You can find this review in full at GBAtemp.net:
https://gbatemp.net/review/railway-empire.1423/
A lifelong fan of trains and tycoon games, I’ve not exactly hidden my excitement for this game’s Switch release. Though never indulging in its previous outings for PC and the other major consoles, something about a Switch version caught my eye. I could be anywhere, with anyone, connecting station to station with the railroad of my dreams. A magnificent thought now turned reality, I’ve spent time playing and building, and I could not be happier for it.
At its core, Railway Empire has everything you might expect of a Transport Tycoon-style game. You build stations and connect cities with both industries dotted around the map and other cities. In doing so, you establish supply chains, encouraging growth to each city you pass through as you assess and cater to their needs. Though a simple premise, I found this fundamental simplicity a driving factor in my desire to improve. Supporting this, you have a list of tasks for each map to guide your progress, this varying slightly with each of the game’s different modes.
Starting with what I would describe as the natural starting point for any player, we have the campaign. Though acting as a fantastic tutorial for both the basic and advanced aspects of the game, it also exists to take you on a journey through various eras of major railroad construction. Each chapter featuring short animations to set the scene, it took me back to the history books of my school days, rekindling a nostalgic flame as I not only witnessed history, but soon partook in it. These narrated introductions set the stage wonderfully, allowing you to better understand the context behind your tasks, and the larger objective at hand.
Supported by a voiced assistant as you work through your tasks, I found this mode a wonderful experience through and through. Though you could argue these chapters lack replayability in the fixed nature of their setting and design, I found a great sense of joy and excitement in revisiting them down the line. Attempting to better my score by completing tasks more efficiently, there was always a smug satisfaction as my adviser lagged behind. Small moments like these reinforce the idea of growth and knowledge you accumulate simply by playing.
Scenario maps are much like the campaign, almost to the extent I would call them low-budget alternatives. In reality, they serve to be more than this. Though lacking the lavish cutscenes I came to love in the campaign, they provide replayability and reuse for the maps you’ve already played, beaten, and perfected; not to mention the additional maps introduced in this mode. You still have the same task-driven gameplay and the same sense of creative freedom, but you see them applied in different ways.
An initial criticism of mine was that there were no way to experience these maps with a randomised task list, as to push growth in a different direction each time you played, and keep an otherwise-samey experience fresh. Naturally, as I continued to explore what the game had to offer, this criticism was laid to rest, and my prayers were answered.
Free mode—it’s everything I wanted and more. With such a wealth of customisation options available, it’s here I imagine many will spend the majority of their time. Starting simply by selecting a time period, influencing the trains and research options available to you, you can customise everything from the money you start with, to the number of opponents on the map, even to the obscure like the cost of building tracks or tunnels. Even playing without rivals, these options have the potential to push you to new and varied styles of play with each slight variation. If tracks are expensive, you find yourself starting in a city close to others and establishing short but profitable routes to kickstart your company. If tunnels are expensive, you put your attention to flat lands over the potential temptation of mountainous travel. There’s so much to do and so much to come back to, despite the perceived-negative of non-random maps.
Ultimately, this familiarity can come to fuel your creativity as you become more and more comfortable with the presented bounds and limitations. In understanding each map, you gain the knowledge and insight to adapt and grow regardless of how the game is set up. Assisting in the development of this familiarity is the game’s final mode.
Sandbox mode is the kind of setting I always wanted without necessarily thinking about the consequences. Here, you’re free to build the empire of your dreams, free of financial burden. While it can be fun to build interesting and elaborate systems, this mode in and of itself lacks its own sense of longevity. Because there is little in the way of satisfying progression, it can at first appear little more than a minor addition—an extra not so deserving of your time as its competition. While this stands true to a certain extent, the sheer utility of this mode should not be overlooked.
Sure, you can put down several million dollar’s worth of tracks to connect stations at each corner of the map, but you find these thoughts get old fast. Where this mode truly shines is in research. If I connect station A to station B via industries X, Y, and Z, do the additional stops increase revenue in a way as to be prioritised, or added in later with more direct routes already established? While the game is happy to tell you how much your tracks will cost before you place them, allowing you to more thoroughly plan your routes to save cash, questions like this are much harder to gauge at a glance. For those wishing to push themselves to complete the most difficult objectives and overcome the strongest of rivals, such a tool to refine designs and test ideas is priceless. How this mode is utilised, or whether it is utilised at all, will vary greatly from player to player. Its inclusion however can be nothing but a positive thing in my mind.
Though largely secondary to the gameplay itself, I’m sure many would be eager to see how a two year-old game on both PC and the Switch’s current-gen competitors fares on Nintendo’s hybrid delight. It’s easy to say the game is nothing extraordinary in neither graphics nor music, but that in itself I struggle to call a negative. Put simply, the game is fine. While there are clear visual shortcomings when comparing this port to its predecessors, nothing stands out as poor to the point of detracting from the overall experience. The music, while I may describe it as forgettable, serves its role well. It omits the silence, blending well with the game’s larger presentation so as not to stand out.
It’s all just fine, and when you’ve got stellar gameplay to back it up, as well as the inherent positives of the Switch itself, I can safely say it’s a port worth picking up. That said, it isn’t without a fault or two of its own.
After the initial release in 2018, the game received regular updates, as well as additional maps and scenarios in the form of paid DLC. The value of this content is difficult to debate, giving players a reason to revisit the game even long after launch. With eight DLC packs now available, totalling just over £70 on Steam, the Switch version sits with an uncomfortable debate: should the DLC be included? To me, there are two reasonable options. First, you could release a complete package with all the content produced to date. This is the option I imagine many would favour, providing a definitive edition for the new release, and giving buyers a genuine sense of value for money. On the other hand, you could release just the base game at a discounted price to entice an otherwise-uncertain buyer, with the DLC remaining an optional extra. The Switch port opts for a blend of these ideas, bundling the base game, with the Mexico, Great Lakes, and Crossing the Andes additional content. This leaves the Great Britain and Ireland, Germany, and France maps unavailable to those unwilling to pay extra. It’s frustrating to me, especially when the maps still appear in-game with a lock on them. While it may be a minor criticism in a sea of otherwise-positive thoughts, it goes a long way in souring my lasting impressions, especially as I’m unable to see how this content is priced on the Switch until the game launches.
All in all, Railway Empire is a game for any avid fan of trains and tycoon games. Though perhaps not the prettiest release, it excels in delivering the brilliant core experience of its predecessors to a wide and portable market. Though I wish this version simply included all of the available DLC, I find it a minor grievance for what has been perhaps my greatest joy during this time of isolation.
Scarlet Works 