I’m usually probably not a lot of a fan of administration sims. There’s one thing about them that simply makes me freak out — there’s all the time an excessive amount of to do, too many choices, too many approaches and, frankly, too some ways to dig your self right into a gap that’s a bit of too onerous to get better from. RAILGRADE is an exception, as a result of it’s not just a few limitless railway administration sim, it’s additionally a gem of a puzzle recreation that captivates as a lot because it challenges.
RAILGRADE’s development is very similar to many different puzzle video games and far not like most different railway administration sims. It’s a sequence of discrete levels, every with one or two main objectives. The primary few tutorial levels go over the fundamentals – tips on how to lay a monitor, tips on how to place a prepare on that monitor, and tips on how to transport items from one facility to a different – however after that, issues get completely wild. Every stage going ahead presents you with a brand new problem, and challenges vary from one thing like processing and exporting 100 ingots of iron to establishing and managing a fancy community of services to realize a set quantity of sources per minute.
Fortunately, it’s not as if the extraordinarily advanced missions come instantly after the extra easy missions — there’s an exquisite sense of development that I believe is actually the core energy of RAILGRADE. Every stage seems like just a bit bit extra in comparison with the final, with issues getting barely extra advanced with every step ahead. Often, nevertheless, it’ll throw you a curveball, and it’s right here that the sport actually will get attention-grabbing. As an alternative of letting your relaxation in your laurels and fall into acquainted patterns, now and again a mission will pop up that very essentially requires you to alter the way in which you strategy your rail networks. The place a straight line, back-and-forth rail community with one product per line may need labored in the previous few missions, now you’ll have to start out constructing multi-product, looping networks, or branching networks that actually take a look at your logistics abilities.
The primary time you come throughout every of those levels, there’s a fairly good likelihood you’ll get a horrible rating — in spite of everything, you’ve settled into a well-recognized groove, and breaking out of that groove is simpler mentioned than achieved. The extra time you spend with that specific stage, nevertheless, the extra you come to grasp the nuances of what’s required to get all of it operating easily. RAILGRADE’s clean development signifies that whenever you come throughout certainly one of these roadblocks, not solely do it’s a must to rethink the way you strategy your networks, however that strategy of rethinking feels pure, and helps put together you for the following few challenges, too. Oftentimes I’d do poorly in a mission after which out of the blue, out of nowhere, I’d realise that not solely do I want to alter issues up, however that I already knew precisely what to do to make all of it work. I simply, for no matter motive, didn’t try this. Having an answer out of the blue pop into your head makes you are feeling like an absolute genius, and implementing it and seeing it work – and work effectively – is remarkably satisfying.
Sadly, regardless of my enjoyment, there have been occasions the place I discovered myself extremely pissed off and overwhelmed, too. The character of among the challenges are sometimes a bit annoying to truly play, and the aim of a problem is topic to alter as you get nearer to completion. In some circumstances, I’d arrange a community to ship on the unique aim that was fully incompatible with the second aim, requiring a whole rework that usually I simply didn’t have the cash and sources for. In these situations it was usually a case of accepting a nasty rating and ready it out whereas I constructed up some money, or simply restarting the extent – a few of which I had simply spent half an hour or extra enjoying – to rebuild one thing that labored for the later aim, too. This gained’t be a difficulty for everyone, I’m positive loads of individuals with completely different approaches to this sort of recreation will handle simply advantageous, however for my explicit playstyle it popped up fairly a couple of occasions and sometimes prompted me to only give up the sport and are available again tomorrow.
One other concern value noting is the textual content dimension. Take it from me: if you wish to save your eyesight, completely don’t play this recreation on the Change Lite. The textual content and UI in RAILGRADE is small, and even on the OG Change, it’s simply barely acceptable. On the Lite, until you get actual shut, use magnifying glasses, or squint actual onerous, it’s simply not on. I’m positive, on the OLED, you’d in all probability get by simply advantageous, due to its bigger display, and clearly it’s just about advantageous in docked mode, however simply bear in mind that Change Lite house owners will get nothing constructive about this expertise. Sadly, there are not any choices that I might discover for rising the textual content dimension, so what you see (or don’t see) is what you get.
Aside from that, there’s lots to love about RAILGRADE’s presentation. It seems to be fairly good, with every stage trying like a bit of slice of a mannequin railway, and the music is an absolute banger of electrical hits that preserve you energised whereas nonetheless fading properly into the background of among the longer-haul ranges. The controls are advantageous on Change too; it’s a recreation that feels prefer it was very a lot made for PC so it’s by no means going to really feel precisely proper on a gamepad, however it does a serviceable job that you just don’t actually need to battle towards. It’s a contact awkward, however greater than usable when you’ve acquired a bit of apply in.
RAILGRADE is an excellent mixture of railway administration and puzzle-solving, with genuinely satisfying railway gameplay, mind-scratching puzzles to unravel, and a bangin’ soundtrack. It does get irritating at occasions, and it’s near-unplayable on the Change Lite, however there’s nonetheless completely lots to love.
Score: 3.5/5
