Frozen State Reviews

Let's get one thing straight because it doesn't seem like many reviews outright say it. [b] This game is NOT complete.[/b] This game is an example of early access/in development games being released as early access. It's a fun game as far as the crafting/looting loop goes but the combat and the survival aspects are not fun or balanced at all. There's virtually no story from what I understand, aside from the history of the world you are in. There's a computer you talk to at the very beginning that implies there's a nuclear explosion that will go off within a certain amount of time but I have a suspicion that nothing actually happens. The quest system is virtually non existent. I've met NPCs that provide no quests or interaction of any kind(other than killing them and [i]potentially[/i] getting some okay loot. I've also found the bunker several times with a future interaction with the computer, so there's probably some sequence breaking that happens very easily. The skill system is... Okay. There's no stats screen to see damage details, stat degradation, etc. so I can only really assume the skills act as checks(crafting, lock picking) or value increases(damage, sneaking/hearing/vision values, armour, survival stats, resistance) that you literally never see. I find it cool that you have to collect skill points as loot but loot is entirely random in this game so it's really a dice roll on how fast your skills develop. The combat is horrendous, absolutely a mess, clunky as hell. Melee combat has some serious hit detection issues and enemies do way too much melee damage. You can count this as a good thing, except ranged combat is just as bad if not worse. Guns hit you immediately and that makes sense but enemy projectiles(e.g. monster spitting at you) has hit detection issues too. If you strafe, you can't dodge them(I've tested this at the max range of the gaunts and mothers, it doesn't work) because the projectiles move too fast. However, if you [b]sprint[/b] in either direction, you can avoid the projectiles. The caveat to this is that the movement while sprinting is like a bike, you can't turn on the spot so you end up slowly turning as you move forwards. Basically, it's impossible to sprint to dodge and then recover. You'll just end up getting hit. Not to mention there's this weird thing with the AI where they'll just stand in one place and point-blank shoot projectiles at you. You can't block the projectiles so it means you're absolutely fucked - At least you can avoid [i]some[/i] attacks. This becomes a HUGE issue when you are being attacked by several ranged enemies at a time, especially humans with guns. You can go down within a second from two gun bursts at once. The attack speed doesn't change between weapons either, despite there being an attack speed stat. Most important point, that there's a fucking missing feature of ATTACK SPEED. I'm convinced armour stats don't even do anything too. Ammo is rare but even if you manage to get a gun, which is absolutely required to mow down all enemies with easy, the durability goes down very quickly, infinitely faster than melee weapons. I tested this out myself with a pistol, although it might change between different guns, and the durability goes down by 2 per shot. A machine gun with durability of 400 won't last very long at all, and weapon parts are very rare. Uh... I dunno what else to add to this review. The graphics are okay? The creature design is amazing. The sound/music is basically nonexistent with exception to like 2 or 3 monster sounds, gun sounds, melee sounds, weather sounds, and other misc. sounds. Originally I had this idea to list all of the bugs, exploits, and incomplete/unbalanced features of this game but the list literally wouldn't fit within the character limit even if I used no bullet points or spaces. Would I recommend this game? Fuck no. Is it fun? It is if you, like me, grew up with shit-tier games and are used to the absolute trash side that the gaming industry has to offer. I especially recommend this game if you, like me, wasted your money on it. I don't recommend this game overall because it's a buggy unbalanced mess and it's clearly abandoned. The developers don't deserve your money. EDIT: Also, if an enemy attacks you while you're in a car, you lose health. Hi-lar-i-ous. EDIT 2: So, I have played a lot more because I want to fully explore the map. The game is still terrible. I haven't unlocked any crafting recipes so I assume everything you start with is all you got, which leaves out information on how to create moonshine, for example. One you get the car, I'd argue the game becomes more convenient but it doesn't become easier to play or understand. It just means you can loot more, travel faster, and funny enough use it as bait for enemies as [i] every single enemy[/i] [b]INCLUDING ALLY/FRIENDLY ENEMIES[/b] are attracted to the car when it's on, which results in a battle royale between humans, monsters, and animals. Once you get a ton of guns, the game becomes only slightly easier but gun durability runs out very quickly and unless you're hoarding ammo 99% of the time and only using melee/traps/explosives, you'll run out very quickly. The only time I felt confident in my ammo amount was an early run where I managed to find a corpse with like 20k bullets. I haven't found anything like that before and I assume it's a bug. Also, I made a mistake by saying there is virtually no story. There is a story but it boils down to fixing your Explorer truck, which needs 3 parts. If you focus solely on that, the game is potentially only a few hours, max. EDIT 3: Final edit, but the armour doesn't change the appearance of your character, either. Missed opportunity 100%. Game is a mess and it's overall trash. I'm only playing it because waste not want not, right? I bought it, might as well play it. I'm getting my god damn money's worth out of this.

After I play this game, I'm absolutely into it. Every night I dreamed of the game. Last night I was 'playing Frozen State' while I was sleeping. I just wanted to save and quit it. The developers creat terrifying and haunting atmosphere within the game, and make the players totally obsessed with the atmosphere of horror they create. I'm a girl and living alone. It is too scaring to play at night. I can't withdraw from it in my real life. Every night I ended up with nightmares＝0＝

Very interesting game! I looked for a topdown survival game and i found "Frozen State"... The first hours were very very creepy! "Alone in the dark cold citiy of duga 40. Leaving the start shelter, looking for some fresh water and something to eat. The wind howls around me. The sun goes down - darkness and deep frost makes me sick... no shelter...by the last sun i see a small datscha - a shelter for the night?....fu** where are the matches?" This could be your first experiance with this game. I was really excited! So some opinions about the devs and the game: Devs: + Fast replying at steam if there are issiues with an update + Updates come ca one eath month + Are very interested in the players suggestions and opinions - At the moment nohing bad to tell about them ;D Game: + Creepy athmospehre + Nice setting ( i like metro etc) + Interessting crafting and skill system + Many things to loot + Nice hearing and stealth system + You can travel on a map like fallout 1, your char lost heat, drinking etc + Easy to die, when you play like rambo...solid snake is the better way ;O) + Build own shelter and fortifications - crafting is at an very primitive level, basic things to craft only - no npc quest system - only a small part of the card can be travelled - low content for playing longer - only three hybrid enemies I thing these would be a great game! There are many things to do ... i will play the alpha and would be happy for each new content they made. Play in progress, alpha version - when you accept this and like survival - just try ;D

A complex and unforgiving survival horror game with a pretty sophisticated crafting system, huge loot diversity and interesting horror setting. However, some serious gameplay flaws related to the awkward camera controls and clunky melee combat mechanics can make the game unnecessarily difficult at some moments. "Large open world" as stated in the official description is a little misleading because the province where you are placed in is in fact divided into a rather small self-contained and procedurally generated locations which are accessible only via fast travel map or special transit zones which initiate new level loading when you enter them (just like in Fallout 1 and 2), One aspect I personally highly dislike here is the lack of any character appearance customisation - [b] it doesn't matter you're wearing a warm coat and ushanka or a light jacket with gasmask and backpack equipped, you always look the fucking same ! :< [/b]. I don't have to even tell this one alone makes the game look totally unbaked despite of the fact it already has left the Early Access. However despite all mentioned critical flaws I still recommend this title while discounted mainly because it has a great post-apocalyptic atmosphere in wintery scenery and really terrifying otherworldly foes. If you are S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series and Carpenter "The Thing" movie fan then you should feel at home while playing "Frozen State". Overall rating: 6/10

*Early Alpha Review* Frozen State - Released in early Alpha today 7/1/14 I believe this game has a lot of potential and I am excited to see where the dev team will take it. My first playthrough I survived roughly 70 minutes. A brief tutorial gets you going with the basics and throughout my playthrough I found myself bringing up the Manual to check things such as crafting and whatnot. GAMEPLAY: In Frozen State's current 'state' do NOT expect a run and gun zombie killing game. I found it to be much more of a survival of the elements and finding safe places to sleep, cook food and stay warm. Most of my time was spent going from house to house looking through cupboards and bedrooms for useful items to either drink, eat or cook with. Building fires is absolutely necessary to stay alive along with finding safe places to sleep. As if surviving the subarctic tempurature isn't difficult enough, there are zombie-like creatures scattered thoughout the game. You start with a Nagant 7.62R pistol and an axe, the enemies (two varients that I have found so far) are not the most difficult to kill but I found myself avoiding them like the plague just because I was dying a slow death trying to stay alive without dealing with them. AUDIO/VIDEO: Both could use a little bit of work. I don't need my games, personally, to be the shiniest thing int he world but the visuals could maybe use some work. Noticed some animations were missing and some, like the flashlight I found, were really impressive adding to the overall atmosphere. Audio was OK, nothing to write home about at this point. In the end, I was freezing to death, getting hungry and becoming dehydrated. I was out at night during a snowstorm searching for safe shelter where I could build a fire and sleep. I stumbled across a huge building, I think it was a school, went it and went upstairs looking for either a bed or bathtub. I could hear creatures walking around and it was almost pitch black in the building so I had to move by flashlight and focus in on sounds. (You can hold "C" to focus on noises, I thought this was a really cool feature adding to the survival-horror feel) Was killed by a creature that walked on four legs, reminded me of the 'Licker' from a Resident Evil game. All in all, I really think this is what survival horror is about. Excellent dark, gritty and isolated-survival aspects. Needs a lot of work but so far so good. They have a lot of content planned and I can only see good things for Frozen State. Worth the $10? Yeah, help the dev team out with your feedback and I believe we will all be well rewarded in the end. Enjoy! *Edit: " I stumbled across a huge building, I think it was a school..." Literally. I found a few bottles of Port Wine and was #$%*ing wasted.

It's an interesting game, but the crafting and building is very limited. You can only build around 15 structures, craft around 10 weapons, and make maybe 50+ various inventory items. You can find interesting things from time to time, but even that isn't great. If you manage to kill someone with a gun don't expect to pick up their gun. More often than not it will not appear. Game just doesn't feel complete. Feels early access. There are a lot of cool things that this game does that few other games do. I can see the appeal. I think all the issues with this game could be resolved with the steam workshop, so if the devs started supporting mods I think the community could do everything the devs didn't have the time(?) to do.

This game is just way to clunky and bland to be sold at its current stage. The combat is absolutely horrible to the point of it being impossible as there is no way to dodge attacks. This might as well have been a turn based game with how slow and unavoidable the combat can be. Some people may like a harsh and unforgiving game, but when the game is hard due to the lack of gameplay polish it borderlines annoying. If you can overlook clunky controls, movement, combat, and gameplay then give it a try. Im sure there is a good game hidden under this pile of rugged garbage but it should never have been moved to the "released" stage.

At first, it was quite challenging to survive in the cold, harsh winter of Siberia. From hunger to thirst, I was searching for better weapons, armor, and loot while avoid/sneaking by mutants(can get pretty tense). Weapon ammo is scarce in the beginning so avoiding enemies is probably best. Had to move out of my safe house so I can travel farther into the randomly-generated, open-world map without wasting any more resources. From there, it wasn't as hard as before but still alot to do and explore. Character level-up is included. Crafting is very useful too. I can build my own wooden cabin with torches all around and a workbench to craft even more stuff. Sorry, no hand-holding here but you can use the ingame manual or actually die/learn like I did. The atmosphere makes me feel like I'm in The Thing (1982), which is one of my favorite horror movie. This game kinda reminds me of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games with the hard difficulties, creepiness, and loot except S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is more polished obviously. EDIT: Love how some of the negative reviews say this game is too hard... This game is one of my fav indie games for sure. Not everyones cup of tea. Tip: Alt -F4 if you're about to die lol and play on normal so you can respawn

What can be said for a game like Frozen State? A lot. It's a great game in that it's genuinely tense. The stakes are high and you can't just reset the gambles you make. I have been playing it since, I think about the first month it came to Steam, and it has changed dramatically. When I first bought it, I was afraid at first, it would be the same generic kind of survival game that has been washing up on the shores of Steam like rotten flotsam. Frozen State is like a big, ice coated barge crashing into the shore and unleashing a horde of the undead onto your normal beach going day. I have some key things to say about it. The first is that I survived 20 days. That is my current maximum. I found the Mansion, and it was there I died. Word of warning? Humans Aren't your friend. But I did find a car, and by god, that was the most satisfying feeling on the planet to be able to avoide the Piercers, Jackals, Widows and other horrible monsters occupying the wastelands. I could explore so much easier and take a nice deep breath knowing I had a moment of peace. I expect the developers will eventually take the feature of beaing safe in a car, away, but if I could ask them not to, it would make playing the game in the future so much easier. The game is like the era of Playstation 2 horror titles like the Silent Hill series, it's filled with suspense. Every action you do could give you away or get you killed if you aren't careful. I would even say this is a tougher game than Don't starve and I Love how ruthless that game is. I hope for so much of this game, and that's why I delayed my initial review but as it stands, this game is WORTH your 10 dollars. It is Worth your time. The game is hard, which it should be. It's survival horror and it places a hard pitch on the actual survival aspect. If I hadn't been stupid? I could have gone on for probably close to another 30 days with the supplies I found, but one wrong decision, one wrong choice and you're done. Example? I had gotten to the point to use a series of molotovs and had 6 fistfuls of fire to chuck at Reapers in one of the houses and I was an idiot and caught myself on fire. The heat, the sound, it drew the Jackals and I booked it like a mad man back to my car just to slather Stas in Burn Ointment to compensate for my own recklessness. I barely escaped, but I did by the skin of my teeth. On a technical level I will give a moderate review as follows: Graphics: Appropriate - It could be better, but I understand the level and it's satisfactory. I can see things, I know what stuff is. I can make out details and it does the job more than enough. Difficulty: Hard - This isn't Minecraft. This isn't Don't Starve. This is a hard game with definite rules and hard physics in play. Sure you can carry 13 logs in your inventory, but the point is that you need to be careful and cutthroat with what you have and what you take. You can't just plop down some bricks or garbage and block your enemy and you are lucky if outrun your enemies. Don't expect an easy start. Gameplay: Stern but fair - This sounds like a difficulty but as mentioned in the previous sections of this review, this game is about what you are willing to do and how careful you are to prepare for the Icepocalypse surrounding you. It is fun, sneaking past your enemies, hoping to god their cone doesn't spot you so you can get home, getting your base built, HAVING A GUN (with limited bullets) SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO MELEE ENGAGE; all these aspects are some of the rewarding elements to it. Being lucky and being careful are the greatest measure a player can have aside from their own preparedness. Current Cons and suggestions: Character progression is hard. I wish the developers would consider giving you some of the Level-Up Pills every 5, to 10, to 15 days. I have had such a hard run of the game because I couldn't become tougher in-game, only smarter in how I play. I wish you could make matches out of gunpowder or maybe use infected meat to make like tallow or some kind of grease to make some kind of natural igniter. Maybe a lantern not like the flashlight you can build out of scrap metal that you can place would be nice. If there were anything else, right now that I could ask for? Maybe either the ability to armor plate your car with scrap metal or maybe a scrap metal sword or knife so you can make a spear or have something other than the nailed club or axes to kill stuff with. Overall opinion: The game is hard, it's like squeezing water from rocks, but when you get it together it can be so much fun. And while I appreciate the game being hard, as it should be, I wish that the guy I killed at the Manor had dropped at least his axe. All he dropped was bedsheets. To bandage my bitch ass up. Beginners tips? Stones can be thrown as distraction items to lure enemies away. Behind your house is an underground silo thing that you can access in the back-left corner, usually in there are the thermometer and watch. Sometimes a bed and a workbench. It usually has a plethora of goodies in it. Crafting will be your biggest ally as some of the weapons you make are invaluable, and you need to upgrade it to make your armor and weapons better. ALWAYS CARRY SPARE FIRES AND MATCHES and when you find an extra sleeping bag? That also. Trying to upgrade your weapons can cause them to break. I lost my starting axe and a double barreled shotgun this way. Upgrades are always a gamble. Buy it out of 10.

Simplistic and brutal, I wanted to like it. I really did. While the zombie/monster genres are oversaturated, this game adds something relatively rare. Far from being a hack and slash game or a bullet-fest, it's a survival game set in the aftermath of the apocalypse. Graphics: I've seen worse, but thats not a compliment. it's not deliberately retro, nor is it polished. It looks low budget, which to my knowledge is an accurate description of the game in general. If you can live with that, as I could, then this should not be a problem. Gameplay: The trailers conjured up images of a snowy, immersive, single player version of the free MMO 'Dead Frontier'. If you're looking for that or thinking that way, stop; Despite the similar graphical style, this is not it. Controls feel a little awkward but manageable, but, dodging seems virtually useless as enemy reach is well beyond their visible attack radius, and well beyond your dodge movement. Instead, avoid engagements if at all possible. This is a strategy game at its heart, and if you try to treat it any other way, you'll be disappointed. The game is made up of a series of smallish incongruent maps rather than a more traditional 'open world', whether seamless (like skyrim, excluding interior cell loading) or seperated by a loading screen (like Dead frontier). The stealth is fun, if you're looking for a game where you are to creep around places trying not to engage in combat, then this may scratch your itch. Though it is a top-down game, your view is limited by your character's ability to hear or see. In turn, the monsters must sense you before they will attack. Moving slowly helps as does the skill that lets you listen closely to what's around you, allowing you to sense movement (through a visual effect). Bullets seem hard to come by initially, and the monsters are bullet sponges, so save what you have for a special occasion. Melee seems virtually useless too. You may kill one of the less dangerous monsters, but you'll probably be nearly dead by the time you kill them. The AI on the monsters is simplistic and breaks immersion, it is all too easy to evade them in a chase by utilzing their poor pathing to escape. Seeing as many of them are quite capable of killing you quickly, it felt like exploiting their AI is the easiest way to succeed sometimes. If you're making a brutal game, it should be even harder to exploit a game mechanic that's presumably working as intended, otherwise the player could begin to feel that they could easily get out of the situation but must instead choose to die for the game to play as it should. Sound: Simplistic, unimpressive, but functional. Overall: Most of the problems, bugs, and under-developed ideas would be forgivable for an early access game. However, this game is considered to be in a 'released' state, and overall, I cannot recommend it.