Under The Hood: Final Station Game Review

Final Station takes 2D action side-scrolling and throws in some narrative driven clues and interactions in an apocalyptic setting where the world is on the brink of extinction from the infected. Instead of taking classic scenarios, the creators spin their own narrative involving this style of apocalypse. As the player, we begin playing the game in this weird setting where we are a train conductor(or engineer in this game) armed with a pistol walking around in a place about to be overrun by the infected and preparing for the worst. The engineer is quickly swarmed by the infected and promptly slaughtered. That is where we wake up. As it was a dream and a nightmare for the engineer just had visions of the Second Visitation.

This is when we slowly become aware of the setting through pieces of paper, dialogue with NPCs and a handful of messages scattered on computer terminals. The First Visitation took place some time ago and the train engineer lives in a world slowly rebuilding after already being overran once by infected. We find out that the First Visitation is traced to a crash landing by a UFO and exposure to gas which turn people infected. Along with that, there appears to be some form of alien invasion that the government barely managed to push back in the first encounter.

As for the engineer? Everything is okay. There was no Second Visitation but he quickly dismisses these thoughts when traces of news begin to come in that something is happening in the Northwest. That indeed the Second Visitation is upon us. Tasked with carrying equipment and finding survivors, the game thrusts you into survival management and exploration of settlements by use of train. The gameplay is okay but can be repetitive at times. The music and the storyline is what keeps the player invested throughout the playthrough as each stop has the engineer seeking a passcode to release the train blocker and continue on his journey. All the while, information about the Second Visitation and the story of the mysterious robotic, "Guardian" is trickled into the player's perception. The engineer is the last bastion of hope for this dying world as the government has tasked him with carrying components for this massive robot that will fight against the wave of infected and aliens that is already overtaking the world.

Overall, I enjoyed the game and if you are into apocalyptic settings or like story-rich games with some combat, then Final Station is worth checking out. For those interested my full review is down below. Have a great day gaming!