UnderRail
- December 17, 2015
- Stygian Software
- 52h median play time
Solid and definitely has an audience. There could be some hard-to-ignore faults, but the experience is fun.
Get on SteamUnderRail is a single-player, science fiction turn-based strategy game with an intriguing story, fantastic mechanics, good graphics, and phenomenal music. Set in a distant future, players navigate the dangers of the Underrail, a vast metro system home to remnants of humanity, while caught in the crossfire of conflicting factions vying for survival. With a dense atmosphere, emotional depth, and high replayability, UnderRail offers a rich and immersive RPG experience, despite some bugs and grinding.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- Incredibly immersive atmosphere and world-building, reminiscent of classic Fallout games.
- Deep character customization and build variety, allowing for unique playstyles and strategies.
- Challenging combat that rewards careful planning and tactical thinking.
- Unforgiving difficulty spikes, especially in the late game, can lead to frustration and the need for save scumming.
- Lack of clear guidance and quest markers can make navigation and progression confusing.
- Some builds can become unviable, forcing players to restart after investing significant time.
- story1,722 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 70 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The story in Underrail is a complex tapestry of quests and lore, drawing comparisons to classic RPGs like Fallout, but it often suffers from vague quest directions and a lack of clear narrative guidance. While many players appreciate the depth of world-building and the engaging side quests, the main storyline can feel linear and underwhelming, with some quests leading to frustrating dead ends or requiring extensive backtracking. Overall, the game offers a rich narrative experience for those willing to invest time in exploration and character development, but it may not satisfy players looking for a straightforward or heavily guided story.
“Even the side quests are engaging and fun, often offering surprising twists and interesting rewards that add to the overall experience.”
“The world has a lot of side quests to enjoy, plenty of enjoyable NPC dialogue, and the story itself is surprisingly in-depth.”
“The story is amazing and the characters are awesome.”
“The story is incredibly deep, but if you're not thought control and persuade, you will never understand what happened and is happening.”
“The main plot doesn't really feel like it matters too much.”
“The story itself is fairly weak, and doesn't provide you with much more than 'go to x, do y', so if you want to explore you have to do it on your own volition and only for the loot.”
- gameplay913 mentions
- 26 % positive mentions
- 69 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The gameplay of Underrail is characterized by its deep mechanics, challenging combat, and extensive character customization, reminiscent of classic RPGs like Fallout. Players often face a steep learning curve due to the game's complexity and lack of hand-holding, requiring them to invest time in understanding mechanics and crafting systems. While the game offers rewarding experiences for those willing to engage with its intricacies, many find the difficulty and reliance on save-scumming frustrating, particularly in the early stages. Overall, it provides a rich, immersive experience for fans of tactical, turn-based RPGs, but may not appeal to those seeking a more straightforward gameplay approach.
“The game is incredibly atmospheric and immersive, with a lot of variation in gameplay depending on your build and weapons.”
“An excellent RPG with interesting mechanics, a difficulty level that keeps you on your toes, and a world that feels massive all the time.”
“The gameplay is rewarding and satisfying, the story evolves from meager platitudes of helping your home station to visiting corrupt ganglands, to a dystopian megacity fixated on violence.”
“You either attempt many playthroughs to understand how the mechanics work or open a wiki/forum to understand the mechanics.”
“The combat is gameplay-wise very simple (think Fallout 1) but weighted mathematically to be so 'difficult' (it's very possible to miss 5 60% attacks in a row, kind of thing) that you will end up spending probably half of your time when you still think that using weapons is a good idea repeating some quest that you will eventually realize is meant to be something you come back and do in 4 hours.”
“The game is too hard on the lowest difficulty setting, and the gameplay is not fun enough to justify any grinding I would have to do to improve my character.”
- graphics344 mentions
- 27 % positive mentions
- 65 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many players noting their retro, simplistic style reminiscent of classic isometric RPGs. While some find the visuals charming and fitting for the game's atmosphere, others criticize them as outdated and lacking detail, often comparing them unfavorably to more modern titles. Overall, the graphics may not be the main draw, but they effectively support the immersive gameplay and storytelling experience.
“With atmospheric audio and compelling visuals, Underrail offers a must-play experience for RPG enthusiasts.”
“Underrail manages to make a dark underground world feel colorful and vivid in its own way, with the sounds and visuals each doing their part to evoke the particular feelings of each space.”
“The graphics are nice and tidy and evoke a lovely sense of nostalgia for the classics of the nineties, but let's be honest – you're not playing indie games for their 4k graphics.”
“The graphics are very basic.”
“The animations were uninspired, the graphical style was very bland: I did not have a great time with it.”
“The graphics are not good and take getting used to, but it's well worth the effort.”
- atmosphere260 mentions
- 69 % positive mentions
- 30 % neutral mentions
- 1 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its immersive and gritty qualities, effectively capturing a post-apocalyptic setting reminiscent of classic RPGs like Fallout. Reviewers highlight the combination of atmospheric music, engaging world-building, and well-crafted writing that enhances the overall experience, making exploration and character interaction feel rich and rewarding. Despite some criticisms regarding gameplay mechanics, the game's atmosphere remains a standout feature that keeps players engaged and invested in its world.
“The game is incredibly atmospheric and immersive, with a lot of variation in gameplay depending on your build and weapons.”
“The atmosphere is palpable, not only when it comes to the feel of loneliness and claustrophobia, but thanks to the well-orchestrated synth-ambient soundtrack, there are many moments in which a high sense of 'mystique' and almost 'eldritch' themes creep out.”
“Underrail is a very good old school RPG, it is very similar to Fallout 1 and 2 in many ways but it also has its own personality, very good atmosphere, nice music, a lot of weapons, items, skills, and feats to create unique characters.”
“The atmosphere is bleak and claustrophobic.”
“The simplistic graphics, animations, and isometric viewpoint along with the sound effects sometimes manage to convey some atmosphere, but combined with the scattered feeling story, it ultimately prevented me from getting invested in the character and world.”
“The story and atmosphere are so terribly boring I just stopped caring about it and everyone involved.”
- music227 mentions
- 48 % positive mentions
- 47 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally praised for its atmospheric quality, effectively enhancing the immersive experience with a mix of ambient and thematic tracks that evoke a sense of dread and nostalgia reminiscent of classic RPGs like Fallout. However, many players note that the soundtrack can become repetitive over time, leading to some frustration during extended play sessions. Overall, while the music contributes significantly to the game's atmosphere, its limited variety may detract from long-term enjoyment.
“The music is excellent, always dark and moody giving you a delicious sense of dread, claustrophobia, and impending hardships.”
“The soundtrack provides a fantastic atmosphere and the visuals are good for a CRPG.”
“The music is great, and the ambience is fantastic, but all weapons sound very, very similar.”
“Abysmal amount of misses despite above 60+% hit chance, repetitive environments and music loops, requiring a wiki at the ready.”
“The music is monotonous.”
“My only complaints so far is that the background music is incredibly repetitive, but so was Fallout 1 & 2, which the game is clearly paying homage to.”
- grinding188 mentions
- 1 % positive mentions
- 1 % neutral mentions
- 98 % negative mentions
The reviews highlight a significant issue with grinding in the game, describing it as tedious and often frustrating due to excessive backtracking, slow movement, and a cumbersome inventory management system. While some players appreciate the unique "oddity" experience system that encourages exploration over traditional grinding, many feel that the overall gameplay becomes repetitive and drawn out, detracting from the enjoyment of the experience. Overall, the game is seen as challenging but can quickly become a slog, especially in its later stages.
“Very engaging story, complex characters, not too grindy, not overwhelming.”
“The issue is the second part of the game (late game) is very repetitive/grindy and lots of walking back and forth.”
“Combat was nice for a while but when every fight turns into you building a bear-trap castle, launching a grenade and then praying you did enough damage, it gets tedious fast.”
“The game is difficult, at times obscure and, in its worst parts, a bit tedious.”
- replayability122 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 48 % neutral mentions
- 2 % negative mentions
Underrail boasts exceptional replayability, driven by its extensive character build options, branching quest lines, and a richly detailed world that encourages exploration. Players can experiment with various playstyles and face different challenges, ensuring that each playthrough offers a unique experience. The game's depth and complexity, combined with its engaging narrative, make it a standout choice for fans of CRPGs seeking a game that rewards multiple playthroughs.
“The fascinating metro/fallout-inspired setting and oddity XP system work well to incentivize exploration, and the numerous build possibilities and mutually exclusive quest lines give it a high replay value.”
“The extremely high amount of diversity when it comes to character builds and play styles will guarantee replayability as you will miss a lot of content just playing the game and you will need to play with a different character to see it all.”
“This game has great replayability! The vast amount of content gives it great replay value and the playtime is excellent too (around 50 hours if you just focus on the main storyline).”
“The fact that I have made several characters, have over 200 hours, and still haven't beaten the main questline or the DLC questline speaks to how replayable this game is.”
“While some of its systems may feel antiquated, the level of detail and replayability gives this game ample content for its price.”
“And yes, you could say this gives the game replayability, but this game just doesn't have the fun factor to make you want to go through its more annoying stages just to play it another way, especially when it feels the same a lot of the time anyway.”
- humor79 mentions
- 99 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 1 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is often described as dark, subtle, and occasionally wacky, with many players appreciating its clever writing and memorable dialogue. While it lacks the overt silliness of the Fallout series, it offers a unique charm through its sardonic humor and well-crafted quest lines, providing moments of levity amidst a grim setting. However, some reviews note that the humor can be hit or miss, with varying quality in writing and a few instances of amateurish jokes.
“Entertaining gameplay set within a well-written and often humorous setting and story.”
“The writing is good, funny, tense, and believable.”
“Underrail is a great hybrid of these genres, it's like a spiritual successor to the original Fallouts, with the same kind of humor and attention to detail.”
“At last, it's not funny.”
- character development36 mentions
- 36 % positive mentions
- 56 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
Character development in this game is highly praised for its depth and variety, allowing players to create significantly different characters with unique play styles across multiple playthroughs. Many reviews highlight the satisfying integration of character development with combat mechanics, offering a rich RPG experience reminiscent of classic titles like Fallout. However, some players note that character development can be restrictive in certain scenarios, leading to frustration if not approached with careful planning.
“All that aside, you got a great setting, good writing, and deep character development and combat systems.”
“This title offers uncompromising classic RPG gameplay, seemingly straight out from the golden days of old: for starters, character development possibilities are amazingly varied, allowing players to build significantly different characters every playthrough, each offering a wholly different gameplay experience.”
“It's been ages since I've seen a game with such a deep and diversified character development.”
“The result was heavy restrictions on character development.”
“There is basically no character development whatsoever, and your interactions with NPCs are fairly limited (take quest/sell stuff).”
“Like Fallout 2, you're forced to go down one of several routes of character development and the side quests for the other options are restricted from you as you just don't have the skills.”
- optimization28 mentions
- 14 % positive mentions
- 75 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is a critical aspect, with a strong emphasis on build optimization that can significantly impact gameplay. Players are encouraged to meticulously plan their character builds, as failing to do so can lead to frustrating experiences and hinder progress, especially on higher difficulties. While the game performs well technically, some users have noted issues with optimization for higher resolutions and the need for specific builds to succeed in certain quests.
“There's a special emphasis on build optimization - you will want to have a thoughtful build and not arbitrarily allocate points into ability scores, skills, and feats.”
“The game excels in the realm of spells and character optimization, providing a wide range of possibilities for players to experiment with.”
“Exploring the possibilities and devising a highly optimized character build is not only interesting, but also essential since the game is extremely challenging on the default difficulty.”
“Prepare for gameplay that requires min-maxing; this is the kind of game where even the easy difficulty expects a large amount of build optimization, and with no respec or retraining mechanic, missing even a single trait point can doom your 50-hour build to uselessness.”
“The problem with Underrail is that in many cases, a serious degree of metagaming is required to meet a middling degree of optimization, and failing to meet that optimization can make the game frustratingly tedious.”
“Be warned, this game can get pretty hard and heavily emphasizes optimized character builds.”
- stability24 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 4 % neutral mentions
- 83 % negative mentions
The game's stability is a mixed bag, with many users reporting significant bugs and glitches that affect gameplay, particularly during combat and character loading. While some players have experienced minimal issues and found the game largely bug-free, others have encountered severe stability problems, including crashes and unresponsive mechanics. Overall, the consensus suggests that while the game has potential, its current state is marred by instability and requires further refinement.
“The game seems pretty bug free to me.”
“No glitches when missions are out of order (unlike Fallout 1 and 2).”
“Updates can be a bit stretched out (time between them), but typically are bug free and add a lot of content or fixes.”
“Also, the game is very buggy.”
“I wish I could recommend this, but I can't... it is buggy in the extreme on my machine and doesn't even want to load 3 times out of five. When it does run, it is just far too clunky, primitive, and generally unenjoyable for my liking.”
“Haven't seen such a buggy game for years.”
- emotional19 mentions
- 89 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of Underrail is largely criticized, with many players feeling a lack of emotional investment in the story and characters, describing them as bland and unengaging. While some appreciate the game's humor and occasional touching moments amidst its bleak setting, the overall sentiment is that the emotional depth is minimal, leading to a gameplay experience that feels more mechanical than heartfelt. Despite its detailed world and engaging mechanics, players often find themselves disconnected from the narrative and characters, resulting in a frustrating rather than fulfilling emotional journey.
“Underrail never does that; there's humor and touching moments to be found amongst the bitterness of the underrail.”
“Not just good but fitting, emotional and without fault.”
“This light, you will soon find, is the incredibly detailed world space, emotionally driven responses to making major accomplishments in the game world, and well-crafted dialogue.”
“Blander than mushy cardboard, boring story and characters, and a min-maxing gameplay that boils down to placing as many traps as possible before fighting and hoping the RNG is feeling merciful.”
“In short, deep caverns, boring story, too much backtracking, vague quest direction, crappy UI, big battles end up being boring, and some sections just feel like a chore.”
- monetization3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Reviews indicate that the game is appreciated for its lack of bugs and excessive microtransactions, contrasting it positively with Fallout 3. However, there are some criticisms regarding the presence of microtransactions, suggesting that they could be better implemented or more thoughtfully designed.
“It's like the Fallout 3 we never got, but better because Bethesda can't fill it with bugs and microtransactions.”
“Microtransactions.”
“Next time make some microtransactions Doodle Jump clone.”
