The Final Station is a single player side-scrolling shooter video game with a train simulator and exploration elements.
The debut game from indie developer Do My Best Games this strategy action game sees you playing an unknown train conductor in a future were society has been devastated previously by an incident known as the ‘First Visitation.’ Now 106 years later, society is faced with the ‘Second Visitation.’ It’s up to you to travel across the country finding survivors and resources all the while avoiding the shadow zombie menace and generally keeping the train running and the passengers alive.
An interesting combination of two distinct gameplay styles with an Overcooked tweaking of the train control stations plays alongside the main portions of the game. It plays out as a side scrolling shoot em-up as you explore each desolate city on the train’s route, battling shadow zombies as each stop provides a little more background to what is apparently happening. This however isn’t your usual shoot-em up, especially when ammo is at a premium meaning that your want to explore every door and hatch on the stage to find any stashes of resources. At the same time, even without a gun you still have the option to throw objects and even punches at your foes, all which can prove surprisingly effective.
There is certainly plenty of variety with the enemies you face and usually you will be encountering them as a shambling mob, requiring quick thinking and patience to find the best spots to weed out specific enemies. This adds an interesting element, especially when combined with the limited ammunition, which means you’re hardly going to be wading in unleashing dragon fire but rather viewing each encounter with a flight or fight mentality as you have to decide if it’s worth risking resources to explore that bit further into a stage.
While this is undeniably a retro styled title, this thankfully doesn’t carry over to the control system, which is simple yet effective. I only encountered a couple of issues when trying to come off stairs and ladders which have the tendency to get you stuck at the worst moments, and considering how key timing is for certain sections of the game this can become a real annoyance by adding an unnecessary level of difficulty.
The other issue here is with the plot, one unfolds as you progress on your journey. Actually reading any of the conversations can be a tricky prospect, especially when everything has to be constantly maintained from the train systems to batteries life and the train being brought to a grinding halt through to the passengers themselves whose hunger and health needs to be maintained to stop them suddenly dropping dead on you. Of course there are going to be those moments where the resources don’t stretch and you’re forced to decide which of your passengers are more valuable than others. Still, while you’re busy keeping everyone alive, their conversations are on going, which is hard to focus on when you’re constantly looking for the next thing to go wrong on board.
A fun and unquestionably challenging indie title that brings more to the table than being just another side scrolling run and gun game, only lets down by some sticky ladder mechanics and a storytelling method that often serves more to distract you from keeping the wheels moving than delivering the compelling story it could have played out. However, this is certainly a title worth discovering for yourself.