When comparing Frozen Synapse vs Transistor, the Slant community recommends Transistor for most people. In the question“What are the best Top-Down games on Steam?” Transistor is ranked 19th while Frozen Synapse is ranked 32nd. The most important reason people chose Transistor is:
The soundtrack is mostly a type of electronic music called "trip hop", which is heavily influenced by jazz, punk and soul. Most of the songs are very mellow and have a melancholic feel to them, giving Transistor's cyberpunk world a very distinct and memorable feel.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Good selection of multiplayer
There are 5 different online multiplayer gametypes (Secure, Exterminate, Charge, Disputed & Hostage). There is also a hotseat mode where local players can swap turns on the same PC.
Pro Randomly generated maps
Each game has a randomly generated map, which keeps the game fresh being that it is a different layout each time payed.
Pro Multiple game modes
There' s a campaign, that takes you through a cyberpunk style story where you assisting a resistance faction in a struggle against a corporate government regime; there is a skirmish mode that randomly generates a map based on a number of criteria you can set; and a multiplayer mode with 5 different gametypes.
Pro Play multiple games at once
Since the game is turn-based you can have multiple games running simultaneously. You can even play a game over e-mail.
Pro Watch replays of games
You can watch your own games or multiplayer games of other people.
Pro Great tactical depth
Frozen Synapse has deep tactical possibilities. You have to take into account your environment (there's even destructible terrain), strengths and weaknesses of each squad member, position and viewing angles of every man on the field while developing a coherent plan of action by setting waypoints, aim directions and stance of your squad members to overcome your enemy. You can even run simulations to see how things might play out before committing to action.
Pro Beautiful soundtrack
The soundtrack is mostly a type of electronic music called "trip hop", which is heavily influenced by jazz, punk and soul. Most of the songs are very mellow and have a melancholic feel to them, giving Transistor's cyberpunk world a very distinct and memorable feel.
Pro Excellent narration
Transistor uses narration to move its story along with the help of a talking sword. While it may seem strange at first, it really gives substance to an otherwise empty feeling world. The soft voice of the sword is also pleasing to listen to. If you ever feel like the sword is too talkative, you can disable the narration.
Pro Awesome hack and slash action with an interesting twist
Transistor is primarily an action RPG, but it has turn-based combat elements. You can use the ability ()Turn to pause time, which allows you to plan out your moves. This adds strategic depth to the combat, giving you ways to quickly take out all enemies or to get out of a tight situation. It's very fun to use and feels really unique.
Pro Deep customization that rewards imagination and strategy
In Transistor you'll get abilities called Functions(). They have three primary effects: the active effect, the upgrade effect, and the passive effect. These effects can be combined to produce really fun to use skills.
For example, the Get() active effect pulls an enemy close to you. If you add the Bounce() upgrade effect, it will jump to more enemies, pulling them all to you. If you add the Crash() upgrade effect, the enemies pulled will also fall asleep.
The game can be beat with simple combos that don't require much setup or strategy, but thinking up great combinations feels rewarding.
Cons
Con Story is forgettable
The story in Frozen Synapse is generic sci-fi.
Con Very simple story
The story focuses too much on the revenge plot and too little on the characters themselves. Even the ending wasn't a particularly satisfying, leaving way too many unanswered questions.