All aboard! Here we have one of the recent releases from developer Gaming Minds Studio; Railway Empire – Complete Collection. Published by Kalypso Media Digital, Railway Empire – Complete Collection brings us everything that has been released thus far including the base game and all 8 DLCs: Mexico, Crossing the Andes, Down Under, Northern Europe, France, Great Britain & Ireland, Germany and the Great Lakes. Take a journey around the world and create your empire.

The idea behind Railway Empire – Complete Collection is in the title, create an empire. Starting out in the times of the industrial revolution and the invention of the train, you are tasked with creating a mighty empire through railway. Pick your company owner from a selection, all with their own strengths and weaknesses and start your adventure.

With the amount of options available through having all 8 DLCs, decide which region you want to try your hand at and start to build and expand your reaches. Select a starting town, build your first station and begin to expand by connecting towns to your rail network, creating vast sprawling urban centers over the in-gameplay years.

You really have to manage everything yourself in Railway Empire which adds a serious amount of realism to the game. Trains breakdown, people get annoyed with the service, the constant need to hire new staff to support and run your trains and of course cash flow. Creating your network requires diligence and a lot of forward planning. Connecting lines and avoiding huge outlays for tracks is just one part of it but also managing the way you connect and where you build first can be the difference between struggling and prospering.

As you progress, you’ll unlock research points to spend wisely on things like the new locomotives and advancements in train tech. You can also set the game to have rival companies to add that extra element of pressure put on your shoulders if you really want that in depth feel of truly mastering your outcome in a region. With so many play options, challenges and tasks involved in each DLC it’s easy to lose track of time and put hours into Railway Empire – Complete Collection. Gaming Minds Studio has done a great job at providing an eye pleasing game to us with Railway Empire.

Each region in the base game and the DLCs all have beautifully set out lands with trees, desert, flowing grass plains, waterways and oceans. The camera zoom and rotation features allow you to examine and explore in detail along your network or out in the great wide beyond. Along with the zoom and rotate, there is even the ability to ride in the train, looking out off the side as the landscape passes you by and the train roars ahead.

The buildings in each town are detailed uniquely fitting to the time and country as well, which is a great touch. The sound effects associated with each DLC and new locomotive you unlock differ from each other in a way that things feel fresh each time you start a new chapter of empire building.

With so much to do, the use of a controller is more of an actual hinderance than a blessing. Using a wheel to select a multitude of different things from building to all things train related, I found it quite difficult to keep myself up with it and was constantly trying to remember how to do certain tasks which should be pretty run of the mill. Personally, I’m not sure if Railway Empire has mouse and keyboard support but if it does and you have one, I’d highly recommend using it to make it easier on yourself and a little more enjoyable too.

All in all, Railway Empire – Complete Collection is a great real time strategy game with enough content to keep enthusiasts of trains and strategy games occupied for hours on end. With all 8 DLCs included there’s plenty of bang for your buck within this game. I just wish controllers had 20 more buttons to make it a little easier to get things done.

Written by: SmuglinRaisins