Review - Transport Fever 2

Three years looks about sufficient time to figure out the shortcomings to block a great game since living great. Have Urban Games managed to do just to, which is their original Transport Fever 2 a game to complement the celebrated Transport Tycoon?

Transportation of people with produce is for an excellent material for an economic game. The mix of selling with the construction associated with a efficient logistics network poses a several interesting challenges. The key problem is to build clear use of that possible.

In the last a couple years, different business have become increasingly thinking about that topic – in addition to the "Fever" series, the beginning of this year also gotten the pedestrian Railway Empire, and just a little while ago, Railroad Institution was published. But the golden era of Transport Tycoon, Industry Large or Traffic Giant still cast a long shadow on the genre – these games used to be extremely riveting experiences, capturing participants for extended hours, and are still believed unmatched, tycoon paragons.

The first installment of Transport Fever from 2016 satisfied with a fairly optimistic reception of critics, although I personally handle that deserved a gain of near 6/10, considering there were no AI-controlled opponents, which the the economic Click here for info layer of the game said many fundamental flaws. Despite the shortcomings, the game has become quite a address for supporters of transport and logistics, ready to forget their purely tycoon shortcomings, compensated with huge capabilities in terms of widening the logistic network, with full modding help. The statement on the contemporary Transport Fever warranted hopes for an change of the predecessor's underdeveloped aspects, the wealth in particular. Exists that in fact the situation?

Pack and pots

In Transport Fever 2, as from the primary piece, we become the head of a logistics enterprise – using land, air and water transportation means, we turn various goods, as well as passengers, across large maps. The game runs on the same, albeit modified, engine as the predecessor, so all looks really personal to anyone who's gotten any contact with the first section.

The transformations in the playoffs mechanics really introduce a lot of changes. Each town now accepts just two kinds of goods – one to the business sector, plus the support to the business. The next factor, universal for every area, are, naturally, passengers. On top of to, the developers gave us a little really interesting devices for improving stations. We can develop every end to help the heart's at ease with ready-made components such as walkways, terminals, platforms or piers. With these, and tons of minor tweaks, TF2 provides much more cool for persons keen by building complex transportation systems.

Of course, all the benefits of the key game were kept in this aspect, thus we still receive a really interesting, realistic drift of matter, that are all "physically" present for the map. This is complemented with a complex rail system with check ends, and multi-stage logistics using different form of transport. However, the outdated railway construction system wasn't improved – we even must manually construct every portion of that; something that would permit setting a quick outline of the rail track and introducing neccesary changes would allow happened much more comfortable. Another disappointment stems from the fact that the property we're transporting do not fix the era the person exists at home. There are plastic manufacturers in 1850, and the year 2000 doesn't give any electronics.

The catalog of more serious difficulty with the mechanics is expanded in limited abilities of managing charge of supplies – you can not, for example, post a file that will collect some number of goods from some consecutive stations, since cars always carry as many resources when they can wear. Of course, we can build a point through different varieties of cars, however, the problem remains unsolved if the properties that we'd like to collect through different classes are moved by the same kind of cars. Similarly, the capabilities for delivering and coordinating vehicles with a one range are similarly limited.

Full rolling stock

Transport Fever 2 presents us a few different biomes – tropical, dried with average, and, adequately, as many types of rolling stocks – European, National, with Asian. We can choose from a variety of realistic vehicles – since earlier horse-drawn carriages and machines to contemporary jet plane. The close-up camera in cars enables one to admire the gorgeous, detailed models, and it's promising to "attach" the camera on them regarding a first-person impact. That part is much more fulfilling than during TF1, as the authors have significantly recovered the functional property of the game world. I acknowledge that, take planned the pedestrian environments through the opening game, I became truly surprised by the way beautiful landscapes could be built on this engine – with much better optimization, to surpass that away from. In addition, location and areas to grow and mature so we progress also appear great.

A novelty in the second aspect is the place generator with the free mode – the planets created by this may be customized near our needs. Yet, these concepts aren't incredibly interesting; they resemble a rather random collection of cities and venture scattered around not very diverse territories. Though, it shouldn't be a challenge in the few months – because I'm indeed the amusement society will fill up the Steam course with remarkable creations.

One of the issues about the first game was poor outline on the screen, that got quite hard to get critical information among the litter of screens overloaded with useless data. In this manner, Transport Fever 2 makes significant improvements. But it's still far from perfect – this uses a lot of clicking, and many of the party windows could be merged in multi-functional panesl (for example, the spaces of routes and vehicles, that need constant switching).

By the way, as the idea often the argument in financial strategies, the background music from the game is best suited for being quickly eliminated and exchanged with a decent playlist.

Bad money

For the excellent logistics order with the fair composition in the business, beautiful look at and detailed vehicles, that a shame that the ability of all this fine content is not quite understood. The problem is definitely a set of two separate issues – the ill-conceived and opaque economy approach with average game modes.

The overall economy exists in a very rudimentary form. There's no information about which variables figure out the check for completed transport. As a result, our project works in great darkness. According to the thoughts, there is a simple formula at work here – the measure grew in distance without a clear connection with the type of goods transported. From this follow numerous absurdities, causing the structure very reductive – it's more viable to think on the same resources, since complex products simply come in significantly smaller amounts. On top of to, the misguided distance multiplier makes it (counter-intuitively) more rewarding to carry products from the many distant locations, even though the stores of the same could be learned much earlier. To improve insult to injuries, that logic doesn't change at all when we progress through the centuries from the game. Worth and profitability of transportation do not change, there are no random economic affair, and also the creation of places does not change adequately to the changing epochs.

The instant component of the gameplay issue becomes just what I cry the game modes tragedy. In Transport Fever 2there's no artificial intelligence – again! Because of this, the game is simply boring as a tycoon, and only offers substantial concern about important difficulty level. Perhaps the slow, drive, consisting of 18 missions divided into several parts, offers any respite? Who have a person to opinion?! The missions are mostly lowered to totally logistical problems, usually very simple – get X sum of outcomes starting end A to point B. Then, there's the largely daft narration in side quests, which, by the way, boil down to press on a little features for the place (then not really in the way that can make tycoons captivating) – you can see the devs wanted to go something like the successful order by Ubisoft's Anno 1800. What completely buries the fiscal level of the game is the absurd amount of income we get started the experience with. As a result, the war plays as if we recently managed a cheat for unlimited money. I so recommend break from that setting, maybe apart from a few starting, tutorial scenarios.

So what remains? Sandbox for partner of designing complex transportation systems. That better than nothing, many players will see that satisfactory enough to get interested in the latest relief from the feverish stable. Still, teeth grind, eyes great with tears, and hamsters stop moving in in their reels upon witnessing a game with such a giant potential for becoming the best transport tycoon in history meet the average tier due to not having ample age or appeal to help improve the interior elements.

What goes up must come down

For me, Transport Fever 2 is a honest and tender disappointment. When a game is specifically bad, you can vent frustration in a assessment and said back for the step. But that different here. The latest relief by Urban Games makes a impressive construction of complex logistics, interesting mechanics, and gorgeous, big maps. And then the result is right spoiled by bad finish – stupid wealth with weak game modes.

The new Transport Fever can certainly find a large crowd of supporters of transport in the sandbox formula, but the players looking for run their own responsibility with explaining financial troubles will be hugely disappointed. But, like always, I yet bear many hope. Maybe the next game may link the requirements. Fingers crossed!