Synapse.

If you haven’t read it yet, now’s the time to blow the dust off and take a look. With the game’s release just around the corner, developers Mode 7 have today released the game’s 55 mission single player campaign into the open beta that’s available to all pre-order customers. Yes, fifty five.
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You know what we haven’t talked about for a while? Frozen Synapse – the high-speed tactical strategy game from Oxfordshire developers Mode 7. It takes the spine of X-COM, adds a little procedural generation and tweaks it into something fresh, fast, instant and accessible. And it’s still not been released, despite having been released last year. Oh, “beta,” you beautiful, confusing word, you. I recently caught up with Mode 7′s joint MD Ian Hardingham to find out what’s happened since I last got shot to death in neon freeze-time, what comes next and how they’re planning to make it as strong a singleplayer offering as it is a multiplayer one. It’s an open and entertaining chat, I think, but also includes the worst joke I have ever made in my entire, pitiful life.
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Paris-based indie dev Brain Candy has announced Fray, and by the sounds of things Frozen Synapse will soon have some competition. Fray will be a “turn-based, multiplayer, real-time strategy game” where players issue orders to their squad of four simultaneously, then these actions play out in real time. No screenshots at present, but I have located a couple of positive signs. First, check out this art. You’ll notice it’s labelled “Light Armour”. Light?! Well, okay. And there’s also an entertaining video of the Brain Candy guys making use of the motion capture tech over at Quantic Dreams.
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If indie developers know one thing, it’s how to turn national political warfare into cheap-and-nasty monetization. Mode 7 Games are having 20% off their Frozen Synapse Pre-order (including Beta Access) in their Tactical Voting offer. You can order it here, and need to enter the coupon code WELLHUNG to get the reduction, before 1pm tomorrow. I fear that code’s pandering to my twitter rubbishness. I rambled about Frozen Synapse here, if you don’t remember. In short: Aces! Also, Positech are celebrating the decline of our democratic values with a decline in the prices of their Democracy 2. There’s a massive 50% off today. And now to get drunk and stare at the TV in mounting horror, I suspect.

Give me 1200 words. I’m going to make you pre-order something you’ve never even heard of.
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This excited me when I first heard about it, and excites me even more now that footage has been released and I can see it in motion. Mode 7 Games’ first game Determinance was something which I think most of RPS feel the team over-reached themselves by going full-3D realistic 3D. Frozen Synapse couldn’t be more different. It’s a simultaneous turn-based game with really iconic looking graphics. Think of a non-e-mail-based Laser Squad Nemesis with Introversion’s 80s-neon aesthetic. And if that leaves you confused, the following footage should explain all…
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