Transport Fever 2 is a meticulously designed logistics simulator which duties you with the well timed transportation of passengers and items through trains, vehicles, planes, and ships. There’s a easy satisfaction in getting one thing the place it must go as effectively as attainable, and that sense extends to the gameplay expertise as an entire.
It is most likely value stating upfront that Transport Fever is the definition of an fanatic sequence. If you aren’t getting jazzed by the concept of making an intricate, interlocking internet of techniques, then Transport Fever 2 is not prone to convert you. Nonetheless, should you’re something like us, you will end up disassociating for hours at a time, entranced by the potential of a brand new locomotive shaving a couple 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, corresponding to local weather, geography, continent, and issue. A reasonably granular stage 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. This can necessitate ludicrously elaborate logistical setups that’ll flip lush countrysides into warrens of rail, highway, 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 delivery the completed produce to maintain the needy townsfolk joyful.
Whereas considerably overwhelming at first, Transport Fever 2 has been tailored for PS5 fairly efficiently. Earlier than lengthy, you will plot routes and broaden your operations with a couple of well-placed button presses. Every little thing to do with highway transport has its personal part, so truck stops, depots, and bus stops may be discovered throughout the identical tab, as is the case with the opposite modes of transportation. Earlier than lengthy, we had been inserting buildings and tweaking traces with out thought, in a position to make modifications and corrections as quickly as they occurred to us.
An ever-present side of the sport is its soundtrack, which, should you let it, will ear-worm its manner 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 easy 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 journey; you by no means know what you will hear subsequent.
Strains are the essential constructing blocks of your burgeoning financial system, and studying to analyse and tweak them to a particular objective rapidly is a necessary talent. At its most elementary, a line is just a route between locations. However, due to a comparatively simple UI setup, including stops, assigning extra automobiles, and adjusting the upkeep price is a breeze, and we took deep satisfaction in usually reviewing our current routes.
As soon as a line is efficiently working, the cash begins to roll in, offset by the funds required for upkeep. Over time, a substantial 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 change into obtainable, 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 enhance the circulate of time as required, besides, you will end up ready round at occasions, wishing your new fleet of wagons would simply get to work already. We do want there was an extra stage of development attainable, as even on the quickest obtainable setting, we discovered ourselves simply distracted from the expertise.
There is a surprisingly detailed and nearly fully voiced marketing campaign for gamers to dive into, with all the factor serving as a deep and extra-long tutorial. You will be guided via durations of financial development in varied 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 completed in character and is supposed to be of its time, which results 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 may be cannibals, which did not appear strictly essential in a sport largely involved with trains.
Transport Fever 2 appears to be like nice for the kind of sport it’s, with a lovely quantity of element to every in-game car mannequin, of which there are a whole bunch. The atmosphere, too, is pleasant to the attention, and also you may assume twice about demolishing a very scenic vista. Technically, it has some body price points, and even in Efficiency Mode by no means actually felt prefer it was hitting a secure 60 frames per second. Granted, so much is happening below the hood, and technique video games of this ilk are notoriously CPU intensive, however it’s nonetheless disappointing it is not extra constant.
Transport Fever 2 will not be an ideal expertise, however it’s a strong and satisfying one, offering developer City Video games with an ideal framework to broaden upon with future updates. It is nicely value taking an opportunity on if the premise in any respect intrigues you, and if nothing else, provides you with an entire 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 hold its target market rapt for hours. For everybody else, although, it is more durable to advocate, as even with its single-player marketing campaign serving as an prolonged tutorial, it may be tough to parse. Regardless of an inconsistent body price and a few questionable dialogue, it is an undeniably satisfying expertise for the strategic-minded, and some of the in-depth titles of its type obtainable on PlayStation platforms.
