Railway Empire 2 Review

Gaming Minds Studios has finally delivered the follow-up to its hit 2018 sim. Does this sequel go off the rails or is it full steam ahead? GameWatcher reviews Railway Empire 2 to see if it’s worth climbing aboard.

It felt like a matter of time before Railway Empire got a sequel. The original game was something of a hit as it connected with sim gamers and hobbyists alike. It had the magic sauce to combine those groups and you can see why. It scratched some very particular, comfortable itches for both. These days it’s seen on level-pegging with Kalypso-published titles such as Tropico. So you know it had an impact. Now developer Gaming Mind Studios returns with a bigger, better sequel.

As with the original, Railway Empire 2 sees the player don the topcoat and tails of a wannabe rail tycoon in the golden age of rail. A set of characters are available to choose from that are based on historical figures in the legacy of the railway. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses that can be used to your advantage. Rivals are also racing to be at the forefront of a transport revolution. So you’ll need all to keep very sharp and sneaky to keep on top as your empire grows. Railway Empire 2 is a mix of historical strategy and economic simulation and the aim is to be the king in both.

Maps are considerably larger in Railway Empire 2. You can build rail empires from coast to coast in North America or all across Europe (albeit on a scale that isn’t 1:1 with real life because that would be stupidly intimidating and probably kill your PC). But if that is to happen, then it’s crucial that you understand what goes into a successful rail network. Gaming Mind Studios is more than happy to teach you too!

The towns you utilize for your rail journey start small. Building a rail network through them will help them grow. This is thankfully not too complicated and is handled by the mystical algorithms that pull the game together. You just put the station down and the town will readjust its layout accordingly. The only areas you can’t lay a station down are the established industry buildings. There would be nothing worse than fiddling for ages to fit a station into a town because the alignment of it was wrong for it.

Each town has industry it excels in, and this will be its export to offer other towns and cities along the line. There needs to be a variety among your towns so you can help each one thrive and remain relevant. Fulfill the needs of citizens and the local area will grow.

There's plenty of land to tame in your rail journey

Obviously, some will be better positioned than others, and there’s no harm in a secondary source of something, but it’s a tricky balance that Railway Empire does its best to explain during a series of seven tutorials that ease you into the intimidating experience.

I can’t say I’m a big fan of railways, but the strategy/sim space has long taught me that I can get into anything if it’s well-made and has a compelling hook. Railway Empire 2 certainly has that. I like the trial and error of aligning towns and cities in terms of trade whilst also having to keep an eye on what rivals are up to. That Civilisation bug of getting a bit too invested in beating A.I. rivals is oh so easily caught in Railway Empire 2. It’s made especially juicy because of the tools Railway Empire 2 gives you to do that.

You can mess with rivals in a variety of ways. Hire a saboteur to screw up their operations, then buy shares in them and eventually buy them out completely. Of course, this can happen to you as well, so there are consequences for being a railroad despot.

It’s easier to get invested in this side of Railway Empire 2 with a simplified city-to-city connection system. You simply drag tracks from one city or town to the next and viola. It’s built. With a click of a button, signals and switches are automatically deployed to cut out the busywork and prevent unnecessary delays. Spent too much money on a line because it crosses bodies of water or goes through hills and mountains? You can edit the path to avoid those obstacles and bring costs down. The granular stuff in Railway Empire 2 being more automated is a smart move now the scope of things is significantly larger.

There are still complexities to tinker with though. Picking the right trains for industries and needs can be the difference between profit and loss. No point wasting time and cash on two trains for two jobs when a particular train can handle both comfortably.

You can also set limits for workers to ensure they don’t get pushed too hard. The game is keen to remind you that people are a big part of the journey and while the objective is to become a rich tycoon of rail, it should come with a side of humility. Results may vary of course.

There’s something very niche in Railway Empire 2 that appeals to me, and I think it actually might be my favorite part of the whole game. And I barely have to press a single key or move the mouse.

Railway Empire 2 can be a wonderfully serene time

You can follow your trains on their journey and witness the progress you’ve made as it crosses the countries/states. I recently discovered the joy of seeing your city at street level in Cities VR, and anything like that in sim games is an engrossing niche interest of mine. I used to ride the rails of Los Santos in GTA V just to drink in the scenery and Railway Empire 2 holds some of that magic too.

Railway Empire 2 does a fine job of pushing the series forward. You can see how it has arrived at the crossroads of pandering to its niches and becoming more accessible. The job was finding a balance that doesn’t rub the established fans the wrong way, but lures in some more casual sim fans. I feel it has achieved this as best it could. It’ll still be a hard sell for a casual audience, but that’s okay. That’s what comes with finding a niche and cultivating it. Railway Empire 2 should have no problem finding the kind of success the original enjoyed and perhaps even beyond.