Frozen Synapse

I'll be reviewing this game from the perspective of a guy (me) who is very much into tactical gameplay over twitch based gameplay. I'm more into ArmA than I am Call of Duty, and I like iRacing more than I like Burnout, and I like Dragong Age 1 more than Dragon Age 2. 
 Reason I mention this is that it's pointless to trust a review without knowing where the reviewer comes from in regards to his preferences.  
 
So, I've been playing Frozen Synapse since the beta, on and off, and although the main portion of the game (Multiplayer) probably isn't for every one, the addition of single player was very clever. I haven't played much of the single player, but what I tried was good. I have, however, played a fair bit of Multiplayer, and it's good. It's damned god. It has a purity of gameplay rarely seen these days. Where most competitive games these days get screwed over by leveling and unlocks, this game has none of that. You are given no boons of any kind other than your own abilities and experience playing this game, which I find important. There's nothing more annoying than being pwned by a guy who had an edge on you just because he had a better gun or armor. There are levels in this game, but they are purely for show/score calculation, it seems. At level 4 I owned a level 36 guy. I did get a whole hell of a lot more points by winning over him than I would winning over a guy at equal level, but that's about it. Points give you levels, they also matter for the rankings. 
 So, the rankings. I'm not big on scoreboards or stuff like that, but if you are, this game is probably going to turn into an obsession for you. Wins give you positive points, losses give you negative points. There's both an all time scoreboard and a Daily score board. Needless to say, win streaks are important to get anywhere on the scoreboards. 
 
I won't go very deep into the gameplay aspect of this, I'm sure you've seen plenty of videos and reviews already, this was mostly written to cover some of the neglected areas of the game, and to contribute to the average score in here. 
 
I will give you one tip/warning. If you're too lazy to simulate the other player's movement and potential plans, you are going to lose in this game. Lose, and lose a lot. It's extremely important to simulate the other guy's potential plan, because it's all based on maths, the whole game. A guy who is moving forward with a shotgun will get nailed by a guy standing still with a shotgun, every single time. There's no luck or randomization in this game, everything is based on timings. So simulation = extremely important. 
 
Anyways, buy it if you like turn based tactical games. 20 euro for two keys, so you can give one to a buddy.