Unreal Engine remakes are so hot right now. Or super cool, as is the case with the freshly announced UE5 remake of frigid city builder Frostpunk.
The trailer doesn’t show any gameplay footage, just a low-angle time lapse of one of the game’s Watchtowers puffing billowing clouds of smoke into the sky. The developers promise the remake will stay true to the original game’s feel while dishing up some new content, including a completely new Purpose Path. Also, after years of begging, the frosty faithful are finally getting official mod support.
Frostpunk released in 2018 to critical acclaim. Players and critics loved the stark post-apocalyptic setting and strong narrative. The game’s standout theme was the unrelenting struggle between liberalism and communitarianism, forcing players to constantly make tough decisions that pit the rights of the individual versus the good of the group. The subject matter resounded with me, an Indonesian who grew up in America and watched on TV as my home country struggle with those same choices throughout the ’90s. How much freedom can be preserved in a crisis? That didn’t stop me from putting children to work in my Frostpunk factories, but, hey, I did at least feel a little bad about it.
Frostpunk is one of my most-played strategy games, so I’m excited to see how the remake will turn out My ageing rig is less excited about it being rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5—the engine has built up a less-than-stellar reputation in recent months—but Frostpunk was always a smaller-scale city builder, so I have my fingers crossed that bodes well for the remake’s performance.
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