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- Developer: Do My Best Games
- Publisher: tinyBuild Games
- Genre: Action, Adventure, Indie
- Release Date: 30 August 2016
- Platforms: Windows
- Game Supplied By: Do My Best Games
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Ever think a 2D side-scroller could make you jump out of your chair in fright? Well, give The Final Station a go! With its amazing sound design and easy to handle controls it’s a great simple game to pick up and play when you fancy something other than the normal horror genre that’s making the rounds at the moment.
The basis of this game is that you’re a small-town train conductor that has been commissioned to a train that needs to get from Point A to Point B. The problem is, on the way to Point B hell’s’ gates open up, demons come sprawling out and start eating people. Well, technically it’s aliens, but you get the idea. So on the way to Point B you’re contacted by your superior to be told that some cargo will be loaded onto your train and all the passengers you have collected will be offloaded. Also, not only will you be carrying this mystery cargo, but you will also be going into the depths of the alien invasion itself to look for survivors. You ready? Let’s release those brakes and chug along!
The story line is an interesting one to follow, the narrative from each NPC adds something extra into the mix about the alien invasion compared to this thing called “The first visitation” which happened 106 years ago. There appears to be some underlying concept in relation to this so-called “Council” however I have not yet been able to progress far enough to delve deeper into this mystery. The narrative can be quite frustrating at times as you have to be in the same section of the train as your passengers to hear what they’re talking about.
The game play and level design is interesting as it is set in a 2D apocalyptic future within train stations and city backdrops. Each level varies as you progress through the game, however the game play itself can become slightly repetitive, stop the train, wander through the level, shoot aliens, rescue citizens, repeat. With each 4 or so levels you stop at a major train station, offload the passengers that you have accumulated and then continue on your journey. However, the one thing that makes this journey easier are the graphics and level design within the game. With each level and journey between each level, the backdrop changes and either becomes moodier or more upbeat depending on which way the story line is heading. At one point the backdrop changed so significantly along with the sound design, it gave me chills down my spine.
The sound design for this game is so simplistic it is beautiful, the game rarely allows for any background music, however it has an abundance of ambience. The saying “Silence is deafening” means more to me in this game than in any other point in my life. At one point my character was traversing through a tunnel underground and all I could hear were my own footsteps, and another set of footsteps around me. When you’re hearing creaks and cracks and nothing is in your immediate line of sight, it makes your mind go into overdrive of what could be nearby. The sound design for this game gets a solid 10/10.
The controls of the game are easy enough to pick up, along with any PC game you move with WASD and look around with the mouse. However, the one point I have about this game is that it doesn’t come with some form of tutorial, I only realised halfway into my play through that if you pressed Q you were able to heal yourself! I died an unnecessary amount of times before I realised that was not needed and I have 5 health packs on me at that time.
Summary
In summary the game itself is a great 2D side scroller horror/action game with great sound design. The story line is a bit difficult to follow but once you get the general feel of what’s going on then it’s easy enough to pick up. The controls could be introduced through some form of tutorial but the sound design is the one quality of this game that I will not fault. It’s a great game if you want something different than the Outlast’s and Five Nights At Freddy’s that are everywhere nowadays.