Transport Fever 2 is a meticulously designed logistics simulator which duties you with the well timed transportation of passengers and items by way of trains, vehicles, planes, and ships. There’s a easy satisfaction in getting one thing the place it must go as effectively as potential, and that sense extends to the gameplay expertise as a complete.
It is most likely value stating upfront that Transport Fever is the definition of an fanatic sequence. If you do not get jazzed by the concept of making an intricate, interlocking internet of techniques, then Transport Fever 2 is not more likely to convert you. Nonetheless, in the event you’re something like us, you may end up disassociating for hours at a time, entranced by the potential for a brand new locomotive shaving a number of extra moments off of your most worthwhile route.
The principle draw right here might be Free Play mode, which lets you generate a random map utilizing predetermined components, comparable to local weather, geography, continent, and issue. A reasonably granular degree of element is feasible, and you may share notably cool maps with others utilizing the related seed, which is a pleasant contact.
You are given restricted funds to start out a profitable transport firm; the remaining is as much as you. By figuring out the wants of residents in close by cities, you’ll be able to flip a revenue by getting each residents and the sources they require from Level A to Level B. It will necessitate ludicrously elaborate logistical setups that’ll flip lush countrysides into warrens of rail, street, and rampant city growth. This proposition is made extra tricksy by the necessity to course of items and supplies at close by factories first earlier than transport the completed produce to maintain the needy townsfolk completely happy.
Whereas considerably overwhelming at first, Transport Fever 2 has been tailored for PS5 fairly efficiently. Earlier than lengthy, you may plot routes and develop your operations with a number of well-placed button presses. All the things to do with street transport has its personal part, so truck stops, depots, and bus stops could be discovered inside the similar tab, as is the case with the opposite modes of transportation. Earlier than lengthy, we have been putting buildings and tweaking traces with out thought, in a position to make adjustments and corrections as quickly as they occurred to us.
An ever-present facet of the sport is its soundtrack, which, in the event you let it, will ear-worm its approach into your psyche and have you ever bopping alongside for hours at a time — or curled up within the foetal place in a padded room, relying on the day. Starting from the form of clean jazz Ron Burgundy would placed on at an intimate afterparty, to spine-melting, soul-infused guitar solos, proper into one other spherical of honky-tonk piano. It is a wild experience; you by no means know what you may hear subsequent.
Traces are the fundamental constructing blocks of your burgeoning economic system, and studying to analyse and tweak them to a selected function shortly is a vital talent. At its most simple, a line is just a route between locations. However, because of a comparatively easy UI setup, including stops, assigning further automobiles, and adjusting the upkeep fee is a breeze, and we took deep satisfaction in often reviewing our present routes.
As soon as a line is efficiently operating, the cash begins to roll in, offset by the funds required for upkeep. Over time, an excessive amount of the enjoyment of the sport comes from recouping the upfront setup prices of what was previously a cash bonfire and is now a worthwhile logistics chain. As time progresses, new automobiles will turn out to be out there, rising productiveness nonetheless additional. The small townships dotting the panorama will develop into thriving cities earlier than your eyes, proof of the fruits of your labour.
You are in a position to pause or improve the circulate of time as required, besides, you may end up ready round at occasions, wishing your new fleet of wagons would simply get to work already. We do want there was a further degree of development potential, as even on the quickest out there setting, we discovered ourselves simply distracted from the expertise.
There is a surprisingly detailed and nearly solely voiced marketing campaign for gamers to dive into, with the complete factor serving as a deep and extra-long tutorial. You may be guided by means of intervals of financial progress in numerous epochs from fashionable historical past, from the 1850s onward, serving to to attach remoted rural areas to booming financial sectors.
One factor to notice is it is all executed in character and is supposed to be of its time, which ends up in some uncomfortable line reads that, whereas uncommon, raised eyebrows sufficient to be value mentioning. Within the second mission, for instance, referred to as Espresso and Colonialism, a stereotypical Western commentator waxes poetic in regards to the supposed inferiority of the native Javanese labour pressure. An non-compulsory goal in the identical mission has you investigating whether or not or not some is likely to be cannibals, which did not appear strictly needed in a recreation largely involved with trains.
Transport Fever 2 appears nice for the kind of recreation it’s, with a lovely quantity of element to every in-game automobile mannequin, of which there are a whole bunch. The setting, too, is enjoyable to the attention, and also you would possibly assume twice about demolishing a very scenic vista. Technically, it has some body fee points, and even in Efficiency Mode by no means actually felt prefer it was hitting a secure 60 frames per second. Granted, lots is occurring underneath the hood, and technique video games of this ilk are notoriously CPU intensive, nevertheless it’s nonetheless disappointing it is not extra constant.
Transport Fever 2 shouldn’t be an ideal expertise, nevertheless it’s a strong and satisfying one, offering developer City Video games with an ideal framework to develop upon with future updates. It is effectively value taking an opportunity on if the premise in any respect intrigues you, and if nothing else, will provide you with a complete new perspective the subsequent time you end up caught in visitors in your morning commute.
Conclusion
Transport Fever 2 is the kind of fanatic sim that may maintain its target market rapt for hours. For everybody else, although, it is more durable to suggest, as even with its single-player marketing campaign serving as an prolonged tutorial, it may be tough to parse. Regardless of an inconsistent body fee and a few questionable dialogue, it is an undeniably satisfying expertise for the strategic-minded, and probably the most in-depth titles of its form out there on PlayStation platforms.
