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I still remember about 18 months ago when one of my Twitch viewers gifted me Railway Empire. It was a game I enjoyed, it wasn’t quite Transport Fever, it wasn’t quite Cities:Skylines. It was something that I went on to buy some of the DLCs for.
Fast forward to earlier this year and Kalypso Media advertised that they were releasing Gaming Minds Studio’s second release in the Railway Empire series. Like a red rag to a bull, I pre-ordered the Deluxe Edition on Steam with great hope. After £55, I was hoping I made the right choice.
You can also get Railway Empire 2 through a number of suppliers:
- Standard and Deluxe Editions on Steam
- Play on your Microsoft PC Game Pass
- Buy on the Microsoft Store
- Supporting SlowPsycho though my Humble Bundle Affiliate Link
The idea of the Railway Empire series is quite simple; follow through the campaign, complete the challenges, and build-up your Railway Empire. It couldn’t be easier. Unless of course like me you played the original Railway Empire. Now… one of those words of caution before you read this and think that I am completely slating Railway Empire 2:
I play my games in a specific way – make things complicated – want to mix single track railways alongside 2-track and 4-track.
I want to segregate my freight and passenger workings, and then inter-cross them at various points to make things not just logical, but financially shoestring.
I tried to play Cities:Skylines on vanilla with the mindset of a heavily modded game.
Starting through the campaign
The first ten hours of gameplay for my Railway Empire 2 crusade was set in 19th Century US and there was a strangely familiar routine to things.
There is also a multi-player mode, which frankly, as it is co-op only and not a competitive mode (yet) – sorry…. not touched it yet!
Some really familiar features return with a tweak, like the ability to ride along with the driver, as you can see in this widescreen shot from my first few hours. The first map almost seems to serve as a tutorial, although there is already a tutorial included.
The impressive build of the research tree has had a revamp as well. You still collect points and spend them on research, but new limitations have been introduced so that benefits wain after an era:
The Express-route to greatness
There are many things that I think you will enjoy about Railway Empire 2, whether you are a new or returning player.
For a brand new player to Railway Empire some of the complication has been lifted. Personally, I find some of the changes to be a complete pain in the funnel, but I appreciate how making things a little easier for newer users can be attractive.
Soundtrack
Firstly, the soundtrack is glorious, and included for download in the deluxe edition – on Steam anyway.
Now, a word of warning because I made this mistake. When you first load up the game with the deluxe edition, there is an in game pop-up about the soundtrack. It intimates that you have to download the soundtrack within 60 minutes of first firing up the game.
Now, having noted that on Twitter, Kalypso Media were quick to say this is not the case.
I have the soundtrack downloaded though, and I am actually playing it on my commute to work at the moment!
Construction Economy
The almost cost neutral economy of construction returns. Great for the lessor experienced players, but I find it a bit of a cheat.
Now I appreciate that if you are playing a construction game, then you are going to make mistakes. Some games have a planning tool. Some allow you to immediately deconstruct and get at least most of your materials or cost back.
Railway Empire 2 (and its predecessor) both give you quite a lot back, which if you have been running a train over it for a number of years is a bit of a swizz. It does allow people to get into the game though and it allows you to make mistakes. I just wish that in the campaign there was a difficulty level adjustment that allowed you to remove that or at least taper it.
Improvements to Information Management
[Please – let me know in the comments if this slideshow block works! First time using it!]
It is great to see that when you click on a stuck train, it shows you exactly what is delaying it, and what route the offending service is going to take. Even note the information about the train in the top right. 
A great demonstration of what a city needs and whether it is being fulfilled. 
A clear overlay showing you where you can, and should, be placing your station
It was great in the first in the series, but this time around it’s better. If I remember back, the town demand screens felt…. cluttered; but the same information is presented here with a big more space. I think that generally the team at Gaming Minds Studios have done a great job presenting it.
Even down to financial reports, you get a very basic profit an loss, with an invitation to see the quaterly detailed accounts. A great idea and I think it works well without too much nagging.
The Storyline is still Great
I love the way that Gaming Minds Studios have approached the idea of campaigns. They were brilliant with the original and carried in on here. It’s the whole progression element that I like; even showing elements that you might not be able to build on yet.
The use of characters and voice prompts is not intrusive either. The game flows and keeps you in check with any tasks that you need to progress.
Hitting the Buffers – hard
There are quite a few things that do annoy me with the game.It is almost certainly because I am used to playing Railway Empire in the style I developed in the original.
It is not strange for me to think that though. I remember back when Colossal Order transitioned from Cities in Motion to Cities in Motion 2 and I suddenly found myself preferring the original.
Signals and Signalling
I have already mentioned signals and the signalling system within Railway Empire 2. I will probably, if I have remembered to write it later, have said how the automation of one-way signalling is probably a really good thing for new players.
It is far, far to simplistic for me though.
The whole idea of having a single branch line to a single freight siding is normal for a railway. Bi-directional, single line connecting chords are a thing. I want a single line and to place a signal on it allowing a train to pass it in the wrong direction.
Maybe, it is just me being pedantic and using my professional experience to want to make things more complicated.
Not being able to manually place both directional, and …. I want to say bi-directional …. signals on my build is something that has been removed from Railway Empire, and unless I am missing something obvious about this disappointing change.
As a perfect example of why I want manual signalling, we have a screenshot from the UK map of the campaign which is the second you find:
This shows a train being held on the “home” signal outside Manchester station. The red arrows (which actually is a bloody good implementation) show that it is waiting for a train coming from Carlisle. Notice how long the red ‘conflict’ route is?
The stationary train is not actually going to use the red route. It goes off to the left, but because I can not place a signal manually, at the end of the single line (by the ‘r’ of Machester) it will have to wait. The train from Carlisle arrives in Platform 2 – not even the same platform.
In the same vein (and from the same map) we have another example where there is even an intervening station using different platforms which does not prevent a conflict:
Signal Placement Intuition
The one-way signalling as it is set up now also seems to have unintended issues.
If you have one-way tracks running up to a station boundary, it won’t let you place a ‘grid-iron’ crossover near a station and appears to get confused by the one-way signalling in place. Personally, I prefer creating my own bespoke crossovers, but for new players who Gaming Minds Studios are trying to attract; I don’t think it quite works.
You will also find that if you have a passing loop within a single line, extending the loop will also confuse which parts are meant to be one-direction and which are not.
Graphical … issues
Something which did surprise me is the way that the developers have changed the placement of buildings and the graphics around it.
Something that niggles at me is the fact that object and artefact placements intrude into the beauty of the backgrounds, the stations and the running of trains:
Under the big grey block there is a 1830’s railway station. Now I do not mind having a bit of graphical interlude to show you where physical objects are. In some cases, like where factories are highlighted in red on some build screens, it is useful. These big grey blocks appear often though.
Want to place a supply tower? They appear.
Building a track? They appear.
It’s not just stations either:
New Feature – signalling a failure
It’s not just the new graphic artifices that I don’t like, it’s some elements of new features as well.
We are talking station buildings, so let’s continue in the same vein.
You expect the town to naturally grown around the station. In the original, the buildings would relocate around the station. It is not the traditional you must create a space and destroy roads and buildings approach it was something you put up with. This feature carried across.
In the development of Railway Empire 2, they appear to have changed the graphical representation to simply clear an entire multiple platforms worth of space for later:
This screenshot shows the placement of the station on the right hand side of the image already shows 8 platforms being considered. Now, if you try to place a station near where a factory or other station is blocking you; then it does become incredibly helpful and only display the number of tracks that you will eventually be able to use.
As you can see from the station already placed though, it now leaves a substantial amount of space around it, which I don’t personally like.
While we are talking stations, I will just drop a second screenshot:
I have placed a station and connected a track to platform 8, the furthest from the main station building. As a result, the game has forced me to purchase all 8 platform lines; an annoyance for me, an expensive purchase, and not one that the game necessarily highlights.
I very much preferred the old way, you had to buy the platforms before connecting to them. This new way just does not feel….. natural.
Railway Empire 2 is just Railway Empire
If I was not such an avid gamer into franchises such as this, I would probably have refunded this game. I would then play the Game Pass version for six months. There is not enough that I would be able to justify £55 on Railway Empire 2, compared to the 5 year old original.
Although I can see elements appealing to those new to the franchise, I am underwhelmed. The removal of the manual signal placement is a backwards step in my opinion. I really hope that this is something that Gaming Minds Studio consider re-implementing, even if it a toggle option to enable or disable.
If I was to offer a recommendation.
As I lay down these last paragraphs, I would say that if you are casual transport builder buy either Railway Empire 2 or the original, not both. If you want the complication of a complex signalling system, buy Railway Empire on Steam (the complete edition is just £35 on Humble Bundle) or the Microsoft Store.
Saying that, I have watched streamers on Twitch who are a fan of Railway Empire 2 as I am. I would massively recommend streams from Cringer and from Shenryyr on Twitch and on YouTube head to GrandT.
It’s horses for courses and I hope that as the dust settles with an update. I hope that I am justified in laying down my £55, even if it’s free on PC Game Pass. You have been reading about Railway Empire 2 from Gaming Minds Studios and Kalypso Media.