11 bit studios' critically acclaimed Frostpunk quickly stood out as one of the best survival games when it launched back in 2018, with reviewers and players alike gripped by its post-apocalyptic ice age-wracked world, challenging and tightly balanced city-builder gameplay, and impactful, nuanced writing. When a sequel was announced in 2021, the excitement from players worldwide was high — and it's only grown since then, with Frostpunk 2 currently standing as the fourth most-wishlisted game on the PC gaming platform Steam. Now, just a few days ahead of its scheduled September 20 launch on Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and Windows PC, the title's review embargo has lifted and ratings from critics have been published.
According to the widely used review aggregation site Metacritic, Frostpunk 2 has achieved an average "Generally Favorable" score of 86/100 based on 41 reviews conducted on Windows PC systems. Nearly every scored review awards the post-apocalyptic city-builder a very positive 80/100 or higher, though there's one that marked it with a 75/100 and another unscored analysis that's far more critical of the game. Here are a range of noteworthy scores and quotes:
- Try Hard Guides (100/100): "Frostpunk 2 does exactly what a sequel should do. It excels in all the ways the original game did while increasing the scale and adding even more. It is an excellent expansion on everything we loved about Frostpunk and delivers a new, utterly unique experience and story, and one that fans of the original, as well as newcomers to the franchise, are sure to love."
- TheGamer (90/100): "Frostpunk 2 has shaped up to be a hefty sequel that built intelligently on the bones of its already excellent predecessor, capturing all the most compelling parts of the first game while exploring human nature and morality with deftness. I’ve already played it multiple times, but I expect I’ll be playing it many more in the months to come."
- PC Gamer (85/100): "As a city builder, Frostpunk 2 is a bit of a step down from the original due to the increase in scale, which unfortunately keeps the city at arm's length. As a society sim, however, it's every bit as engrossing as the first Frostpunk. Like a tiny snowball rolling down the side of a mountain and eventually becoming an avalanche, even the smallest choices can have major consequences."
- IGN (80/100): "Thanks to a ground-up rethinking of its ice-age city builder mechanics, Frostpunk 2's larger scale is less intimate but more socially and politically complex than the original."
- GRYOnline.pl (75/100): "Frostpunk 2 is different from its predecessor. It too experiments with gameplay and tries to create a thrilling system of making difficult decisions, but the bigger scale of governing an entire region looks a bit unfinished. Great potential to create a giant world was squandered, and the thing that generates the most fun is the political system, not building your city."
- Rock, Paper, Shotgun (N/A): "I want to love Frostpunk 2, and I think that's precisely why so much of this review is negative. It deserves recognition for the courage to push into something new rather than play it safe. It's far more compelling, interesting, and super atmospheric than its peers, but that ambition has cost it a singular intensity and focus that leaves its fresh narrative and design too contradictory to carry it to the same heights."
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If there's one thing that's clear from the fact that every single scored review is a favorable one, it's that Frostpunk 2 is a good game — and many believe it to be a great one, with lots of critics enjoying the sequel's wider scope, deeper emphasis on making difficult compromises, and its emotional storytelling. With that said, some feel that its grander scale has taken away from the more granular elements of the original game's city-building mechanics, and a few reviewers have mixed feelings about the focus on politicking with various factions and movements. Overall, though, the general consensus is that the Frostpunk magic is here, and that this follow-up lives up to everyone's lofty expectations.
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In our own Frostpunk 2 review, my colleague Samuel Tolbert gave 11 bit studios' sequel a score of 4.5/5 stars (90/100), writing that it "pushes the boundaries on what a city-building game and a survival experience can be, telling stories of human hope and despair in tandem" and that "with beautiful visuals and a radically increased gameplay scope over its predecessor, only a handful of issues mar the ice." His only major criticisms were that some progression paths are underwhelming and not very viable at launch, and also that there's an unfortunate lack of accessibility options.
Something important to note is that all pre-release Frostpunk 2 reviews were done on Windows PC, so you may want to wait for post-launch Xbox and PS5 reviews to come out before you buy the game if you're playing on one of these systems. The game's performance on PC does appear to be quite good across the board, but there's ultimately no way to know if the same can be said for the console version until it comes out and is tested.
Frostpunk 2's MSRP comes in at $44.99, with the pricier Deluxe Edition that includes access to upcoming post-release DLC expansions, three days of Early Access gameplay, an exclusive in-game item, a digital artbook and soundtrack, and a digital copy of the upcoming "Warm Flesh" Frostpunk anthology novella costing $74.99. If you preorder it, though, there's a cool 10% discount that knocks the price down to $67.49 — but there are even better deals on CDKeys, which is currently offering preorders of the Standard Edition for just $34.19 and copies of the Deluxe Edition for only $52.59. It's also worth highlighting that from now until September 23, the original Frostpunk is just $2.99 (and its DLC Season Pass is $8.57)
- Frostpunk 2 Standard Edition (PC): $34.19 at CDKeys
- Frostpunk 2 Deluxe Edition (PC): $52.59 at CDKeys
- Frostpunk 2 Standard Edition (Xbox): $44.99 at Xbox
- Frostpunk 2 Deluxe Edition (Xbox): $74.99 at Xbox
- Xbox Game Pass Ultimate 3-month cards: $31.59 at CDKeys
Those markdowns are unfortunately exclusive to the PC version of the game, though Xbox players do have the option of playing Frostpunk 2 day one on Microsoft's buffet-style Xbox Game Pass subscription service. With PC Game Pass or Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, PC players can play the game this way as well through the Microsoft Store.
Frostpunk 2 is just days away from its highly anticipated release, and based on how glowing the vast majority of reviews for it are, it's likely that it will stand tall as one of the best Xbox games and best PC games of 2024. The price for the game starts at $44.99, though you can play it for far less with the aforementioned CDKeys deals or Xbox Game Pass.
