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Disclaimer: This review contains spoilers. It is only relevant for base game; the DLC has no train management or passenger collection mechanics, hence it is excluded from this criticism.

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Showcasing the fight scenes, food distribution, and train operation in the trailer, as if they were the main focus of this game, is rather dishonest in my opinion. Despite being marketed as a "survival" title, The Final Station is an on-rails experience, a linear storyline with a preset progression path and no dynamic elements requiring adaptation. Expending resources is unnecessary when dying simply brings you back to the last checkpoint, and quitting to the main menu miraculously brings dead passengers back to life.

The game refuses to sacrifice exposition for better gameplay. There are no hard failstates to punish you for wasting resources or neglecting to collect them in the first place. Every step you take to ensure the well-being of your train conductor and passengers is pointless. Passengers' hunger and health magically stop ticking down when you're away from the train; the store page would lead you to believe supplies are actively sought after to prevent this sort of deterioration, but the opposite is in fact true.

Supplies are placed in preset locations in the very same order in each playthrough, with the very same pricetag attached. They are directly added to account balance unless they are one of the 4 things you need to craft ammo and medkits, which you find in abundance either way. Neither crafted item is mandatory for the playthrough (this will be explained shortly), making the supplies you scavenge, and money to fund them, pointless yet again.

Keeping the train "operational" only benefits the passengers, who are meant to provide flavor for the story but are secondary to it in every possible regard. The main character (train conductor) does not require food to survive, and fully heals between the stages, making both food and medkits redundant to the player. Thus, saving passengers only benefits other passengers; you buy food and medkits with their fare which, again, the character does not need. You read their chatter and drop them off a couple of stations later.

If you talk to a person and they are eligible to ride the train, they simply board it. There is no way to distinguish between static NPCs and actual train passengers. These also stay the same between consequent playthroughs. You can't decide which cargo to attach to your train, or which train station to go to next, even though they’re all intertwined. The map interface only provides lore for each station. You can't even see how far you're into the story, because the stations all connect to eachother and the path you take is arbitrary.

The cargo you carry directly corresponds to what kind of malfunctions the train has. Since cargo is obtained in a linear fashion, with each container playing a different part in the story, the order of malfunctions also remains the same. That said, multiple parts cannot malfunction all at once, making train management more of a nuisance than a challenge. I expected to have to juggle multiple problems that continue to pile on a la Papers, Please. If a malfunction is left alone the train will simply stop, no resource is put at stake.

I also had the impression you'd have to manage fuel, speed or power, perhaps upgrade, fix, or switch trains eventually. Decide which location to see next, with some locations containing more or less resources based on your progress. None of that happens. The story decides what to take and where to go, and this does not change between consecutive playthroughs. The store page also gives an impression there is a natural day-night cycle that could affect things, however weather and time of day are static to each stage.

The stages all play the exact same way. You need a code for the Blocker to get to the next station, but the person in charge of it is missing. There are 3 layers to each level, with the main entrance locked and player having to "find" their way around it. This is usually done by climbing to the second floor, obtaining the code along with the key to the main entrance, then backtracking to the entrance, or unlocking the third layer (underground) as a shortcut back to your train. The stages are all 2-3 buildings large, with no room to explore them further.

Throughout the level you encounter what can only be described as zombies. The game insists they are not zombies, but for all intents and purposes that's what they are. Each of the six enemy types uses the exact same AI - move slowly towards the player, go away when they break LoS. Out of those six, only two cannot be engaged in melee range, with the rest easily "cheesable" by moving backwards ever so slightly and mashing the melee button until they go down. Your attacks always reach farther so none of the enemies ever pose a real threat to you.

As a result, shooting things is usually not necessary. The player can throw objects at enemies, but that is not necessary either. When these objects appear in front of locked doors you know there's going to be combat, which kills tension and pre-emptively destroys the horror elements the devs may have sought to implement into a level. Breaking walls is also done through melee attacks. You can execute a charged attack that does 4 times the damage of a regular one, except it doesn’t activate half the time, and it is faster to simply attack 4 times anyway.

The story of the game is convoluted, its conclusion is abrupt and disappointing. The world is going through the "second visitation" event, an arrival from a presumably much smarter alien race. This race sends down pods releasing gas meant to endow humans with super-intelligence. Humans incapable of containing said knowledge turn into hollow husks, aggressive to other human beings. The ones who do turn, but manage to maintain their form, are set on spreading this knowledge further, toppling the government that opposes it.

Said government - the Council - attempts to preserve the unturned human race by building the Guardian. The Guardian is a giant mech meant to launch into space in order to deal with the alien threat. The train conductor is tasked with supplying the parts for this Guardian, while bringing as many passengers with them to the shelter as possible. Despite its successful launch, the Advent cult intercepts it with a missile, dooming the human race to enslavement.

Most details written here are not explained throughout the game, and many of its intricacies are either lost or left up to player interpretation. The MC never speaks, appearing just as one-sided as the NPCs they encounter. All notes and dialogue are riddled with spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, and poor sentence structuring. It's a shame the devs couldn't bother hiring an English-speaking proofreader for a game that mainly revolves around written text.

What might be even more shameful is that the devs are charging additional money for a DLC that continues this story, or at least gives players a clearer picture of it. It is also shameful that the game needs to be restarted in order to apply a 16:9 resolution, that the settings menu is no longer accessible once the game begins, that you cannot return to a specific act but rather have to restart the entire game to go back to a previous level. This is too shoddily crafted for a $15 title. I simply cannot in good faith recommend it.

[hr] [i][b]Disclaimer:[/b][/i] [i]This review contains spoilers. It is only relevant for base game; the DLC has no train management or passenger collection mechanics, hence it is excluded from this criticism.[/i] [hr] Showcasing the fight scenes, food distribution, and train operation in the trailer, as if they were the main focus of this game, is rather dishonest in my opinion. Despite being marketed as a "survival" title, The Final Station is an on-rails experience, a linear storyline with a preset progression path and no dynamic elements requiring adaptation. Expending resources is unnecessary when dying simply brings you back to the last checkpoint, and quitting to the main menu miraculously brings dead passengers back to life. The game refuses to sacrifice exposition for better gameplay. There are no hard failstates to punish you for wasting resources or neglecting to collect them in the first place. Every step you take to ensure the well-being of your train conductor and passengers is pointless. Passengers' hunger and health magically stop ticking down when you're away from the train; the store page would lead you to believe supplies are actively sought after to prevent this sort of deterioration, but the opposite is in fact true. Supplies are placed in preset locations in the very same order in each playthrough, with the very same pricetag attached. They are directly added to account balance unless they are one of the 4 things you need to craft ammo and medkits, which you find in abundance either way. Neither crafted item is mandatory for the playthrough (this will be explained shortly), making the supplies you scavenge, and money to fund them, pointless yet again. Keeping the train "operational" only benefits the passengers, who are meant to provide flavor for the story but are secondary to it in every possible regard. The main character (train conductor) does not require food to survive, and fully heals between the stages, making both food and medkits redundant to the player. Thus, saving passengers only benefits other passengers; you buy food and medkits with their fare which, again, the character does not need. You read their chatter and drop them off a couple of stations later. If you talk to a person and they are eligible to ride the train, they simply board it. There is no way to distinguish between static NPCs and actual train passengers. These also stay the same between consequent playthroughs. You can't decide which cargo to attach to your train, or which train station to go to next, even though they’re all intertwined. The map interface only provides lore for each station. You can't even see how far you're into the story, because the stations all connect to eachother and the path you take is arbitrary. The cargo you carry directly corresponds to what kind of malfunctions the train has. Since cargo is obtained in a linear fashion, with each container playing a different part in the story, the order of malfunctions also remains the same. That said, multiple parts cannot malfunction all at once, making train management more of a nuisance than a challenge. I expected to have to juggle multiple problems that continue to pile on a la Papers, Please. If a malfunction is left alone the train will simply stop, no resource is put at stake. I also had the impression you'd have to manage fuel, speed or power, perhaps upgrade, fix, or switch trains eventually. Decide which location to see next, with some locations containing more or less resources based on your progress. None of that happens. The story decides what to take and where to go, and this does not change between consecutive playthroughs. The store page also gives an impression there is a natural day-night cycle that could affect things, however weather and time of day are static to each stage. The stages all play the exact same way. You need a code for the Blocker to get to the next station, but the person in charge of it is missing. There are 3 layers to each level, with the main entrance locked and player having to "find" their way around it. This is usually done by climbing to the second floor, obtaining the code along with the key to the main entrance, then backtracking to the entrance, or unlocking the third layer (underground) as a shortcut back to your train. The stages are all 2-3 buildings large, with no room to explore them further. Throughout the level you encounter what can only be described as zombies. The game insists they are not zombies, but for all intents and purposes that's what they are. Each of the six enemy types uses the exact same AI - move slowly towards the player, go away when they break LoS. Out of those six, only two cannot be engaged in melee range, with the rest easily "cheesable" by moving backwards ever so slightly and mashing the melee button until they go down. Your attacks always reach farther so none of the enemies ever pose a real threat to you. As a result, shooting things is usually not necessary. The player can throw objects at enemies, but that is not necessary either. When these objects appear in front of locked doors you know there's going to be combat, which kills tension and pre-emptively destroys the horror elements the devs may have sought to implement into a level. Breaking walls is also done through melee attacks. You can execute a charged attack that does 4 times the damage of a regular one, except it doesn’t activate half the time, and it is faster to simply attack 4 times anyway. The story of the game is convoluted, its conclusion is abrupt and disappointing. The world is going through the "second visitation" event, an arrival from a presumably much smarter alien race. This race sends down pods releasing gas meant to endow humans with super-intelligence. Humans incapable of containing said knowledge turn into hollow husks, aggressive to other human beings. The ones who do turn, but manage to maintain their form, are set on spreading this knowledge further, toppling the government that opposes it. Said government - the Council - attempts to preserve the unturned human race by building the Guardian. The Guardian is a giant mech meant to launch into space in order to deal with the alien threat. The train conductor is tasked with supplying the parts for this Guardian, while bringing as many passengers with them to the shelter as possible. Despite its successful launch, the Advent cult intercepts it with a missile, dooming the human race to enslavement. Most details written here are not explained throughout the game, and many of its intricacies are either lost or left up to player interpretation. The MC never speaks, appearing just as one-sided as the NPCs they encounter. All notes and dialogue are riddled with spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, and poor sentence structuring. It's a shame the devs couldn't bother hiring an English-speaking proofreader for a game that mainly revolves around written text. What might be even more shameful is that the devs are charging additional money for a DLC that continues this story, or at least gives players a clearer picture of it. It is also shameful that the game needs to be restarted in order to apply a 16:9 resolution, that the settings menu is no longer accessible once the game begins, that you cannot return to a specific act but rather have to restart the entire game to go back to a previous level. This is too shoddily crafted for a $15 title. I simply cannot in good faith recommend it.