Trains have been part of my life since I was a wee child, as my dad was in love with them from a very early age; his dad worked for Union Pacific, so naturally that love was passed down. We had a train set that went around the Christmas tree each year, a huge set that would take up several square feet with mountains, trees, towns, and tunnels, and my dad purchased a $300 train engine model for his midlife crisis – he had wanted the engine for decades. Fast forward to me getting married, and I come to find out my father-in-law is also borderline obsessed with trains, yet I can’t say I ever found them to be overly grand. I rode in plenty of them, the steam engines being the most memorable, yet I’ve never found myself collecting the models or playing the simulators for them. So would a tycoon type train game appeal to me?

Railyway Empire is immediately arresting, as you’re transported a couple centuries back to the time that trains were really redefining transportation for goods and people. It’s the era when people lived and died on the tracks, and the country began to embrace the world of steel and steam. It’s honestly pretty awesome to be taken back to that time period and then be given all but absolute control over what happens with the world. And might I add, it’s a pretty impressive world at that. Starting out, you’re given a bird’s eye view of the map, but zooming in does a lot more than just bring you closer to a slightly more detailed set of a model – far from it, as this is a living, breathing world. I was amazed at just how much detail there was in the cities and its inhabitants when you choose to zoom in. It’s akin to a satellite view of Google Maps, and goes just shy of street view.

Regardless of your knowledge with trains or strategy games, you’ll likely find yourself making use of the tutorial provided in the campaign’s first mission. There’s a lot of dialogue, some of which is voiced well, while other portions sound like the voice actors had better things to be doing. The game is kind enough to provide you videos that show what you’re supposed to be doing with each section of the building process, and you can watch these as many times as you like. However, these may become more of a hindrance than help very quickly, as they often take up the space you are supposed to be performing the actions. This actually leads to a bigger issue, as the UI itself was a bit hard to come to terms with. While everything is listed at the bottom for options, I found myself pushing all of the buttons during the tutorial in the hopes of progressing. Every time I pressed x to build, it would show me a video instead. The game didn’t tell me that remove meant removing the obstacles so I could build, which I later found out after a decent amount of frustration.

Once you get past the tutorial, chances are you’ll have a better time with the game. While I don’t suggest skipping the tutorial altogether, I do think jumping into a mode other than the campaign will give a better sense for what to expect, as the tutorial can be a bit off-putting. When I saw this game I immediately thought of my dad and father-in-law; this would be the perfect game for them to play. With the free mode, they can essentially create their own train set on a much larger scale than humanly possible at home, and then hop in the train and ride it through the vast expanses of the United States. For any train fanatic, that’s a pretty humbling experience.

Beyond what you may expect, you’ll be going up against other factions of train companies, attempting to create the most successful and profitable one in the US. Having to maintain not only the trains, but also the tracks, creating ways for trains to bypass one another without creating designated tracks, keeping the towns up-to-date, and more are all on you. Truly, once you get a few hours into this game, it’ll have you thinking that trains should be more prevalent in today’s day and age. And you’ll be stuck building tracks from town to town with stockpiles going back and forth.

I didn’t know what to expect from this before jumping into it. Having a minimal appreciation for the subject matter, I wasn’t sure it would click for me. Turns out it made me realize why trains are so cool, and really bridged a gap between me and my family members that love them so much. By no means does this game require you to have a fondness of trains, although your enjoyment will no doubt be amplified if you do. Pour in the coal, get the steam going, and let the train run its tracks right into your heart as you travel back in time with Railway Empire.

8 out of 10

Pros

• Beautifully Realized World
• Free Mode for Enthusiasts
• For Train Lovers by Train Lovers

Cons

• Slightly Bloated UI and Tutorial
• Some Voice Acting

Railway Empire was developed by Gaming Minds Studios and published by Kalypso Media Digital. The game launched on PC January 26th, 2018, and PS4 as well as X1 on January 30th, 2018 for $59.99. The PS4 version of the game was provided to us for review. If you’d like to see more of Railway Empire, check out the official site.

 

Here at GBG we use a rating method that you are more than likely familiar with – a scale of 1 to 10. For clarification, we intend on using the entire scale: 1-4 is something you should probably avoid paying for; 5-7 is something that is worth playing, but probably not at full price; 8-10 is a great title that you can feel confident about buying. If you have any questions or comments about how we rate a game, please let us know.

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