GAME REVIEW: The Final Station

Chugga chugga. Here comes a game heading down the track that features a creative blend of genres. Train management meets dystopian-zombie-alien-invasion head-on in this unique story-driven survival game. While The Final Station has many charms, there certainly are a few aspects to it that may lead a few gamers to yawn.

The game starts off with a rather gripping story that had me hooked for the first few hours of gameplay. You play as a train operator with a special mission to save the world. What exactly threatens the world is revealed as you march forward and uncover more clues about the world you’ve been thrown into. From station to station you’ll encounter foes, rescue survivors, and pick up useful objects along the way.

The introductory levels easily convey the gameplay at hand. Points to Do My Best Games on that one. As you move from level to level, it doesn’t take long for the gameplay to feel repetitive. While each level has its own content, the content itself seems a bit drab and lacking at times. None of the levels felt particularly challenging. It was more so just a process of going through the motions, and that made things drag a bit.

One strength The Final Station has is the story. Curiosity kept me going. The game plays much like an interactive novel, which is something worth considering before a purchase as games like this are very appealing to some. While at times the gameplay would drag a bit, the story definitely helped keep me chugging forward.

As mentioned before pixel art games are generally a win for me. I do love great pixel art. The characters and landscapes in this game are rather good as far as pixel art goes, although the predominantly grey-scale color scheme does come off as a bit drab at times. I can understand the importance of establishing a theme. Personally, I would have opted for a bit more color, but let’s chalk that one up to personal preference.

Another noteworthy strength this game has going for it is the music. Big round of applause to composer Geoff Hart-Jones for producing this beautiful original soundtrack. The music does a magnificent job at setting the appropriate mood as the game progresses. It’s good to see that the developers put the extra effort into this area.

There were things about this game I enjoyed, but plenty of things that I did not enjoy also. For one, I felt that the train-operation phase of the game was more annoying than fun. The game has you scrambling around multi-tasking in a way that just isn’t that enjoyable, from one management mini-game to the next, each simulating a sort of train-maintenance task. All the while the survivors on your train need food or medi-kits to keep them alive until reaching their final destination. Oh, and checking your chat messages from other train operators. Multi-tasking!

There is plenty about The Final Station that I like, though it is hard for me to recommend this game for several reasons. Despite the fact that it stands alone as a well produced title that appears rather attractive at first glance, it has some flaws that hold it back from being a great game. Had the developers taken a bit more time to go deeper in some areas, I would feel more inclined to recommend it, though there were many times I felt as though I wanted things to go a bit deeper. It seems almost like the developers might have wanted to develop some areas further but it just didn’t happen. It would have been nice if the developers expanded on the watered-down crafting aspect of the game. Adding more variety to the weapons and enemies also would have made this game much more interesting.

It took less than 6 hours to complete The Final Station and I did not feel the urge to play it again. Replayability is a major thing to consider when it comes to a game. Had the developers put a bit more substance into this area I would feel much more obliged to recommend it, especially in light of the price for which it retails for on Steam at present. Again, the story is where this game shines, although, without any spoilers, I can say that the ending seems less than spectacular.