Fallout), their East European equivalents dump you in the middle of the wasteland, give you a dull pocket knife, and wish you good luck (e.g. In the past, I made the observation that while American post-apocalyptic games tend to coddle you to the point of parody (e.g. I haven’t played it and don’t intend to.Īnyhow, first things things. Note that Styg released an expansion pack (“Expedition”) a couple of months ago, which introduced a “Black Sea” area to the world map and some new weapons. But of you enjoyed those titles, and want to relive them in a fascinating new world, then sure, go ahead – you probably won’t regret it. (I wouldn’t have either if not for the unique setting). If you don’t care for old school RPGs, you probably shouldn’t. UnderRail has often been described as early Fallout underground. This is not a gaming blog, and game reviews are a dime a dozen on the Internet, so I will not spend much time on the pure gameplay aspects here. As a game that is so intersectional with these very specific interests, and with so much in potential inspiration for my own world, I knew I had to complete it and to write this review to organize my thoughts, ideas, and impressions of it. Moreover, since 2014, I have been toying with an idea for a post-apocalyptic sci-fi novel, in which the Earth gets knocked out of the Sun’s orbit and civilization survives in a massive underground network*. I had heard about D-6 and Yamantau before I read Metro 2033, let alone played the game. From a young age, I have been fascinated with tunnels, caves, warrens, metros, and nuclear bunkers. The first one had to do with the rather banal purpose of eliminating the one major lacuna in my gaming experience.īut the second draw was the world that Dejan Radisic (“Styg”), the Serbian lead developer of the game – and for a long time its only one – had created. Nonetheless, UnderRail is when I finally decided to make an exception a few months ago. The early Fallouts, classics though they were, passed me by. I should state at the outset that I’m not the biggest fan of old-school isometric RPGs – in fact, until now, I hadn’t played a single one. And deep within the abandoned bowels of UnderRail stirs an Eldritch abomination that desires to slave all life to its expanding biomass. Their prospects appear dim, beset as they are by wildlife infestations, banditry, wars, epidemics, and technogenic disasters. The flickering embers of industrial civilization survive in great station-states, which are tenuously connected to each other by dark, gloomy, and bandit-infested railway tunnels. The remnants of humanity scrape out a subsistence existence in the subterranean bunkers and warrens of the UnderRail. UnderRail is an isometric turn-based RPG set in the deep future, long after an unspecified disaster has made life on the planetary surface impossible. You can access all of my latest book, film, and video game reviews at this link, as well as an ordered, categorized list of all my video game reviews and ratings here:
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |