Those who have played Frostpunk: Console Edition may struggle to believe that the strategic survival found in the base game could possibly be enhanced, but with the addition of three new expansions for the game, and a Complete Edition which brings everything together as one, we may just have found it.
We reviewed Frostpunk: Console Edition when it released on Xbox One and PS4 back in 2019 and had absolutely no hesitation in awarding it the highest score we could give, dropping the big 5/5 its way and only really being slightly worried that some players could find it a bit tricky.
Now though that same game is being expanded with no less than three new expansion drops which will see the already highly acclaimed city-builder survival sim hit new heights. It won’t be long before they hit home either, with a July 21st launch in hand.
“All expansions had to serve two purposes when we designed them. We wanted to broaden the lore since the game portrays people’s hardship in the fight with nature, and we put a lot of emphasis on narrative, but also introduce new mechanics. We didn’t want to go with delivering more fun that plays almost like the base game approach, and three expansions ended up being distinguishable from the base game but also each other. And we’re happy that console players, at last, have a chance to play them. Thank you for waiting so patiently” – states Kuba Stokalski, Lead Designer of Frostpunk.
The three additions are those of The Last Autumn, On the Edge and The Rifts, with each offering up something slightly different.
It’s The Last Autumn which is the most exciting option in our minds. A prequel story set before the endless snow steers the game’s mood into entirely new territory. Featuring green trees, a ship dock used to obtain resources and a task for players to oversee the rise of the base game’s Generator – a miracle of technology that could save us all – the stakes are high and the deadline is short. You must decide how hard you push your people in a fight to construct a tool that could be humanity’s last hope.
There’s then also On the Edge to enjoy too and this follows the events after the Great Storm and after the ending of the base game. Your mission is to build and maintain an outpost far outside of the city. You are on your own – without the Generator – but a possibility to extract resources from a recently discovered military warehouse seems to be worth the risk. Equally risky but also worth the effort is maintaining trade routes with other survivors’ settlements.
And then we have The Rifts and the new Endless mode map which it focuses on, and the bridges that it deals with.
All three expansions arrive for the game on Xbox One and PS4 come July 21st, individually purchasable or bundled together through the Season Pass or new Complete Edition. You’ll find them on the Xbox Store or PlayStation Store, kicking around alongside the base game, something which is also playable on Xbox Game Pass.
The trailers below will give further insight into how each expansion holds itself. Give them a watch and then let us know which of the expansions you’ll be grabbing.