After a short time of playing, this is my initial impressions about Transport Fever 2 compared to Transport Fever 1.

The Good
I really like the improvements to clarity on how demand and supply works. In the first game, this was confusing at times to understand why there were seemingly random fluctuations in demand. Being able to clearly see a building's Production, shipment, and transport is a real improvement. Also a huge improvement is the seemingly instant recognition of a new transport line. In the first game, it was always a rough start at the beginning of a map having to wait for buildings to start production and for passengers to accumulate.

I also like how towns now show their progress and what you can do to improve the size of the town. The clarity is extremely helpful and can help shape a town how you want.

The Bad
While I like the improvements to understanding the economy, I feel it was been greatly dumbed down. Towns now only accept 2 types of cargo? This seems way too simplified. I liked how in 1 there was a demand for every product so I could have the freedom to choose where to start. Not only that, it makes little sense that every building in the town has only 1 need. This means I have no reason to create cargo hubs like I did in the first game, as every town needs something different.

I had also wished for more complex industry in Transport Fever 2 over the first game, instead I got the opposite. The only good thing is that oil now makes more sense, having to ship it to a Oil refinery and then to a Fuel refinery is a welcome improvement... However, nothing new was added and some complexity, such as buildings having multiple choices for input, was removed. Farms, for example, now only produce grain. Bakeries only accept grain. It was nice having both livestock and grain options. Same for Stone and tools, being able to select multiple was nice. I was also hoping for some new industries to make things more interesting.

UPDATE 5/13/2022
The bad has been fixed! I have no complaints about this now with the most recent patch. After a few hours into playing the new patch, I am loving this version of the game the most!

I only have good things to say about the management improvements. I am going to just quickly list everything that i like.
* Finance Table and Chart
* New Vehicle Manager that lets you clone and upgrade vehicles
* Changes to how Condition and Maintenance works
* Line Statistics

Building and running lines, more or less is the same, which is fine since Transport Fever 1 mechanics worked great. However, the addition of modular stations is by far a welcome addition to the game. No more fiddling around in smaller towns having both a passenger and a cargo station separate. The only criticism I have here is the lack of curved stations, at least from what I can tell so far.

Not a whole lot here has changed, but the game looks pretty good already. The UI facelift is a good improvement. Overall, the graphics are in a pretty good place.

I REALLY like the free map creator. Its is great that I can preview a map before jumping into it. I really like games that give you choices like the new map creator does. This is a great improvement over the first game, particularly the Desert and Tropical maps.

The introduction of Asian trains is a nice addition. I always wondered why they were not there in the first game, despite them have a great variety as well.

The changes to how time works is, imo, a fantastic change. I can 'pause' time but still keep running. It looks like income is now real-time based instead of based around the in game time. This makes it particularly useful if I want to make a map that is purely stuck in the 1900s for a long time or I want to slowly transition between eras at my own pace. Alternatively, this change gives me the ability to speed through eras if I choose. A very welcome change over having to 'mod' the game to slow time down.


I may update this review as I play more. I only have 17 hours in the game, so I have not really hit everything there is to know.