Frozen Synapse is a rarity nowadays - a game that relies on a brilliant combat system to shine.
The amazing part is - it works. Of course, I'd prefer great graphics, but considering those where so improbable in an indie game, I think they made the right choice.
Now that the graphics are out of the way, I'll talk about the game. FS is all about the combat. The story, while decent, it pretty much just an excuse for the shootouts (I mean, tactical encounters), and the single player game is nowere near the fun of the multiplayer.
If this game was SP only, I would like it, but the shortcomings (graphics, story) would force me to give it a low average. But the multiplayer is completely different.
Thing is, multiplayer is not only smart, addictive and other adjectives we usually think when we're talking about videogames. FS is a great game, a great Ludo. It's some kind of chess with luck that keeps your brain working and your heart pounding to see if the mart choice will succeed or if bad luck (or a preemptive opponent) will give you swift defeat. The ability to understand the most obvious approach to a given situation usually leads to layers of educated guesses, sometimes with hilarious results.
I feel FS will become a cult favorite, a game played by few enthusiasts and never dropped. It succeeds doing something so many games tried befofe with the implement of two simple things - the turn based combat is the preparation stage, but the action is simultaneous; and refusing to take tools from the players for the sake of turning the game more appealing to the casual crowd.
It doesn't mean the game is hard - it's just not shallow to avoid the IMPRESSION of a steep learning curve.
I recommend you play this game if you have any interest for tactical gameplay, turn based games, spec ops simulators or competitive mind games, like chess. I'd even give it a try if I didn't like those, because there's some quality to be found here you don't see in games anymore, something deeper than pretty graphics in a decent shooter engine.
Frozen Synapse is lovingly crafted from homo ludens, for homo ludens.
Breakdown:
Graphics: 5.0 (all function, not pretty tough)
Sound: 7.5 (decent music, adequate sound effects, not enough voice acting)
Gameplay: 9.5 (small interface refinements from perfect)
Replayability: 9.0 (you'll not play it every day, but you can probably play it for years without being tiresome - just like chess)
Average: 8.5. A very good game, but not for players that are all about graphics and twitchy gameplay.