Railway Empire
Railway Empire
Sorti le 26 janvier 2018, Railway Empire est un jeu de simulation et de stratégie développé par Gaming Minds Studios et édité par Kalypso Media. Le titre est disponible sur PC (Windows, Linux), PlayStation 4, Xbox One et Nintendo Switch. L'action se déroule aux États-Unis à partir de 1830, invitant le joueur à participer à l'essor industriel nord-américain à travers cinq ères technologiques successives.
Le cœur du gameplay repose sur la création d'un réseau ferroviaire étendu et complexe. Le joueur dispose de plus de quarante locomotives historiques modélisées en détail et de plus de trente wagons différents, chacun possédant ses forces et ses faiblesses. Au-delà de la pose de rails, il faut acheter ou construire des gares, des bâtiments de maintenance, des usines et des attractions touristiques pour optimiser le transport de passagers et de marchandises. La gestion des effectifs est également nécessaire pour assurer un service efficace, tandis qu'un arbre technologique de plus de trois cents innovations — améliorations mécaniques, infrastructures, équipements — permet de faire progresser l'entreprise.
Le jeu propose une campagne principale qui traverse le continent d'une côte à l'autre, ainsi que divers scénarios avec des objectifs spécifiques et un mode construction sans contrainte financière. La concurrence est incarnée par jusqu'à trois compagnies rivales ; pour prendre l'avantage, le joueur peut recourir à l'espionnage industriel, engager des criminels ou saboter les installations adverses. Une fonctionnalité permet par ailleurs d'embarquer en vue subjective dans la cabine des trains pour parcourir le réseau et les paysages.
Côté réception critique, les agrégateurs attribuent des notes moyennes favorables, avec 74 sur Metacritic, 76 sur OpenCritic et une note agrégée de 76,42. La presse spécialisée a souligné la solidité du titre : GameStar le décrit comme une simulation ferroviaire dans la veine des productions d'Ascaron, qui « ne réinvente pas la roue mais fonctionne bien », tandis que Hooked Gamers a noté un rythme de progression proche de celui de Sid Meier's Railroads! (2003), le situant hors du registre purement « train simulator ».
Les retours joueurs sont en revanche plus partagés. Sur Metacritic, un utilisateur recommande vivement la version PC au détriment des versions consoles, jugeant l'expérience radicalement différente. Un autre le qualifie de « triste clone » des classiques Railroad Tycoon, critiquant le doublage non-américain, la direction artistique jugée proche du jeu mobile et l'interface utilisateur. Sur Steam, des avis négatifs regrettent l'absence d'un véritable système de signalisation ferroviaire et trouvent la gestion peu agréable, n'ayant pas réussi à accrocher malgré une idée de base sympathique.
Pour venir à bout de l'histoire principale, il faut compter environ vingt heures et demie, tandis que l'obtention de tous les contenus peut demander jusqu'à deux cent soixante-douze heures. Le jeu est actuellement proposé au tarif de 5,99 EUR.
Médias
Avis des critiques et joueurs
Critiques de la Presse (Metacritic)
« The speed at which Railway Empire progresses is similar to that of 2003’s Sid Meier’s Railroads! and that moves it decidedly outside of the realm of rail transport simulation titles such as Transport Fever and Railroad Tycoon. I was a bit afraid at first that this would hamper my enjoyment but nothing could be further from the truth. It’s a tremendous amount of fun and sinking 80 hours into the game has left me far from bored. I keep going back for more and I find new strategies to up my game with every playthrough. For an action oriented rail game that was never meant to cater to my train tycoon simulator itch, that’s a deviously masterful trick. »
« Solid railway game in the style of Ascaron's economic simulations. Doesn't reinvent the wheel, but works well. »
« Railway Empire is not for every player because it doesn’t know how to introduce them to its complex mechanics but, despite that, it is an amazing strategic game that any fan of the genre will surely like. »
« With an incredibly eye for polish and simplification, Gaming Minds Studio has created a magnificently accessible game that unfortunately is not equally complex. »
« Railway Empire follows the footsteps of Railroad Tycoon and also adds a new content with fresh new ideas –all packed in a comprehensible way and elegant style. [Issue#283] »
« Railway Empire is already a well crafted railway management game, however this Complete Collection brings all the additional content in a single package. »
« An awesome way to enjoy the training infrastructure building, to learn how to expand an authentic industrial "empire" and also a good way to learn how the transporting world works. Long, deep and interesting for fans of management. »
« I probably enjoyed Railway Empire more than I should have. I liked laying down tracks and adding switches and figuring out how to move a multitude of trains around without them causing traffic jams and blockages. But the game is a little on the casual side to suit me completely, it only includes early trains in the United States, and it has enough interface and gameplay problems right now that I’m only giving it a minor recommendation. Railway Empire is best suited to people who like trains and simulations, or who played Railroad Tycoon back in the day and have been wishing for it to make a comeback. »
Avis des Joueurs (Metacritic)
« An 8 for the PC-version and it's a 7 foPS4-version. Too anybody reading this: play it on PC an not on a console. In this game it's a difference between night and day playing with mouse or console. Generally a solid, fun and a good game which invites me constantly to progress. Visiuals are o.k. and taking good care about laying the tracks and doing the signs well is a must. A very nice must! Having that said I always felt that there could have been more to this in terms of building the cities around the stations and in the land in betweens. I can't put my finger on it why, but that feeling that another dev or a more talented/enthusiastic dev team could have gotten way more out of this game. It feels a bit like a void or something that can be filled. That's why I come to an 8 and not a 9. Still highly recommend it if you loved Railroad Tycoon back in the day. »
« A sad clone of the Railroad Tycoon classics. The non-American voice acting is jarring, the art style is something from mobile gaming, and the user interface is janky and frustrating. »
« Very good game. I enjoyed playing this game a lot. I strongly recommend this. »
« I mean sure, the game is not ground breakin in anyway. And once you get the hang of connecting the stations and the combinations of **** game is not very challenging anymore. But I had good fun with it. Its not so much a sandbox game just like TTD. Its more an objective based game. Where you have to achieve certain goals within a time limit. And those come with their own challenges. Overal, solid. But...sometimes tedious. Hence the 7-8 rating is well deserved. »
« A sold enough railroad simulation game. The actual track building portion of the game in probably the strength. However it feels a little "gamey" at times with a lot of things locked behind research and the overly annoying voice overs. Still worth a look for fans of these type of games. »
« Not as good as Railroad Tycoon, but nothing can compete with childhood memories :-) Railway Empire is fun to play and has a good balance between tough and easy objectives. »
« It is a really good transport simulation game. The graphics are beautiful and it is more than enough for games like that. But, what is most important for me, room for strategical decisions, some challenge as you learn, and also re-playability (with generation of maps in free/sandbox mode) are also there. Of course, there are some simplifacations (as almost in all other modern games), and for me, some things could be more complicated or difficult. But anyway, you take on decisions about routes, engines, products, what cities to grow first etc. Also you will be dealing with traffic which rises quite fast. And building tracks, lots of tracks and placing singals and make everything optimized. Maps are big enough, there are about 20-25 products in each timeline (and some different ones in addons), which is also somewhat enough, AI is quie challenging to play (if you will not exploit it ;) but it's up to you, how to play). So, while there is sitll some room for improvements (maybe it is more just some tweaks here and there), the game is quite good in its current state, it is somewhat addictive and challenging. Maybe I do not recommend to buy it at current full price, but with decent discount it is totally worth it. »
« i find it ultimately annoying to build signals... every fcking time! Overall missions are not big challenge. Sandbox is cool, at 1st, but easily becomes boring! »
