Gaming Minds Studio adds a new map and luxury system to Railway Empire 2.
Railway Empire 2: Journey to the East is an exciting DLC that adds a brand new scenario and map to the base game of Railway Empire 2. The game was developed by Gaming Minds Studio, a well-known game development company that has been active since the 90s, and published by Kalypso Media, who are known for publishing hit titles such as the Tropico series and Commandos.
Although Railway Empire 2 is commonly considered a strategy simulation game, it is more precisely described as a business tycoon game. To succeed in this cut-throat world in the 1800s, you must utilize your strategic skills to outmaneuver your rivals and make smart business decisions. Your ability to stay ahead of the competition entirely depends on your capability to make wise choices.
Railway Empire 2: Journey to the East brings a fresh new region map that can be played in all modes. You can now build your most ambitious rail line, connecting the Orient and Occident in a vast 1.3 million km map. With over 30 cities and many more rural businesses to purchase, you can expand your Railway Empire to unprecedented heights. This standalone map is currently one of the largest ones available.
In Railway Empire 2: Journey to the East, you’ll embark on a journey from Vienna and travel through various cities until you reach Constantinople. The DLC introduces a new feature called the Luxury Line, which could either be a huge boon to your earnings or leave you in financial trouble. The Luxury Line can be added to your standard mail/passenger route, and you can adjust the pricing to double your usual profits.
However, this feature is only available for research from 1870 onwards. Unfortunately, the city menus do not provide detailed information on the Luxury Line, including the number of luxury passengers and their corresponding fares displayed on the mail/passenger destination screen for each city.
The newly introduced luxury line has brought in a range of new resources that are highly sought after in various cities around the region. These resources are currently only available in the new Balkans map. The demand for these simple luxuries, such as high-quality textiles, honey, and olives, is widespread across the entire map, so making sure your railway is interconnected to every part of the map is needed.
The new map in Railway Empire 2: Journey to the East is extremely mountainous, which makes it challenging to navigate. You are able to research six new locomotives to navigate through the valleys and peaks as you connect one city to another. However, it also comes with its own set of challenges. You cannot dig tunnels through most of the mountains, so you will have to build alternative routes or find ways to work around them.
As a result, constructing railway lines will be expensive, and maintaining them will require frequent repairs along the way for your trains. So, it’s important to build maintenance posts at regular intervals because it will be a long distance before you can reach a station to do any repairs on your trains.
The sound engineering in this game is truly impressive. The addition of more music to the soundtrack from the Railway Empire 2: Journey to the East DLC has increased the diversity of the background music, making the overall experience more enjoyable. The music and sound in the base game were already varied, but the addition of further music soundtracks has increased the game’s immersive feel.
The voice acting is exceptional, conveying strong emotions and personalities of the game’s characters in the scenario mode. The sound effects contribute to an immersive feel, which stays fresh throughout the game. Building your railway empire across the Balkans becomes an exciting experience that you wouldn’t want to miss.
The Railway Empire 2: Journey to the East DLC boasts the same stunning graphics as the rest of the game. While the new train models are impressive, some of the newly added resources seem to be slightly tweaked versions of those already available in the base game.
Overall, Railway Empire 2: Journey to the East is a great addition to the base game, with a brand new map to explore. Although there isn’t much to the DLC, it’s great as it adds a whole new region and research, even if you can’t use much of it in the base game scenarios.
