UnderRail Review (PC)

good
key review info
  • Game: UnderRail
  • Platform: PC
  • Show system requirements
  • Gamepad support: No
  • Reviewed on:
UnderRail has solid RPG mechanics

Fallout 4 was one of the biggest titles of last year, an open world action driven experience that has managed to attract millions of players and has picked up plenty of awards while moving farther and farther away from its origins, to the disillusionment of some of its long-term fans.

UnderRail is a video game from Stygian Games which will allow those gamers to experience a story and a set of gameplay mechanics that will remind them of old favorites while delivering its unique twists on the role-playing game formula.

Retro is the defining term for the video game, and it manages to do a great job of capturing the attention of those who loved Fallout but also of players who liked Arcanum or the early Forgotten Realms titles because it does such a great job of showing how solid their mechanics were.

The graphics are also very classic looking, with a focus on functionality, and the gameplay is a little unwieldy at times, but UnderRail is a video game that has the depth to occupy tens of hours of play time for gamers who want to immerse themselves in a universe.

The game has been in development and Early Access for a long time and can be played only on the PC.

Story

UnderRail takes players, as the name suggests, to the underground, to a network of tunnels and stations that is filled with the remnants of humanity after the surface of the planet is rendered uninhabitable.

The entirely player defined protagonist is accepted into South Gate Station and starts off in classic role-playing fashion, running errands for the most important persons in the location, only to then gain the ability to travel to other locations and to interact with factions that have their vision for the future of humanity.

The overall storyline features a conspiracy, some tough choices and plenty of details about the various players in the current power struggle, but I appreciated the game more for how it handled the smaller quests and the less important characters.

The writing in UnderRail is not flashy or impressive but does a good job at conveying the spartan situation that the protagonist finds himself in and the pressures that mere survival puts on those who managed to make their way underground.

Stygian has also done a great job when it comes to character creation, with seven core skills that then influence skills that range from combat to conversation and then a huge number of feats, which give players a lot of space to create a protagonist that feels unique.

UnderRail also uses all these stats during the narrative in interesting ways and, despite its limitations, feels more open than modern titles because it offers options when it comes to problem solving, with consequences that take time to become apparent.

Gameplay

UnderRail is played from an isometric perspective and features freeform interactions and exploration as well as round based combat built around an action points system.

The player character can move around the world in real time, interacting with other characters, trying to use hacking and lockpicking to get extra loot and access secret areas or using stealth to try and discover more of the world without being noticed.

Meeting enemies is inevitable and when contact is made, UnderRail switches to a turn-based system, giving the character separate movement and action points and then offering a free hand to deal with threats according to his abilities and equipment.

The game features traditional firearms, melee weapons, a crossbow that can be very useful because of its special bolts as well as psychic powers that resemble the magic of a fantasy universe in many ways and are very useful despite their specialized nature.

Combat is hard, with each enemy type having its behavior and vulnerability, and gamers need to carefully use their resources to deal with each threat or simply find a way to get away.

The encounters can get a little repetitive, especially for gamers who narrowly specialize their character, and a more detailed targeting system or the option to use companions might have added a little more variety.

UnderRail makes trading more interesting by introducing a dynamic system that shifts the purchasing priorities for each character and encourages the player to be as self-reliant as possible rather than rely on others to provide him with resources.

The game world offers a lot of material which can be turned into weapons and consumables, but that process requires blueprints that are valuable early on, which means that there's a temptation to trade them for cash, or can be hard to secure.

UnderRail offers two takes on the progression system, one based around oddities that need to be collected from the game world, encouraging exploration and interactions, and another that uses classic experience points linked to killing and quests, which is clearly designed to appeal to old school RPG fans.

Both work well with the core mechanics, but I find the first one to be more closely aligned with the overall theme of the game.

The level design in UnderRail initially seems a little limited, but once the game opens up, the developers offer some very cool locations to explore, and there are always secret passages to discover and new areas to open up for those who have agility or a solid supply of explosives.

The biggest problem with the game is that it can sometimes feel too punishing during combat, with the main character often attacked by groups of enemies that are very hard to defeat, especially when their numbers offer them access to enhanced abilities.

UnderRail rewards patience and sometimes trial and error is the only way to know how to deal with certain situations or which areas of the world should only be explored after gaining a few levels and better equipment.

Graphics and audio

UnderRail might be mistaken for one of the video games it evokes because the developers are more interested in functionality than in delivering impressive sights, which would be relatively hard given the isometric perspective.

The world is a little barren and could have used some more details, especially when it comes to the inhabited bases, but the interface is very solid and allows players to easily deal with equipment and with their character's powers.

Somehow the limited appeal of the graphics manages to underline the depressive nature of underground living, the way the remnants of humanity need to deal not only with enemies and survival related challenges but also with the fact that their world is narrower and darker than ever.

UnderRail darkness battle
UnderRail darkness battle

I would have appreciated a bigger font for dialog options and some more detail for the main character and the various important characters that he interacts with, as well as a notebook that offers more information on quests and features a least some map for the bigger areas.

The music of UnderRail is well suited to the dark atmosphere for the title, but the sound design is very limited and fails to help players become more engaged with the world, with the weapon sounds especially disappointing.


The Good

  • Classic role-playing ideas
  • Interesting atmosphere
  • Character customization and progression

The Bad

  • Difficulty spikes in combat
  • Limited graphical appeal

Conclusion

UnderRail shows that classic ideas and mechanics can deliver impressive gameplay results even in an age when the RPG space tends to lose its identity under the assault of improved graphics and the need to make combat the best way to solve every situation.

Stygian Games understands what made the first Fallout such an immersive and impactful experience despite its limitations and manages to offer fans of that kind of title a new world where they can spend a lot of time.

I especially appreciate the depth of the character creation system and the way each build opens up new ways to deal with quests and allows the player to create an extra layer of narrative linked to feats and skills and combat results that will complement the official story.

The game is not perfect, and the limited graphics and the mix of complexity and difficulty will drive some players away, but UnderRail has both the atmosphere and the mechanics to keep old school role-playing game fans entertained while also offering a few interesting surprises for those looking for a modern experience.

story 9
gameplay 8
concept 9
graphics 6
audio 6
multiplayer 0
final rating 7.5
Editor's review
good
 

UnderRail Images (15 Images)

UnderRail has solid RPG mechanicsUnderRail creation momentUnderRail atmosphereUnderRail tradingUnderRail options
+10more