Frozen Cortex

[quote][b]Warning: Broken Game![/b] This game has design/implementation defects that will render this unplayable for many gamers. The game does not launch on updated builds of Windows 10/11, it crashes to desktop instead. The developer is aware of the problem and apart from glibly suggesting to run the game as admin (this doesn't work), they refuse to take any action to fix the broken software. They know it's broken. They refuse to fix it. They persist in trying to scam gamers into buying it by leaving it on the Steam store.[/quote] Frozen Cortex is an older game from 2014. It's a venerable 10 years old at the time of this review. It was supposed to be a "sports" strategy game set in the Frozen Synapse non-universe, with procgen playing fields and competitive ladders. Think of it as a very poor ripoff of Blood Bowl only more sci-fi. And broken. And abandoned by both players and the developers. But wait until you see how much money they want you to pay for this. As a pure PvP gaming experience, it failed. SteamDB shows the game hit all-time peak player numbers just after launch, with only a tiny 303 concurrent users, which is a pitiful number for a PvP game on Steam (just take a look at how many people are playing CS2 right now), and now the game has practically no players, with nobody playing at all, just one or two people logging on every week or so then quickly deleting the game when they see how bad it is. Why did it fail? It's video game autopsy time! The developers made the terrible mistake of launching a multiplayer only game in Early Access. This is almost certain to kill the game. Most gamers will evaluate a game only once. If they do so when the game is incomplete, they will check it out, then abandon it (just like the developers did). When (IF) the game eventually does get around to release, there will be no players, because the developers burned the first impressions through their faulty Early Access experience. Players who saw the game and didn't like it because it was incomplete [i]do not come back[/i]. Multiplayer games must have a large population if they are to go "viral" and succeed, especially without single player content to fall back on. Releasing a multiplayer only game into early access kills the game population, and thus the game, before the game even launches. The developers made the fatal, lazy mistake of believing that PvP, other players, would be an acceptable substitute for doing the difficult job of adding single player level design, storytelling, NPCs and other rich aspects of designed game content to the game. As a result of this choice by the developers, the game has little to no actual interactive game content. It's a little considered fact that the vast majority of PvP only, multiplayer only games [b]fail[/b]. Developers must learn that other players are not an acceptable substitute for doing the job of game developers and building a game filled with content. PvP only games must have a [b]huge[/b] player base for them to "go viral" and succeed. But with no single player experience to add lasting value to a game, the developers instead chose to bet against all odds that their game would "go viral" without any actual reason for players to want to play the game. Predictably, they lost this bet. Unethically, the developers have left this on the Steam store in an unplayable and broken state. It's the responsibility of the developer to maintain their product, ensure it runs on all modern PCs, or if they determine there's defects and the game doesn't work, they should remove it from sale instead of misleadingly trying to scam gamers into buying knowingly defective products. This is harmful to Steam and to gamers, not just because it's a direct and intentional attempt to scam people, but because it takes a share of the marketing space and visibility away from other games. It's polluting Steam and making it harder for gamers to find genuine games and for genuine indie developers who put months or years into making proper games find an audience. So, should you buy this game? Is this one of the best of the 100,000+ games on Steam? The developer is deliberately and unethically trying to scam gamers into paying them the farcical price of $25 USD for a game they know is broken. But wait, there's more... there's a ridiculous amount of DLC and "premium" tiers... these scamemrs want ONE HUNDRED UNITED STATES DOLLARS for the full version of a game that they know can't be played. This is a scam. Don't give it to them. For comparison, the $100 asking price for this 10 year old game could get you pretty much any other AAA game on Steam, or dozens of older AAA games. What a joke. Valve should implement a QA regime to protect gamers from this kind of thing.

Incomplete. Abandoned.

the game is nice, but it feels repetitive, there's not too much depth. Also MP requires a third party account

Tactical Football with some epic animations. Not your usual 100 yard field but its got a lot play and strategies required. Each player has a team 7 AI, that you control alone. Strength and weakness that need to be covered and used with your judgement. Predict where the enemy will go or try to intercept. Its astonishing to watch it play out and epic moments to be made.

Loved Frozen Synapse Prime and was excited to give this a try, but the difficulty curve seems way too sharp. Easy games are way too easy, as the opponent pretty much lets your players go wherever they wish. On the other hand, harder games are way too hard, as the computer has a knack for making an impenetrable defensive wall. Really was hoping for a good game out of this. Solid concept, taking the Frozen Synapse strategy-style into a sports game, but the execution just wasn't there (for me, at least).

I think I sat on this game for 2 years now... I guess it seemed kind of complicated. Watched a Northerlion vid the other day of him playing this one. It was a super old vid, but it made me give this game another try. This game is amazing there is so much lore and dare I say realisim in a robot football game. The team manager mode is great. Ever want to bet against yourself to lose and throw the game? You can do that. Ever wonder if a robot can get injured? They can and for a few weeks sometimes. I'd spend more time on this but I really want to get back to it!

Un super petit jeu de stratégie mais : Les + : - Des matchs court - Simple a jouer - Drôle entre amis Les - : - Jeu deserté en Multijoueur - Aussi par les Devs - Quelques bug ( très peu ) En global le jeu est super mais dommage que les Devs le laisse en abandon. A prendre en promotion si vous êtes fan des jeux comme ça !

The concept is cool but in practice it's pretty boring

Pretty much broken. Good idea, weird style. Problem for me: It's completely impossible to "outsmart" the ai. no matter how I position, the AI is always a step ahead. Putting all players to block? AI will throw the ball in some random corner where their player can get fast enough. I can't seem to throw past or over enemies (catch) while they can somehow manage easily. I assume they can perfectly calculate the radius a character can catch in and squeeze it through any gap. My players also seem to always take a while to finally get moving, whereas the ai runs off instantly at the start of the turn. I experimented with movement directions etc but momentum doesnt seem to be a factor. So far I'm expecting a response like: "Yea well you just suck at the game, get over it" but ontop of my personal issues the game crashes constantly. Full replays, match replays and tons of simple menu navigation just flat out crashes the game. The controls are clunky too, which isn't a huge issue with turn based games. Some finer camera adjustments could really help though. Also AI is SLOW. REALLY DAMN SLOW. Sometimes when they are in a disadvantageous position the AI will take several minutes to get ready (and find the one gap in your plan, why do you think they had to calculate for so long) I'm running on an overclocked i5, and nothing else in this game should take up any amount of CPU cycles. Concept looks fun, gameplay isnt - unfortunately

Love the concept. I have been looking for a turn based simultaneous football game forever. Unfortunately this one is plagued by a LOT of problems. For starters, the Tutorial only covers the very basic concepts of the rules. It doesn't explain stats, free agency, positions, equipment, roster management or anything other than "here's how to run and pass." Secondly, the game has some pretty major glitches. Twice now I have had to concede matches because the game completely broke. It kept running the same turn over and over again before finally freezing completely. Thirdly, this ultra-bright neon flashy aesthetic is awful. I knew I would hate it from the screenshots but I didn't realize that it would be eye-watering migraine-inducing bad.