Rail Nation thrusts players into railroad management right away. Players will compete with rival companies to attempt to grow their company, unlock new upgrades and equipment and make new missions available that come with greater rewards. Rail Nation has a good sense of progression that rewards players for sticking with the game and playing it each and every day. At times, the game seems to run out of interesting missions for players to perform in the game, and players will find themselves sitting around waiting for the next objective to be unlocked to continue having fun with the game, though this doesn't mean the game still isn't plenty entertaining most of the time.
One of the most interesting aspects of Rail Nation is how the game incorporates the different eras, iconic cities with real life landmarks and interesting historical figures from the history of railroad transportation. The game will alternate between eras that range from steam-powered locomotives to modern day trains with intervals of about every two weeks. The changing eras allows players to enjoy the game across multiple settings and see how the changes in technologies affect gameplay and managing a railroad company. Players will begin the game with only a few cities available, but there are 50 different cities in total that will be eventually unlocked to allow players to earn even more prestige and rewards from completing deliveries with their trains on time. Historical figures including some famous scientists that give added benefits to the player's railroad company to get an advantage over the competition.
There are a decent amount of customization options available for players to choose in Rail Nation. The game includes over 40 different types of trains for players to use in deliveries across the different eras available to play in the game, and there are also over 30 unique paint jobs included to customize the locomotives even more. These include anything from basic colors palettes to flame decals and go a long way in making a train and company feel authentic to what the player wants out of the experience.
Rail Nation includes some multiplayer components but lacks any truly online multiplayer modes. Players can choose to team up with friends and other players to gain some additional benefits in-game. This allows players to form corporations and attempt to climb the leaderboards to become the most well known entity in the world, but players shouldn't expect to be able to team up with friends and run a single company from within the same game session. The lack of a true multiplayer hurts the experience just a bit, but Rail Nation is still a lot of fun as a single player game just the same.
Rail Nation is a pretty nice looking game that fits alongside some of the better looking free-to-play and mobile games in the industry. There are colorful and friendly looking characters to help players learn to manage their company and deliveries, and the different locations make each trip feel a bit different from another. There are plenty of famous locations throughout history and the different eras to see including the Grand Canyon and Statue of Liberty to give the in-game scenery a boost as well. A couple of catchy themes help compliment the gameplay nicely as well to round out a fairly high quality presentation in Rail Nation.
Rail Nation is a fun time, and the game is free-to-play, so players loose nothing for signing up to try out the game. All that is needed to play the game is a browser based computer with Flash player. The team behind Rail Nation have created a really fun experience that allows players to feel as though they are managing their own railroad while including some very addictive gameplay and progression that will keep gamers hooked to the new title. Rail Nation is now available free-to-play on the official Rail Nation website.
Rail Nation is now available free-to-play in all browser based computers. For more information on the game, check out the official Rail Nation website.
Game Features:
- Single Player
- Free-to-Play
- 50 Cities to Visit
- Over 30 Custom Paint Jobs
- Strategic Railroad Management Gameplay
Game Information:
Developer: Bright Future
Publisher: Travian Games
Platforms: PC (reviewed) & Mac
Release Date: June 3, 2014
