Even though Voidtrain seems straightforward, there is more than meets the eye in this survival craft.
The Developers of Voidtrain are Nearga. This is the development company’s second title, having previously developed Desolate, a horror survival game. HypeTrain Digital is both a publishing and development company that published games like SuchArt: Genius Artist Simulator, GateKeeper and Quasimorph. Voidtrain is a survival craft that takes you along a set of railroad tracks that appear within the void. You travel along the tracks, collect resources, and upgrade your train to survive the unique scores of enemies.
Survival Crafts tend to be an incredibly popular genre, with games like 7 Days to Die, The Forest, Scum, and Rust on one end and games like Minecraft, Subnautica, and Eco on the other there is a lot that can be done within a survival craft game, whether it brings in PvP or its more of a co-op with just PvE gameplay it’s entirely up to the developers on how they want to swing it. Voidtrain can be likened to Raft with a steampunk aesthetic with hints of Lovecraft. It also has an endless trail in the void that you follow. Although the game tilts towards a more adorable style than Lovecraft’s horror usually is.
When you start Voidtrain, you are greeted by the narrator as he tells the story of an optimistic engineer. The game’s prologue starts with a wonderful cutscene that builds a great atmosphere for our story. While the game is linear because you progress on a set of predetermined train tracks that lead off into the void, it still works really well. It’s great to stop the train so you can collect as many resources as you can.
You first explore the void looking for a way out. But as you progress through the story, you will find out that the train you are on belongs to a scientist that is currently wanted within the void. The Narrator points out that it would be a wise idea to get a research table up and running. Well, having what you research in a linear pattern can be annoying for some people. It makes sense to get certain things up and running first.
The research table isn’t the only thing you need to build at the beginning. It can be overwhelming if you’re not paying attention to the objectives in your journal and to the witty remarks the narrator says occasionally. To build anything in Voidtrain, you need to research it for half the cost of what you actually assemble it with. At the beginning of the game, it’s challenging to get enough resources for all the research, with the train running continuously along the tracks.
Unlike Raft, where you have to build an anchor to halt your movement, in Voidtrain, your train has already broken installed. This allows you to stop as you please to pick up resources floating in the void instead of driving past them. You don’t just have a way to halt the train. If you are stopped further away from your resources and can’t get to them, you can run the train backward. It is, however, not possible to run the train back to the beginning of the area you are in. This is because a blockade appears behind you.
At your first stop on Voidtrain, you will get your first weapon. While the pistol only holds six bullets, it has an infinite amount of ammo. This is different from the other 4 ammo types available. The ammunition types are Bullet, Grenade, Hunter and Buckshot. This means you can convert your large gun into an Assault Rifle, a long-range rifle or SMG, a shotgun, and a grenade launcher. However, it isn’t as simple as assembling everything else on the train. The enemies drop mod parts, but getting exactly what you’re looking for isn’t easy.
When you reach your second depot, you will encounter some enemies. As wonderful as it would be to have a friendly conversation, this is unfortunately not the case. They open fire with a barrage of bullets from pistols and assault rifles. If you are lucky and the RNG gods smile upon you, an assault rifle will be dropped on the death of an enemy NPC. You don’t need your weapons all the time, but it’s handy to have something on hand.
Although Voidtrain is a fairly linear game, as you only have one way to go on your tracks, it doesn’t stay that way. Once you have the winch enjoy exploring the various islands littered in the void and getting to those far-reaching boulders filled with resources, this gives the world less of a linear feel. You will continue following the scientist’s trail and find out why there is a bounty on his head.
After putting walls up on your train, you can sometimes forget what’s going on outside. So you need to keep being vigilant even as your train goes from looking like a tram to a full-on steam engine with some luxury. Making your train grow is easy since all you have to do is craft the needed components. Then, when you reach a depot, you will use a device to upgrade your train. Don’t forget to look out for what looks like large amber rocks whenever you hit a depot or just a small stop in the tracks.
In Voidtrain, there aren’t just enemy creatures. You will meet an adorable, hardworking being called a Rofleemo. These small guys give you great buffs that will go a long way in allowing you to thrive as best you can as you travel through the different areas. Whether it’s a buff that gives you extra ingots or even takes off a percentage of what is needed to fuel your various benches every little bit helps in your development. You can even put them to work gathering resources and manning benches to keep them fueled.
Voidtrain is amazing in multiplayer as you get to the steam age of your train’s development. Having someone ready to hit hyper boost to escape an enemy train that wants to rob you blind of resources is useful, especially when you don’t have enough bullets. But this also allows you to get research done faster and allows you to advance. The only problem with this is the save. When you join someone who is hosting their session, a perfect copy of their game session is saved on your side. So be sure to save your solo save on a different slot than your co-op save.
Voidtrain features a beautifully detailed world filled with debris and mysterious creatures. The overall style of the graphics matches the steampunk aesthetic in some ways. Whether you’re off exploring the floating islands or just slowly chugging along the train tracks, enjoying the scenery. Every area you visit does have differences, even with all the rubble floating around.
The animations have been done well, from sheathing or unsheathing your hammer or journal to swimming through space. There aren’t any glitches that have been noticed. The gun’s fire rate and aim are smooth and depend on your mouse’s DPI, so if you have a slow DPI, good luck trying to outgun a fully armed outpost.
The sound engineering has been done wonderfully. Your background music, when you are not in combat, plays a calming tune to a more combat fast-paced tune to keep you on your toes. However, there is a lack of variety in the soundtrack, which can lead to the music getting a bit stale. Let’s not forget to commend the voice-acting done for the Narrator, as most of the lines of the Narrator tend to be both witty and humorous.
Overall Voidtrain is a brand new take on survival craft with a Lovecraftian steampunk theme to it. Whether you play solo or with friends, every game will be different. Although the background music can eventually become stale, it still keeps you hooked on trying to build the best train you can with unique creatures, both friendly and not. Voidtrain is definitely a game to keep an eye on as it continues development in Early Access.
