Red Shift – ‘Frozen Synapse’ Expansion ‘Red’ Launches

Frozen Synapse was unquestionably one of the best indie releases of last year (released almost exactly one year ago on Steam, in fact) – a shockingly intelligent minimalist game of tactical planning – but there’s always room for improvement. Those busy little bees over at Mode 7 Games have just released Red, a full expansion pack for the game. It’s available to purchase now via the official site or Steam (complete with 10% discount), priced at $10. Expensive for indie DLC, especially compared to the ridiculous cheapness of the Binding of Isaac addon, but given the lengthy feature list it seems a reasonable price-tag.

Here’s what the pack contains:

• Full co-op (2 vs. AI) for the single player campaign
• A new unit (riot shield)
• A new multiplayer game mode (“Upload”)
• Three mutators (gameplay modifiers for advanced users)
• 15-mission single player campaign
• 10 single player challenge missions
• 6 additional music tracks by nervous_testpilot (2 previously available in the Humble Indie Bundle)
• Original music tracks “Deeper” and “Focus” unlocked during gameplay
• “Impeccable Micro”, a free chiptune album from _ensnare_
• The infamous “Red Mode”: it makes things red….
• All online features, including co-op, can be shared between expansion owners and non-owners, meaning that there is no division in the community

It’s a hefty feature-list. A new, defensive unit type should spice up combat, and 25 new missions (15 of them story-driven) should further bulk up that nifty-looking co-op mode. And of course, there’s more of the fantastic soundtrack that kept us FS veterans in the zone through many hard-thought and spectacularly failed plans. If the missions are anything like the ones in the original release of the game, there’ll be enough random elements to make them highly replayable, with enemy placement and cover being shuffled around each time you play.

What impresses me the most is the ‘All features shared’ note. It’s a very rare thing to see, but it’s the best way to solve the problem of DLC releases splintering a community. Play a game with/against someone with the DLC, and you’ll have access to all those features for the length of the play session. Everyone wins, and it provides a good look at what you’re getting for your money. On top of that hefty pile o’ content, there’s a general update for the game, adding a few new features for everyone:

• Hotseat Mode – Local multiplayer comes to Frozen Synapse! Play against another human (or semi-human) using one computer.
• Timed Turns – This forces a time-limit on turn submission, a bit like Speed Chess.
• Preset Multiplayer Maps

A great set of highly requested features – it’s always nice to see something like that offered for free, although hotseat mode might well require careful application of blindfolds in order to keep your devious plots secret from your friend. Preset multiplayer maps are also a very nice option – the random map generator was great to keep things fresh, but for any kind of competitive setup, you could sometimes find yourself starting at a disadvantage due to the initial placement of cover or units. The option to use pre-set maps sidesteps this. Again, everyone wins.

Red Mode: It makes things red.

We’ll be taking a full look at this expansion soon. Expect a full review and maybe even a hilariously inept after-action report in the coming week or so, but if the quality of the original game is anything to go by, and that feature list even halfway accurate, then Red looks to be an easy buy for fans of the original game.