The Final Station

Even though it's short for the asking price, Final Station tells a compelling story in an intriguing world. 

For the first hour of gameplay The Final Station seems like a very, very good game. In time some issues come to light - mostly associated with dialogue and repetitiveness. Still it is a pretty solid debut of Do My Best Games. There weren't many better indie games this summer.

Despite the weak connective tissue that ties it all together, The Final Station leaves a positive impression. There are numerous dark and dreamy settings to discover--crumbling, dimly lit caverns, old train tunnels, vividly snowy villages, and flooded towns filled with corpses and garbage floating in water--and almost every encounter forces you to develop and execute a viable strategy, lest you shoot from the hip and end up as zombie food when your ammo runs out.

If you love an interesting story with some creepy sci-fi elements, then I highly recommend The Final Station. Finding bits of lore and slowly uncovering parts of the mystery was intriguing and kept me moving down the line, but that’s not for everyone. It’s a bit short for the price tag, but well worth your money if you enjoy single-player titles that leave you wondering at the end.

It works as a survival game, with a few interesting ideas that makes it rather unique. Still, it can be repetitive and not particularly responsive control-wise, causing some frustrating situations that could've been avoided to make a better game.

The Final Station ends up being a linear game in the end (I dispelled the illusion of choice by playing it again and finding not much changed), but this short train is worth riding at least once. Combining light simulation aspects that only get better over time with a survival mode with diminishing returns is an interesting concept that shouldn't be ignored.

The Final Station has great ideas, but after a promising beginning, the game gets so repetitive.

A fascinating journey that ends a few stops too soon. Its ending ultimately raises more questions than answers, and I was left largely unfulfilled. This disappointment bleeds into the gameplay as well, as each facet of gameplay from the citizen management to the gunplay could've been fleshed out more. Despite these shortcomings, it's still an enjoyable five hour ride — just one that ends before it hits its stride.

Somewhere, deep down in The Final Station, is a game that you can fall in love with – a rough adventure where you uncover a mystery and where every moment is filled with tension or despair. Unfortunately, the game that you actually get is too shallow and repetitive to be satisfying, and the story is so confusing that it is downright broken. The story’s failures are especially disappointing, because you can see the makings of something great around the periphery.