Last Train Home

Well-made titles about the First World War don't grow on trees so {Last Train Home} has been a bit of a dream project for me. That's because the perspective is so interesting and unique. We don't often read much about the Czechoslovakian Legion, depending on where you're from. The story is about tens of thousands of men trying to get home but getting deeply involved in the Russian Civil War. The story of these soldiers is full of interesting moments such as travelling by armoured train, conquering vast areas of land and the Trans-Siberian Railway, treachery, stealing half of the Russian Tsar's gold reserves and much more. It could be made into lavish and exciting films.

You take on the role of one of the higher ranks aboard an armoured train on its way to Moscow to get back home safely. As you probably realised, things don't go right and you and your troops are caught in the middle of a burning civil war. Your role is to navigate this chaotic Russia where the Reds (communists) are fighting the Whites (anti-communists) for the future of the country. For those of you who have read about World War I, this is probably familiar. You quickly come into conflict with the communists, but it takes a while before you meet the resistance. Although your soldiers only want to return to their newly formed republic, all factions see you as a threat or an ally. You must therefore navigate the world with force and diplomacy.

It's clear that the developers are passionate about the subject. There is an eye for detail in both how the soldiers express themselves to the design of the uniforms. The campaign is divided into narrative via cutscenes, maps where the train travels through, events and real-time tactical battles. Your group of soldiers will need food, supplies and more to succeed. You must therefore stop the train regularly and send out troops to fetch them from villages, lakes, fields or forests. These expeditions can be dangerous and risky. You only have a limited number of soldiers, weapons, equipment and ammunition. You also have to manage the soldiers' stamina, willpower, satiety and whether they are cold or sick.

The game is designed around the hardest difficulty level, which is also switched on by default. Even for me, who regularly enjoys these titles, it is challenging. There are many complex systems working together. You can lower the level if you wish. Especially if you are only interested in the combat or resource management. There is a good range of these to tailor your train journey. My first hit was the ammunition management and fuel for the train. My soldiers would help a village with basic things to get food. We did the side jobs and shot a couple of wolves that were terrorising a small village. The villagers were grateful but my soldiers had to return to the armoured train with the food.

Then a platoon of communist soldiers storms into the village. My mission now was to protect the village. I had four soldiers, two of whom had a few shots left in their rifles. It ended pretty much as you can imagine. The mission became a bit of a lesson, the mission was classed as simple and made no mention of an attack of this scale. It permeates many of the places you visit. You need to be prepared and I quickly learnt where to send six or more soldiers and where I could send three. The other big problem was the fuel for the locomotive. I had difficulties in the beginning to find new fuel. When it runs out, the train stops and the soldiers have to go far out on the maps, usually with higher risks and increased risk of exhaustion. However, when I started to work with it, much of the difficulty disappeared.

The combination of all the interactive systems makes this a survival game in my opinion. You have to constantly make choices and consider the risks. If you get into battle, you have soldiers who rank up and get better. They can also be equipped with new weapons and other things over time. You also often have access to artillery with your train's cannons. If you need things, you can buy them or find things of value in the environments. Learning to use everything to your advantage is your path to survival. I was completely immersed in both the story and the historical setting. This is probably because of my interest in the time period but also because it is an engaging story. I also like the level of difficulty which constantly forces me to think about the decisions I make. The battles have weight and positioning is super important. It's also very stressful, every choice you make determines how far you get and it always feels like a race against the clock.

I realised right from the start how important it is to understand what you are doing. You can put troops in different positions on the train. This can range from who operates the cannons to loading coal into the train engine. The cannon can decide battles on the map. You need one soldier for the day shift and one for the night shift. You also need troops to send out on expeditions. In battles, you can use abilities, sneak and do many other things. This means that every soldier is important and fulfils a function both on the campaign map and in combat. The whole thing is something I really want to pick up on because it shapes a genuinely engaging experience, with a historical thread running through the world we're travelling through.

Of course, I could have hoped for bigger maps and more emphasis in the graphics. It needs to be said that the environments look good and the details of the soldiers are good. It's mainly in the middle sequences when the isometric perspective is switched to show the characters up close that the flaws become apparent. The graphics didn't stop me from having a lot of fun with the title. Neither did the music or sounds. The sound design is really good for the most part. It sounds good and the voice acting keeps me engaged in the story. The fact that the soldiers speak their native language is a bonus I appreciate. They do so both in cutscenes and on the battlefields. As the train chugs through villages and towns, it is very harmonious to just sit back and listen to it.

Although the sound is good enough, I didn't find the music to be on the same level. It becomes anonymous and boring in its attempt to be in the background of a historical war game. There are modern orchestras that never really elevate the experience. My suggestion for improvement would be to try to capture the spirit of the times more with much more local music from the period. Use historical references and invite the music that existed there and then into the experience. We have collections of preserved music from 1910-1925 that can be screened and remastered for a title of this calibre. If there is no local music from the countries involved, perhaps a skilled musician can recreate something credible with the spirit of the times in mind. Now it is too much of a pompous orchestra.

Overall, Last Train Home is a very good attempt to interpret the journey of the Czechoslovak Legion through war-torn Russia. It offers intrigue, treachery, battles and exciting events. With a focus on survival, it kept me engaged and the journey took me just over 30 hours to complete. It's a long train journey that rewards the history buff and thinking gamer. The shortcomings in graphics and music don't stop this from offering one of the most interesting experiences of the year. Considering that smaller developers mainly focus on first-person multiplayer games during this time period, this is a breath of fresh air. It's rare that we get such great experiences in the single person time period. In my opinion, this is worth paying a little extra attention to.