mode-7
Latest
Frozen Synapse primes itself for Vita on September 23
Turn-based tactical game Frozen Synapse Prime will reach Vita on September 23, PlayStation Blog revealed. Its soundtrack will also be available on PSN at that time, bundled with the game in the Prime Soundtrack Edition. The asynchronous strategy game allows players to tackle multiple matches at once, and also features a single-player campaign set in a dystopian future. Frozen Synapse Prime is the Vita port of Mode 7's strategy game, first revealed as Frozen Synapse Tactics in February 2013 before changing the game's name last month. The move from PC and Mac is being handled by LittleBigPlanet Vita developer Double Eleven, the same studio that brought PixelJunk Studio Ultimate to PS4 and Vita in June as well as PlayDead's Limbo to Vita last year. [Image: Double Eleven]
Frozen Endzone now Frozen Cortex, original name 'a bit rubbish'
Mode 7's upcoming turn-based strategy game is now Frozen Cortex and no longer Frozen Endzone, after the developer admitted a rebrand was necessary. In a frank blog post, the Frozen Synapse creator revealed its reasons for the change, one being "the original name was a bit rubbish and we got bored of it." Mode 7 also introduced Mac and Linux versions this week in an update to the Steam Early Access release, as well as "significant" aesthetic changes. The studio added it believes the game looks better in its new guise, and that the original name was tied to perception of a "Madden game with robots."
Frozen Synapse to form strategies on iPhone this year
Frozen Synapse, Mode 7 Games' top-down, turn-based tactical strategy game that challenges players to not get shot, is using its next turn to head toward your iPhone. Mode 7's Paul Taylor shared the news on Twitter, adding that while he wasn't sure of a specific release date, he expects the port's release should "definitely be by the end of the year." Previously available on PC, Mac, Android and iPad, Frozen Synapse lets players work through a campaign or try and outwit a friend's strategy in its multiplayer modes. With destructible sections and varied weapons including explosives, Frozen Synapse seems like the sort of game where a strategy can crumble in a single, well-played turn from your opposition. [Mode 7 Games]
Frozen Endzone blitzes onto Steam Early Access
Frozen Endzone takes the turn-based strategy Mode 7 delivered in Frozen Synapse, but makes it all sportsball by swapping out the guns for pigskins - snazzy, futuristic-looking pigskins, but pigskins all the same. If that's a combination that has you ready to pad up and get tactical, the good news is the Windows PC game is now available on Steam Early Access. It's priced $25 stateside and £19/23 euros in the land of the other football, and that includes a bonus key to pass to a friend. In essence, Frozen Endzone is about plotting runs and working out where you want your players to be, one turn at a time, as you try to keep control of the ball and score some neon-tinted touchdowns. Of course it gets much more complicated than that, but on that basic level it was challenging to stop the Mode 7 devs from piercing through my robot team of players a few months ago, which they did time and time again. As it stands, the "early beta" version offers both single-player and multiplayer modes including a ranking system for the latter, while Mode 7 says the next thing on its agenda is to get the single-player campaign mode added. The game proper is due in "late 2014." [Image: Mode 7]
Fist of Awesome's lumberjack joining indie racer Super World Karts GP
Super World Karts GP, a 16-bit-style kart racing game from One Legged Seagull, will include a cameo from Tim Burr, the time-traveling lumberjack that stars in another indie game, Fist of Awesome. The news comes from an update on Super World Karts GP's Kickstarter page, which announced the crossover with Fist of Awesome developer I Fight Bears. The game boasts SNES-like, mode 7-style kart racing, bearing strong resemblance to Nintendo's Super Mario Kart, down to its name. Super World Karts GP is in development for PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android and Ouya, and is a part of Ouya's revised Free the Games Fund. As for Tim Burr, the lumberjack-turned-kart racer will be an unlockable character, available to use "once you've gotten a few tournament cups under your belt." Tim Burr joins three other unlockable crossover characters: Dr. Boom from Tuesday Knight Games, Turing from Read Only Memories and Lobodestroyo's Mutt. Read Only Memories recently found success on Kickstarter, and also participated in Ouya's Free the Games Fund. Super World Karts GP is seeking $16,000 AUS ($14,348.80 USD) by Monday, December 23 on Kickstarter to bring its brand of retro-style kart racing to players, of which the project has currently raised $7,536 AUS ($6758.28 USD).
Release your inner Landry with football strategy game Frozen Endzone
Frozen Endzone, the American football-based strategy game from Frozen Synapse dev Mode 7, is limbering up for a public beta later this month. The beta will feature "several multiplayer modes," with purchasers receiving the full game when it releases and a free game code to give to a friend. It's been some eight months since Mode 7 announced Endzone, and the switch from tactical shooting to tactical sports still seems a strange one to me. Or at least it would, except after talking with Endzone creator Ian Hardingham at a recent UK expo, it's hard to imagine his next game being anything but a celebration of pigskin. When you mention football to Brits like myself, you'll typically lose us to talk of spheres, nets, and penalty areas. Not Hardingham, though. "I just fell in love with American football about ten years ago," he told me. "It's so exotic, it's so tactical. I love how everything is cast off into these individual plays, and you can spend forever really analyzing each play. "The way that Americans throw everything into their sports, I find that relaxing. It makes me forget about the horrible things that are going on in the real world." Hardingham talked plenty and passionately about his love and knowledge of the sport, something I don't share as a fan of the other type of football. But for all his fondness for Super Bowls and NFL Sundays (is that right?), his simultaneous turn-based strategy game isn't intended to be a detailed reflection of the real-life sport.
Frozen Synapse brings cross-platform play to iPad on May 16
Frozen Synapse takes tactical defense to the iPad on Thursday, May 16, complete with cross-platform play between PC, Mac and iPad. Players will be able to access all of their games on any platform, at any time, though current owners will have to buy the iPad version separately to get it on that slim screen. We first learned of Frozen Synapse's journey to iPad in early April, and developer Mode 7 said an Android version will launch sometime after the iOS installment, each with "competitive" pricing.
Frozen Synapse makes a move for iPad in May, Android after
Mode 7's tactical game Frozen Synapse is coming to the iPad, with a slated launch some time in May, Joint Managing Director Paul Taylor has revealed to Joystiq. A port to Android tablets is planned for after the iPad launch – on both platforms, Taylor says the price will be "competitive."Cross-play between iOS, Android and the desktop version "is definitely happening," Taylor says. Players will be able to start a match on one device, then resume their turns on other platforms; the 'Red' DLC adding co-op play and new missions will also be available on iPad and Android tablets.
Frozen Synapse: Tactics plans its move to PSN in 2013
Mode 7's indie darling Frozen Synapse will be ported to PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita courtesy of developer Double Eleven, whose work you may recall from LittleBigPlanet Vita. The port, titled Frozen Synapse: Tactics, will be available for download on PSN sometime this year.Frozen Synapse is a turn-based tactical game where players manage units of varying weaponry and skill sets in an attempt to defeat the enemy team's squad; however, unlike most turn-based games, all player actions in Frozen Synapse resolve simultaneously. Once each player sets all their moves, the game then plays it all out at the same time – an atypical yet incredibly original take on the tactics genre.
Frozen Synapse: Collector's Edition warms up to UK retail September 7
Mode 7's indie tactical-combat darling Frozen Synapse is coming to retail via a special boxed edition this fall, courtesy of publisher Merge Games. This collector's edition will be compatible with both PC and Mac, and tosses in the game's soundtrack, a sticker and postcard, plus a Steam key to unlock an additional copy of the game for a friend or curiously nice enemy. Hey, it's none of our business how you treat your enemies!The Red expansion pack – an update from back in May that added co-op gameplay, a new unit, a new game mode and a host of new missions – is also included in this collector's edition package. Frozen Synapse: Collector's Edition will be exclusive to UK retailers and launches on September 7.
Frozen Synapse gets a brand new ending (for a limited time)
No, it's not some kind of commentary on BioWare and the controversy surrounding Mass Effect 3's ending -- this is an experiment, an altered ending for Frozen Synapse that will live for a limited time. "This wasn't intended as a criticism of Bioware," Frozen Synapse developer Mode 7's Managing Director, Paul Taylor, told Joystiq. "I thought it would be interesting to take a load of fan suggestions and then just make the worst ending I could imagine; a kind of horribly self-referential meme-laden nightmare, and then just slap that on the game for a week and see if anyone cared."One player already grabbed video of the altered ending, which you can see embedded above. "The thing that's interested me most about doing that is that people (mostly) seem to get the joke and also seem to want to use it as a starting point for a conversation about stories in games." We'll just have to take his word for it -- we'll never be smart enough to play Frozen Synapse.
Frozen Synapse coming to iPad in 2012, Mode 7 hopes
Frozen Synapse, the game of intense, turn-based tactical planning and sudden simultaneous execution, is coming to the iPad. Posting on developer Mode 7's blog, managing director Paul Taylor reveals that the tablet version has been "in the works for a while," having already appeared in playable form at a pub meetup. Taylor says we can expect it sometime within the first half of next year, if all goes to plan. Also part of the plan: cross-platform play between the iPad and other versions of Frozen Synapse. Taylor adds that the focus on the capable iPad port won't detract from existing platforms -- "we're actually working right now to hire another team member so we can give it more attention and update it more efficiently." At the moment, Mode 7 consists of three core developers and a "group of trusted freelancers." Frozen Synapse has gained a lot of indie buzz in recent months, especially after becoming the star attraction in a recent Humble Indie Bundle.
We'll never be smart enough to play Frozen Synapse
We don't possess what you might call a "strategic mind." This much is evident whenever we play Risk, where our "keep Australia on lockdown and never, ever leave" approach has yet to pay off. With that in mind, the trailer for the independently developed tactical action game Frozen Synapse just makes our brain hurt. Basically, it's a tactical turn-based combat sim where multiple characters with different specialties are controlled at once, and also there's time travel, and oh no our nose is bleeding. Check out the video after the jump, but make sure you've got some gauze nearby.
