Last Train Home – One of the interesting consequences of the rapid development of the global gaming industry is that seemingly “forgotten” stories of world history now appear in games, with unique, new storytelling styles. but extremely effective.

Last Train Home – by studio Ashborne Games seems to be the next game in this wave, as the game follows a small corner forgotten by history in revolutionary Russia, emerging amid historical events to open new pages for one of the the most important “new” European nation in contemporary history.

So what's special about this last train? And will their journey go smoothly or not? Let's find out with MarkGame in this article.

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The final march

Russia in 1918 was a time of great chaos, with the Bolsheviks and the Whites vying for power throughout the six-year Russian civil war. This was a bloody, fierce, and extremely complicated war, largely because the warring factions were not only Russian, but also had the intervention of surrounding empires, separatists, and the “vassal” legions of the old Tsarist regime.

One of the foreign “corps” caught up in this terrible civil war was the Czechoslovak army, which participated in the war because of the false promise of the White Army that if they won they would “return independence”. for a new republic of Czechoslovakia. But the war escalated, and the soldiers of the Czechoslovak army became more and more tired of the battle, and this was their opportunity to cross the vast and dangerous Russia to return to their homeland on trips. armored ship.

Historical background of Last Train Home is an extremely interesting piece of history but few people know about it. But the strengths of this setting do not stop there, throughout the game, the Czechoslovak army is always in a dangerous situation, when no one can provide them with medicine, ammunition, food and even fuel. Let the ship continue, and the warring factions around them, if not “stray bullets”, are also ready to point their guns at them to rob resources or show off their power to the people.

This dangerous situation makes the plot and mechanics of the game very harmonious with each other. Throughout Last Train Home, players will do two main activities: drive a ship, send soldiers to certain areas to scout or search for resources, but from time to time they will be blocked by bandits or one of the warring factions. At this point, the player is forced to stop the ship and directly control the troops to confront the enemy.

Each “main” activity of the game requires different resources. When driving a ship, the player needs to pay attention to food and fuel, and when fighting, it is medicine and ammunition. But the biggest “common point” of these two activities is the “human problem”.

Each soldier on the repatriation train will have three separate indicators: health bar (HP), morale (morale) and stamina (stamina), and depending on the player's decision, they will be “drained”. one way or another.

For example, if the player is careless in battle, the soldiers will be injured and lose blood. If the player does not have enough medicine to treat them, they will not only gradually die, but also “destroy” the soldiers' morale. other monk. The death of a comrade will definitely cause soldiers to have a serious mental breakdown, and if you force them to work too much, the lack of physical strength will also make mental recovery more difficult.

Although players can completely save to exchange and trade resources with local residents, essential items are often expensive, and if they rely too much on this mechanism, the situation will certainly even more “dangerous”.

The fact that these indicators are closely related to each other makes it even more interesting Last Train Home, especially on higher, more difficult difficulties. Because of the scarcity of resources, players must always force soldiers to work with all their might, clashes always end in bloodshed and draining everyone's strength.

But unlike other “heavy” survival games like Frostpunk, Last Train Home also “attacks” the players' psychology by portraying these soldiers in an extremely intimate and meticulous way.

Historical background of Last Train Home is an extremely interesting piece of history but few people know about it

To the Children of Czechoslovakia One Hundred Years Later

Playing the role of the new commander of the Czechoslovak army after an incident that led to the death of the old commander, the player seems to be “pushed” into an awkward situation when he is just a young, inexperienced officer. experience while all the soldiers under your command always doubt and compare you with the previous commander.

Throughout the game, players must grapple with the trust of their teammates, and the dire situation at hand makes the game's difficulties feel more real, more believable, and more heart-wrenching.

It's even more heartbreaking when the soldiers under your command are not the same expressionless faces like other games, each soldier has a unique voice, a unique face, a unique story, a unique ambition. return home, to the new country of Czechoslovakia. Throughout the game, through the turmoil, pain and loss of war, players will become more attached to these soldiers.

The most ingenious thing Last Train Home What we can do is build that connection in a flexible and natural way through the harmony of gameplay and storytelling.

High-intensity and stressful gameplay with a dangerous story line makes it easy for players to cherish every interaction with the soldiers under their command, whether in battle, commanding ships or simply is chatting between breaks.

The “permadeath” mechanism makes every loss of the game even more painful, making the writer willing to trade a lot to ensure that all soldiers can return home. to see the old homeland and build a new republic together.

At the end of the game, when the player finally sees the way back to his homeland in front of him, amidst the miseries and hardships that have passed, to become a part of history, then Last Train Home has succeeded in telling an extraordinary story, in a very relatable way.

Players must grapple with the trust of their teammates, and the dire situation at hand makes the game's difficulties feel more real, more believable, and more heart-wrenching.

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“Half-Half” Wars

Although the management and narrative gameplay of Last Train Home are so wonderful and skillfully blended, but the game's combat mechanics don't have enough “weight” to accompany them.

The game's combat missions take a top-down perspective and allow players to act secretly, so the feeling is very similar to classic games like Desperados, Commandos or newer titles from MiMiMi such as Shadow Tactics. But the similarities only stop at the fact that the game gives you the option to go quietly, sneak and stop time, and the game's level design. Last Train Home is relatively arbitrary to allow for secret action mechanisms, and most of the time the player only moves quietly to “deal with” a few guards standing outside before being discovered “sliplessly” first. when fighting with enemies.

And once the gunfights happen, the biggest problem in my combat mechanics Last Train Home immediately appeared – it was the enemy AI (artificial intelligence) that was too sketchy.

There will be 4 different types of soldiers for players to control, including medics, assault soldiers, reconnaissance soldiers and grenadiers. These troops all have different equipment and skills, and have different functions in combat, and although they sometimes open up interesting tactical options, because of their response times and layout, The enemies are too slow and too… stupid (standing still without cover or running straight into the player's line of fire), so the combat challenges immediately disappear!

The player's squad of soldiers only needs to level up 1-2 levels to completely overwhelm large groups of enemies, making the clashes in the game monotonous, time-consuming and boring, becoming a The “background” is somewhat redundant compared to the game's excellent storytelling and resource management mechanism.

Leveling up is not even necessary, because the enemy is so slow and simple that many times the player only needs to send a group of assault soldiers to rush to the base and the enemy will… stand still and die.

The biggest problem in combat's mechanics Last Train Home immediately appeared – it was the enemy AI (artificial intelligence) that was too sketchy.