Transport Fever 2
- December 11, 2019
- Urban Games
- 71h median play time
The controls and UI work well on consoles, and the visuals are great, making Transport Fever 2: Console Edition well worth checking out.
Transport Fever 2 is a transport simulation game that allows players to build and manage their own transportation routes by land, water, and air. The Digital Deluxe Edition includes three exclusive scenarios, six historical vehicles, new animals, and additional in-game soundtracks. The game aims to promote progress and prosperity through transport infrastructure, while also providing a challenging and engaging experience for players.
Reviews
- graphics1,825 mentions
- 49 % positive mentions
- 49 % neutral mentions
- 2 % negative mentions
The graphics in Transport Fever 2 have received widespread praise for their stunning detail and realism, significantly improving upon its predecessor. Players appreciate the vibrant environments, intricate vehicle models, and the overall aesthetic appeal, although some report performance issues and occasional graphical glitches. While many find the visuals immersive and engaging, a few critiques highlight that the graphics alone do not compensate for gameplay shortcomings, suggesting that the game feels more like a graphical upgrade than a substantial sequel.
“Beautiful graphics, it runs better than Minecraft on my computer.”
“The graphics are stunning, with a high level of detail and realistic animations that bring the virtual world to life.”
“Transport Fever 2 impresses with its visually stunning graphics and attention to detail.”
“The only downside is that for some reason, some of the graphics are a little bit buggy for me, though it is acceptable.”
“Graphics also feel a little dated and under-researched or rushed, with things like buildings having the wall textures on the ends of the roof, trains having steam exit the cylinders (not chimney) and the engineer standing in an idle animation in the middle of the cab (with no fireman existing) rather than being anywhere near the controls, none of which matters a lot, but it all makes the game feel twice as old as it really is.”
“Game is great just sad that the fps drops consistently regardless of graphic settings and map size, and after alt-tabbing or changing the graphics the textures start flickering a little bit.”
- gameplay1,263 mentions
- 26 % positive mentions
- 68 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Transport Fever 2" has received mixed reviews, with players praising its intricate mechanics and engaging simulation of transportation logistics, while others criticize its steep learning curve and some poorly explained mechanics. Many appreciate the game's graphics and modding community, which enhances replayability, but some feel that the core gameplay lacks depth and can become repetitive over time. Overall, while the game offers a satisfying experience for fans of the genre, it also presents challenges that may frustrate new players.
“The gameplay is relaxing in sandbox mode, with plenty of things to connect up.”
“Transport Fever 2 excels in delivering a deep and intricate gameplay experience.”
“The combination of challenging gameplay, stunning graphics, and an active community makes for an incredibly enjoyable and rewarding experience.”
“I don't have the patience to spend hours trying to figure out the game mechanics.”
“The gameplay and transport aspects of the game are just miserable.”
“I am a huge fan of management sims, but this game is incredibly frustrating due to its opaque, counter-intuitive and often mindless mechanics.”
- story873 mentions
- 14 % positive mentions
- 75 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The story aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding the campaign missions to be poorly designed and lacking clarity. While some appreciate the historical context and voice acting, others criticize the missions for being tedious, overly simplistic, or frustratingly vague, often requiring external guides to complete. Overall, the campaign is seen as a weak point, overshadowed by the more engaging free play mode and user-generated content available through mods.
“Pros: the full voice acting of the story, and diverse landscape/era allows a lot more sense of what's going on than any of its competitors. Indeed, having a story at all sets it apart from city builders which feature similar transport mechanics.”
“The campaign specifically offers very well polished scenarios, interesting and different missions, with a very decent playtime.”
“The campaign has some interesting storytelling, but less challenging since budget is no longer a concern.”
“The campaign consists of levels with missions to complete and seems to have missed everything about what makes this game fun.”
“In theory, being given missions in different historical settings seems like an alright idea, but in reality it's a handholdy slog that takes away all your freedom and serves poorly as a tutorial since there are fundamental things it doesn't properly explain.”
“The campaign missions range from asinine to ludicrous, frequently not giving the player any real idea of what is to be accomplished or how.”
- optimization586 mentions
- 19 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 18 % negative mentions
The optimization of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players noting significant performance issues, particularly in late-game scenarios and on larger maps. While some users report smooth gameplay on high-end systems, others experience severe lag, crashes, and long loading times, especially on older or less powerful devices. Overall, while there have been improvements and ongoing support from developers, many players feel that the game still requires further optimization to enhance stability and performance.
“The game is well optimized, allowing smooth gameplay even when hundreds of vehicles may exist.”
“Good performance, excellent mod support that profits a very active modding community and great devs still optimizing and improving their game years after release.”
“And there's still more to come - just yesterday, the developers posted news about upping the rendering and graphical quality even further, as well as delivering optimization improvements, which is of particular interest for those extended-late-game-pursuers who really enjoy pushing the game as far as they possibly can.”
“My main issue with the game, however, is the performance, as on older devices it runs quite poorly at times, with very frequent crashes, while also taking forever to load.”
“It's very pretty, but it runs like unoptimized trash and the 'logistics' side of the game is so hand-holdy that you can't create half the systems you really would want to.”
“The biggest weakness is how poorly optimized it is - it's hard to play a map to 'completion' without reducing your framerate to single digits even on a decent machine.”
- music249 mentions
- 39 % positive mentions
- 55 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many praising the diverse and immersive soundtrack that enhances the gameplay experience, while others find it repetitive or unappealing. Some players highlight specific tracks that fit the game's themes well, but there are also complaints about the music being too modern or not matching the historical context. Overall, while the soundtrack is a standout feature for many, some players prefer to mute it and play their own music instead.
“This game has one of the best soundtracks and vibes of any game, let alone sim game.”
“The game's soundtrack is also excellent, with a selection of tracks that perfectly capture the mood of the game.”
“The campaign is a lot of fun with some pinches of dark humor, and the music is just too brilliantly selected/created if you know your music and you're paying attention to what you're listening.”
“[*] subjective thing I know but... music is really bad, one of the few games I actually had to play without it.”
“The only pain for me, cause it has a huge influence on me, the music is not that great.”
“But goddamn you gotta turn off that music because that gets annoying real quick.”
- stability223 mentions
- 9 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 91 % negative mentions
The game's stability has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting frequent bugs and glitches, particularly related to graphics, building placement, and gameplay mechanics. While some users have experienced smooth performance and minimal issues, others have faced significant frustrations, including crashes and freezes, especially during larger gameplay sessions. Overall, the game is described as entertaining but plagued by instability, necessitating ongoing patches and updates to improve the experience.
“The game itself is bug free, runs smooth and mods are optional.”
“Best of all, it supports a controller and runs great on Linux desktop.”
“Well designed and mostly bug free.”
“Extremely buggy game that I can't understand why people have given it good reviews.”
“Far too buggy and unstable to play; you can play a little before it crashes.”
“This is a rushed out buggy mess that should have stayed in beta.”
- grinding158 mentions
- 2 % positive mentions
- 23 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it excessively tedious and repetitive, often requiring significant time investment to manage various systems and tasks. While some appreciate the depth and complexity it offers, others feel that the lack of intuitive design and quality-of-life features detracts from the overall enjoyment, making the gameplay feel like a chore rather than a fun experience. Overall, players suggest that the game could benefit from improvements to reduce the grind and enhance user experience.
“Playing on the megalomaniac map means that building over 100 stations becomes quite tedious, and I would love for the ability to save my station layouts as a prefab that I can just paste down in cities I have yet to touch.”
“There is just enough work that needs to be done that makes the game fun but not tedious.”
“A bit grindy... sometimes.”
“The campaign is tedious to say the least, no challenge, endless money, very boring.”
“My largest complaint is this just becomes tedious very quickly.”
“While I can't complain about the gameplay loop, after about 3-4 hours in a game, it gets so tedious to manage everything that it kind of ruins the fun of the game.”
- replayability100 mentions
- 48 % positive mentions
- 49 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The game is widely praised for its exceptional replayability, largely due to a vibrant modding community that continually introduces new content, including vehicles, maps, and gameplay mechanics. Players appreciate the variety of scenarios and modes available, which contribute to virtually endless replay options. However, some users note that certain gameplay elements can become repetitive, suggesting that additional features like multiplayer could enhance the experience further.
“The active modding community provides a steady stream of user-generated content, including new vehicles, maps, and gameplay mechanics, expanding the game's replayability and adding to its longevity.”
“The game offers a high degree of replayability, with a vast range of vehicles, buildings, and landscapes to explore, and the modding community ensures that there is always something new to discover.”
“Between the campaign, free play, map editor, and Steam Workshop, virtually endless replayability.”
“First, the game has low replay value. If you've made one successful company in this game, you've made every successful company in this game. It gets very repetitive mainly because of the next big issue.”
“You can't upgrade industry or towns, the supply chain is simple and unchanging, and it becomes quite repetitive, without much replayability except to do the same thing a slightly different way with different scenery.”
“Let's start with the second one. Yes, they are a small dev team, but seriously, that does not make this an impossible task. I really believe that implementing even a simple multiplayer or AI mode into the game would dramatically boost the replayability and make it more fun and accessible for people who find the lack of competition a big downside.”
- humor67 mentions
- 97 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is a mixed bag, with some players finding it quirky and entertaining, particularly in side missions and historical contexts, while others criticize the campaign as poorly executed and repetitive. Many appreciate the creative and humorous design of missions, though some feel that the humor can become tedious when overused. Overall, the game offers moments of genuine amusement, but its comedic elements may not resonate with everyone.
“As if that wasn't strange enough, at some point in the late game all cars and pedestrians disappear from the map, and according to the discussion forum, that's because my transportation empire is already so 'perfect' that nobody wants to drive their own car anymore - that's funny, because most towns only have one train line and one bus line, lol.”
“The missions and tasks are pretty creative, have a good bit of humor, and you can learn a bit of history while playing.”
“Missions are very well designed and have represented many historical events in a humorous and smart way.”
“Dumbed down product chains and raised difficulty by making track maintenance costs a lot more only makes for an unfunny cocktail if you love to build freight train lines.”
- monetization20 mentions
- 10 % positive mentions
- 10 % neutral mentions
- 80 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy of the game has been widely criticized as a "cash grab," with players expressing disappointment over the lack of meaningful content and the reliance on nostalgia for earlier titles. While some appreciate the absence of microtransactions and frequent updates, many feel that the official DLCs and overall game design do not justify the cost, leading to a negative perception of its value.
“Developers update the game regularly, with no microtransactions or endless DLCs.”
“No advertising.”
“In summary, if you own Transport Fever then don't bother with this disappointing cash grab.”
“This game is a quick cash grab based on certain players who feel nostalgic for the earlier version. I was one of those players and have given the game a lot of chances. Based upon my 31 hours in-game, I cannot recommend this game; the interface is a mess, the rules for the trains are very unclear, there is no progression arc, and they did not develop anything new visually. I started up the old game and the graphics are exactly the same as in the original.”
“I really did try to like this, but I feel that more time went into spurious advertising, reviews, and influencers than went into things like quality of life game design, scaling, and depth.”
- atmosphere14 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The atmosphere in Transport Fever 2 is characterized by slick music and a historical context that some players appreciate, particularly those who enjoy slower gameplay and the vibe of specific eras like steam. However, many reviewers note a lack of dynamic visuals, such as weather and day/night cycles, which diminishes immersion, and suggest that improved ambient sounds and effects could enhance the overall atmosphere.
“Slick music and atmosphere.”
“Some people love to play it slower, and enjoy the atmosphere of certain eras, e.g., steam.”
“No weather, night/day/season cycles or other noteworthy dynamic visuals to get some atmosphere; those flock of birds are a laughable tiny step to take. There are no immersive differences in cargo quantity, pricing, and profits within production chains.”
“Better music, ambient sounds, and sound effects could really help with the atmosphere.”
“The atmosphere of Transport Fever 2 is also noteworthy.”
- emotional9 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players express a deep emotional connection to the game, experiencing joy from its visuals and nostalgia reminiscent of classic titles like SimCity 2000. However, they also encounter moments of heartbreak, particularly when their creative efforts are thwarted by gameplay limitations, such as construction restrictions. This blend of joy and frustration highlights the game's ability to evoke strong feelings.
“I enjoy the visuals and views the game gives me when I am just watching the gears turn, but then want to cry when riding through a tunnel filled with sunlight.”
“I'm sorry, I truly love this game, but after trying to create a replica of your own hometown for months only to have this pop up (construction not possible) is heartbreaking.”
“And the view is heartbreaking!”
Critic Reviews
Transport Fever 2 Review – On the Rails to Success
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70%Transport Fever 2 Review
Transport Fever 2 is the type of enthusiast sim that will keep its target audience rapt for hours. For everyone else, though, it's harder to recommend, as even with its single-player campaign serving as an extended tutorial, it can be difficult to parse. Despite an inconsistent frame rate and some questionable dialogue, it's an undeniably satisfying experience for the strategic-minded, and one of the most in-depth titles of its kind available on PlayStation platforms.
70%Transport Fever 2: Console Edition review
The controls and UI work well on consoles, and the visuals are great, making Transport Fever 2: Console Edition well worth checking out.
80%