Shout out to Good Shepherd for supplying Transport Fever 2 for this review.
We're going... we're going... we're going on a trip... Trains, Ships, Planes, and Automobiles... Transport Fever 2... is... here!
Transport Fever 2 is a business simulation game focused on the transportation industry, and your job is to make the road, water, railroad and airways work for the citizens + industries in the surrounding areas... without crashing and burning financially.
Tip: If you're new to Transport Fever, I recommend starting off in the campaign so that you can get a good feel for the gameplay while being walked through the UI (which still has a bit of a learning curve to it).
One thing this game should have... is a digital manual to get newcomers over that hump with the UI, because some people get turned off by the learning curve in some games. It doesn't have to be a full blown manual... but have something to make sense of the UI so the focus can be on the gameplay.
I have spoken with the development team, and i'm happy to report that they're working on a Wiki for Transport Fever 2 (soooo... stay tuned)!
While in-game hit "ESC" and then go to "Settings"... followed by "Controls" to access the key mapping. I took some time to list the default key map here:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1988964654
Fun factor: Sims aren't games that I normally play (in the traditional sense)... but when I do, I want them to be enjoyable, and Transport Fever 2 checks out with addicting + challenging gameplay. It doesn't get me hype like some of the big action titles, but it definitely keeps me engaged for a lengthy period of time (unlike some of the action games that get me hype)... to the point that I have to set a timer to make sure that I'm not playing into the wee hours of the morning.
I love constructing roads and tracks in this game, making bridges and all that good stuff (use "," to go higher and create bridges, use "." to go lower and create underground tunnels). Watching the world come alive and grow in Transport Fever 2 is pretty cool, and as an artist... setting up locations with a beautiful looking layout is quite enjoyable (especially when its a functional design).
Oh yeah... there is a part of Florida with a huge circular road... (huge) which will probably end up being in my next layout if I can get everything placed just right. If it can work in reality, i'm curious to see how well it would work in a digital city.
Assets can be placed in your layout to pull off your desired look. You aren't just laying out the transport routes, you can place a variety of assets like trees, rocks, hills, mountains, canyons, valleys, benches, fences, etc.
Etcetera's are part of the replay value... so i'll get to those later.
I will help you out with getting those stubborn city slickers and townsters to your trains:
1st... You need to connect a road to the train station (duh of the day).
2nd... Add a bus or tram stop near the train station, and then follow up by placing additional bus and/or tram stations around the cities.
3rd... Add a Depot for road vehicles.
4th... Click on the Depot so that you can buy some Passenger vehicles (buy at least 2 or 3 based on the size of your city or town). If it's a small location, perhaps 1 would work to get you started. Nothing wrong with slow and steady, especially if it helps you get a flow before you build upon that.
5th... Go to Line Manager and set up a line that goes to each of those bus or tram stops and over to the train station (you're basically creating a circle). *Make sure the stops are on the side of the road where the bus or tram will reach them easily so that they don't have to go on the opposite side of the street and slow things down.
Pat yourself on the back from that point... you should have successfully set up a route for your citizens to utilize the train.
Just a heads up: While you're having fun building away... don't forget that you have a loan that needs to be paid off, so you have to aim at getting some income going ASAP so that you aren't paying more in interest than necessary. My account is currently doing a dance between 5 and 6 million in the game as I get things leveled off, if your earnings remain in the blue... you're holding steady. If it dips, don't fret... because once the passengers begin to pour in and your city grow, it should shift (if not, just find out where transportation is needed for passengers and/or cargo).
Visuals: Transport Fever 2 is visually cool in both low and high res. Clearly it's going to look better in higher res, but... if you need to go to that lower setting, I don't think you're going to miss much. I didn't notice much of a change as seen below... minus the lines and shadow looking a little less clean in the low res image (leaves and grass have a bit more depth in high res but... you don't really notice).
By the way, you get the option of taking a tour of your transportation layout (so make it look good, i'd probably recommend high res for the tour... since it takes you ground level). It would be great to actually check out the inside of the trains and what not... but who knows what updates are down the track.
Low resolution:
Highest resolution:
Another thing I love visually about this game is just seeing the world transform as once transportation in the area starts to pick up... as well as when the time progresses (communities grow, but also you will see some locations go from a small structure to a freaking skyscrapper). You can also click on buildings and find out the year they were built.
(Look at the account amount... things got real bad before the turn around.)
Replay Value: When it comes to replay value, you get tons and tons of it! You're able to customize your layouts to your hearts content, the map generator gives you unpredictable results to challenge yourself but... also the etceteras (like the mods in the Steam Workshop).
Mods range from scenarios, vehicles, stations, tracks/streets, depots, buildings, assets, and more. Did I forget to mention that you can create and share your own mods here as well? Well... you can! I think this would be a really cool plus not only for the gamers who enjoy new content, but also inspiring game developers who want to show off their mods.
The map generator allows you to change up the amount of Hilliness, Water, Mainland, Forest, and Islands (based on what type of terrain you prefer). All you have to do is a tiny shift of the bar and you will see a change to the lay of the land.
Temperate (Easiest to start with)
Hilliness (Eliminate these completely if you want to get a good feel of how to make things do what they do... before jumping into more challenging maps.)
Water
Forest
Dry
Canyons
Mesas
Ridges
Water
Forest
Tropical (New to the franchise and allows you to get more use out of your ships)
Hilliness
Mainland
Forest
Islands
In addition to these options for your map, you also get to choose between vehicle types... based on location (Europe | USA | Asia).
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By the way... shout out to the team for this Editor's Note:
"The campaigns aim to portray key milestones in the history of transportation, as vividly as possible in their historical context.
They also deal with dark chapters in the world's events, whereby the corresponding episodes are never supposed to be downplayed, and the victims within them never ridiculed.
After all, it shouldn't be left by the wayside that the history of transportation was often and still is a story of conflicts, oppression, and sometimes great suffering.
Accordingly, the value judgments conveyed in the individual missions do not reflect the developers' own values."
The starting dates range from the 1850's to the year 2000, but no worries... time goes beyond the year 2000 (so game on!). It's crazy to think about the year 2000, because some of you weren't even born then.
Oh yeah... when it comes to the music, it was just okay for me. It wasn't really something I could get into, I end up just playing something in the background.
One con that I could give it regarding the learning curve... should be taken care of via the pending Wiki (which was also created for the first installment), but before the launch of future installments they should have a UI map available regardless. Also, a suggestion I would give the team is... give us the ability to change up the transportation routes. I don't want to do new lines, and if we do have the option to alter those routes... it needs to be easier to identify.
Price: Transport Fever 2 rolls in at $39.99, which is sweet. I noticed that it was almost 50% less than it could've been and instantly gave it a thumbs up (after my experience of course). There is plenty to enjoy at this price point, especially with the level of replay value in the game and in the Steam Workshop so make that... two thumbs up! By the way, you get 61 achievements to unlock.
Overall, I had fun with Transport Fever 2... even in the height of my frustrations... I came back again and again. One of my biggest goals is to make one of the smallest little big cities I can that just rakes in the income like crazy, but there is still quite a bit for me to learn... so when its time for me to cross that bridge...I'll be ready. It's time for me to do some more tinkering, so until next time... game on!
Fun Factor 3 (This took a hit based on the learning curve)
Replay Value 5
Visuals 4
Price 5
4.25 out of 5 Cool Points
