Unrailed! Review: Track-Building Chaos with Friends
Unrailed! proves to be a derailment of dullness with its chaotic multiplayer fun.
last updated Dec 12, 2023
Get your train conductor hat on, call up your pals (or frenemies), and give Unrailed! the green light.
Stressful Symphony in Co-Op Gameplay
Jumping into Unrailed!, you better have your stress balls at the ready and your friendship treaties signed and notarized. This game is the digital incarnation of 'too many cooks in the kitchen', except the kitchen is hurtling toward doom on an incomplete track. The objective is deceptively simple: work together with your pals to lay down tracks for a never-stopping train. It's a recipe for hilarity and frustration as you juggle resource gathering, track building, and the occasional yelling match. While the bot makes for a decent, but ultimately soulless partner, human companions are where it's at. And let's face it, ordering a bot around just doesn't have the same satisfaction as screaming at your friend to grab the dang axe already!
Tunes and Toots - A Soundtrack for Success
Diving into the audio experience of Unrailed!, the soundscape is a pleasant surprise, striking a balance between the urgency of a runaway train and the light-hearted aesthetics. The tunes whistleblower a mix of catchy and calming, paradoxically soothing the nerves you're about to fray with your buddies. The clinks and clunks of mining and construction are satisfyingly tactile, and the choo-choos of your impending locomotive doom are on cue. But let's be real, half the music will be drowned out by the shouts and laughter of your friends anyway, as you collectively try not to become trainwrecks—both literally and figuratively.
A Voxel Visual Voyage
Visually, Unrailed! chugs along nicely with a voxel art style that's cuter than a kitten in a conductor's hat. This charming aesthetic hides the ruthless core of the game well, and performance-wise, it's as smooth as the train you hope to keep on the rails. While usually uncomplicated (until your friends mess things up), visibility can get tangled when in-game icons mesh into the landscape, leaving you staring at your screen like a lost tourist in a foreign subway system. Despite that, it's clear the developers put a lot of thought into making a game that looks good on screen while not frying your GPU like an egg on a hot summer sidewalk.
A Railroad of Content Well-Worth the Ticket
Depth in Unrailed! doesn't come from a story or character development – it comes from the sheer variety of shenanigans you'll get up to with your locomotive brethren. Different biomes bring fresh feels to the game, and the upgrade system ensures your train doesn't become yesterday's news. Plus, with a slew of unlockable characters and carts, you're bound to get that 'just one more game' itch. And while the game could use more content (here's looking at you, Unrailed! 2), what's there runs the distance. The plethora of strategic possibilities gels well with the procedural levels, ensuring your experience is both rewarding and chaotic - like eating soup with a fork.
STEAM RATING
Developer
Indoor Astronaut
Publisher
Daedalic Entertainment
Release Date
September 23, 2020
The Verdict
Unrailed! is a testament to the power of simple concepts executed extraordinarily well. It's a frenzied, cooperative experience that exemplifies how multiplayer games can still offer novel and exciting gameplays. If you can handle the (fun) stress and the wrath of your now-questionable comrades, then this game is a slam dunk. Get your train conductor hat on, call up your pals (or frenemies), and give Unrailed! the green light. Just don't blame me when you can’t look each other in the eye the next day.
