The Final Station Preview

2D graphics, simple shooting mechanics, limited colour and confined levels; not something I enjoy usually. I have a huge preference for vibrant and open world games filled with colour, excitement, wonderment and danger. It was a drastic change however as I plunged myself into the world of The Final Station. Never before have I truly enjoyed a side-scroller, with the constricted movement always causing me to get frustrated, annoyed and frequently bring about disappointment.

So what is The Final Station, It is a game set in an alternative universe, with a deep backstory that I have yet to entirely understand due to the lore being announced by the various survivors you pick up on your journey and sit within your train. You play as a train operator, given the simple task of arriving at a certain location, you follow the trek from station to station as you find blocker codes so that you can progress onwards with your journey. All the while you encounter these strange creatures, in their various forms, that want nothing more than to leave you a bloody mess on the ground.

As I ride the rails I am thrown somewhat drastically, head first into the deep end, thankfully it didn’t take me long to struggle to the surface. With the learning curve mastered and my skill gradually increasing I began to enjoy the game for what it truly was: A challenge. The game is not easy by any accounts, whilst it gently eases you in at the start, after my first hour I started to struggle. The complexity of the game begins to increase as it slowly introduces new features, such as hidden doors and new bulletproof armour clad monsters, worst still those terrible creatures that explode as they rush towards you!

However, just what these creatures are is hinted at by the survivors which you find and rescue, though in the time I have played they have yet to reveal what the creatures are and what they want, clearly, I have not progressed enough! Nonetheless, the game is fantastic with the survivor management, whilst there is no random survivor generator or anything of the sort, the hardy few that still live interact with each other once they are aboard your train. Each one has his or her own personality and these personalities clash and fall apart when they meet each other. However, the survivors have needs, you may find yourself having to decide between saving your last medkit for yourself or using it on one of the passengers aboard your train who is desperately clinging onto the last strands of life.

It takes a lot for a game to progress at an entertaining rate for me; most of the time I find it either a grinding slog or just boring cookie cutter creatures that never really change, but for some reason each level gives me a sense of satisfaction and always presents a challenge. Managing both your ammunition and your health is always an ordeal, do you rush the monster and smack him to death? Or do you hang back at a safe distance and blast away with whatever firearm you have in your hand? Exploring the various maps is brief, each one not really taking any longer than a handful of minutes, which is somewhat disappointing, however, I believe that it is of great benefit to the game as it allows them to cram more content rather than focusing on making oversized maps.

The AI is also intelligent whilst keeping a sense of beast and instinct around it, should you try and sit atop of a ladder and shoot down, they will simply move to a spot where you can not shoot them, whereas if you hang from a ladder and shoot; they will attempt to chase you back up.

However, the best feature of the game is being able to throw toilets at the monsters. Throughout the game, you will occasionally find props that can be hurled at your foes for devastating damage, toilets and chairs to name but a few.

With a detailed story and clear care and effort put into the game I feel like it could go the mile, I encountered no bugs, glitches or flaws as far as I could see and it felt like a true beta, with most of the bugs and glitches already ironed out and the game on its final steps to completion. I struggle to imagine just how they will increase the enjoyability of this game!