Train Valley: Console Edition Review (PS4)

fair
key review info
  • Game: Train Valley: Console Edition
  • Platform: Playstation 5
  • Show system requirements
  • Gamepad support: Yes  
  • Reviewed on:
Train Valley screenshot

the world, and it all happens for a very good reason: the concept they are based on is something many of us dreamed about as kids.

By putting players in the shoes of an almighty manager whose role is to manage every little part of the business, such titles are typically pretty involving and come with lots of things you always need to keep an eye on. Truth be told, most of them have also evolved substantially in the last few years, and Transport Giant is just living proof in this regard.

Enter Train Valley: Console Edition.

If you haven’t played Train Valley before, the first thing you must know is that it’s based on the very same concept I detailed above. The major difference from all the other similar titles is that it hasn’t evolved to make the whole thing more complicated than it should be.

The idea Train Valley comes with is pretty simple: connect railway stations and then get your trains from one station to another while avoiding crashes. Building tracks can only be done by keeping an eye on finances, while running the trains requires plenty of attention, especially as developer Flazm has introduced several train models, each with its own specifics (such as speed). In other words, things are getting more challenging as you advance in the career (there’s no story, so you just have to play one level after another).

Train Valley screenshot
Train Valley screenshot
Train Valley screenshot
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Completing the level comes down to certain tasks, and the better you do, the more stars you get. The whole thing reminds me of mobile games, but having the same system on console isn’t necessarily bad news, especially if you’re mostly interested in simple, arcade games.

The graphics are basic, to say the least, and to be honest, this isn’t at all something to complain about. They serve their purpose just right, as it’s pretty clear that Train Valley is all about the gameplay experience it offers.

The one thing you need to avoid at all costs is an accident between your trains. Once you connect multiple stations and you have several crosses, you must always keep an eye on each train to make sure it doesn’t collide with another one heading to a different station.

This is actually the main mission for each level, but fortunately, Train Valley also allows players to stop trains in order to avoid crashes. However, the faster you reach a station, the more money you make, so you’re always playing against the clock. Accidents do happen though, and they come with a pretty big cost, as they cause an explosion that eventually destroys the tracks and produces damage to the surrounding buildings.

Unfortunately, Train Valley: Console Edition has one major shortcoming. And it’s mentioned right in the title.

Train Valley screenshot
Train Valley screenshot
Train Valley screenshot
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The console support isn’t by any means as smooth as I expected it to be, and playing it with a controller is often a frustrating experience that leads to errors ruining the whole fun.

This is because you need to do everything, from controlling trains to building tracks, using the DualSense controller, as the game doesn’t come with a free cursor that you can move around. Once you have multiple trains on the track and you need to stop one of them, you’ll understand precisely what I’m talking about. Toggling between the track building mode, the station manager, and a running train is a mess, and this is precisely what makes playing Train Valley infuriating more often than not.


The Good

  • Great concept
  • Simple yet good graphics
  • Nice soundtrack

The Bad

  • Awful controller support
  • Huge learning curve

CONCLUSION

Train Valley is most of the time a great game to play, especially if you’re only interested in a simple railway management system that doesn’t come with a complex approach.

The console port, however, is a double-edged sword. While gamers can thus install Train Valley on their consoles, the lack of a proper implementation makes it pretty difficult to play at certain times, especially when running against the clock.

There’s no way to deal with this shortcoming, and while the learning curve is more than obvious, I don’t think too many people out there are going to give Train Valley enough time for this purpose. At the end of the day, Train Valley comes with a great mix that lacks precisely what it needs the most on a console: proper controller support.

Review code provided by the publisher.

story 0
gameplay 7
concept 8
graphics 6
audio 8
multiplayer 0
final rating 6.5
Editor's review
fair
 
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Photo Gallery (18 Images)

Train Valley screenshot
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