The night air is harsh: battering winds cuts you through to the bone as an unforgiving snowfall blusters. Your eyes sting, eyelashes heavy with frozen ice. “It’s not much farther now…” Just as quickly as a plume rises from your breath, the wind whips it away.
You push on, trudging through the snow, to a cabin blanketed in darkness. Your numb fingers brace against the wooden entrance, yet the gentle approach yields nothing. Mustering what little strength you have left, you shoulder the stiff door- and after a moment of resistance you topple inside, a plume of dust marking your arrival.
It’s dark. Far too dark to see anything. Your fingers fumble along the wall, finding what appears to be a fuse box. And a stubborn one at that. A large hammer and a new fuse later, you throw the lights, lifting the veil of darkness. “Bigger on the inside…” What had appeared to be a mere cabin situation in the wilderness was anything but- levers, tables littered with blueprints, bolts, screws and tools: This was a workshop- and at it’s center, a massive train-car.
You step closer, eyes drifting to the far wall. An enormous triangle marks the space, Celtic knot-work etched upon its surface. Too busy looking ahead, you fail to see the table in your path as you bump into it unceremoniously- wooden legs scraping against the floor with a shriek. 
Curse your curiosity… at that lever laying there, detached from it’s switch. 
Deft fingers secure it back into place. 
...
Deft…curious… idle fingers. 
Sweat beads on your brow as you look about the workspace, anxious digits thrumming steadily across the tabletop. 
No-one would know. 
It’s likely just a work light. 
Possibly a lift. 
The droplet on your brow breaks, gently cascading down your wind-torn face. Your hand wavers only momentarily... before giving into your intrusive thoughts, and throwing the lever. The air thickens around you, a rhythmic thrum filling the air. 
Well, there's no turning back now...

The secrets hidden within the cabin are yours to discover...

Voidtrain is a unique survival craft title developed and published by HypeTrain Digital. In an interesting blend of “on rails” exploration, as well as allowing you to free-roam train depots and (within the safety of your tether) the void of space where you can gather materials to upgrade and customize your train, as well as your arsenal. I was absolutely excited to try my hand at a fresh take on a genre that I would consider one of my all-time favorites, and was excited to see how this title could potentially be a refresh-- especially with how over-saturated the market has become.

An awkward layout, clunky menus and a lack of customization options can make creating an aesthetically pleasing character somewhat... difficult.

Right off the bat, I was a little less than excited with the character customization. The menus feel awkward, poorly organized, and you’ll be doing a lot of swapping back and forth while you experiment. Instead of having one menu for customizing the full face (forehead, eye depth, jaw width etc) it is split between several pages. I can’t say I found too many of the faces overly appealing, and some of the makeup designs are almost so outlandish that it’s hard to like. Hairstyles are exceptionally fleeting, and I actually found it hard to make a character I genuinely liked. Thankfully, you wont be seeing much, if any, of your characters actual face, besides the main screen.

Some questions never seem to quite get an answer, unfortunately.

Shoveling that heap of disappointment aside (character creation is one of my favorite things to sink hours in), I launched into a new game. Visually, Voidtrain is absolutely stunning. The animations really give a charming sense of character when it comes to the most minute of things. Flipping switches, smacking things with a hammer, “fixing” radios… it’s got a great sense of self in that regard, and The Narrator also chimes in on occasion, feeding you bits of context and story with stunning voice-work. However, despite the intro being lightly interactive and fun to watch, I couldn’t help but feel lost in much of the story, and it’s “greater picture”. You’re given just enough to string you along, while some of the “why” of the plot is left greatly unsaid. Even with The Narrator feeding you hints along the way, attempting to set the pace.

Gathering materials is vital to crafting production stations, as well as upgrading your "home" in the Void: Your train.

Speaking of pace, it can feel agonizingly slow-ESPECIALLY in early game: Needing to jump ship, hit the brakes and roam about while you harvest every little piece of crafting material you find floating around (and trust me, you WILL need it) feels tedious. Not only that, but to relieve that tedium, you need to use resources you gather to destroy for Research Points. Once you have enough points, you can make your way down the skill tree, gaining the ability to build both the Lootcatcher (a quirky adorable little critter that collects resources you miss within a certain radius) as well as get the blueprint for the grappling hook (which allows you to reach items quicker, and at greater distance). The huge downside to this is your inability to get the Lootcatcher until research level 5,and the grappling hook until research level 10. While this may not SEEM major, you will have spent quite a hefty chunk of research points to get this far, and that's assuming you invest nothing into décor research, only filling out the main research pieces. This really makes the very initial part of Voidtrain feel very grindy and repetitive. So much so that some players may opt out before it gets more manageable and partially passive.

I was beyond thrilled at some amazing quality of life additions, and confused at the lack of other.

Once resources start trickling in, Voidtrain starts to shine with it’s easy-to-use building and repair system. You unlock stations, décor, walls and more at the Research Table, and build from a pretty straight forward menu. It’s fairly intuitive, the only downside being you’re limited to 90 degree rotations, which could potentially feel limiting to some players. There are some surprisingly great Quality of Life additions when it comes to upgrading structures, as most storage and stations come in tiers. Sometimes it requires nothing more than having the material to upgrade in your inventory (it factors in what you’ve already spent on the core item) and holding E. This makes things a breeze, but also made me confused as to why other QOL solutions were overlooked- the main one being pulling crafting materials from nearby chests.

For how visually pleasing combat can be, the core mechanics and poor AI are disappointing. 

While crafting is a mostly positive point in the game, once place I felt Voidtrain suffered IMMENSELY is in combat. While dealing with creatures attaching to your train-car, or threatening to take full on bites out of it is one thing… the gun play aspect is ENTIRELY another. While there is a fairly interesting system that allows for modular customization of firearms (I was pleasantly surprised), this is quickly overshadowed by the fact that combat just generally feels BEYOND underwhelming. While you are able to craft armor for yourself (that is easily “spent” and requires frequent replacement), enemies can seem to have a fair share more- enough to be borderline bullet sponges. The AI is really quite dull, and whilst the foe can duck for effective cover, peering out from behind walls with ease... you cannot. There is no effective cover fire, or anything more than basic boomer-shooter mechanics. This may not be an end all be all, but it can grow quite tedious, finding yourself dead with no cover, or perhaps your train-car taking a huge beating in the process. For the amazing amount of innovation in the core concept of Voidtrain… the combat really mutes down some of the finer points.

While you are visiting a depot, be sure to take the time to upgrade your Train: Increase platforms, how many cars, what kind of railings, walls, and more.

One thing, however, that really surpassed my expectation, was the backing soundtrack. I was thoroughly impressed with how spectacular it is, in time with nearly every action and event occurring onscreen. The introduction is finely orchestrated, and time spent running through gates in the void sounds different from combat, or approaching platforms. The music never feels dull, partially in thanks to the seamless transition that fluidly move you from one track to the next, depending on what you have going on. If only that sentiment were able to be passed along to the level design- which unfortunately, it is not.

Sadly, when it comes to level design, Voidtrain can feel somewhat lacking at times. While traveling, you are surrounded by interesting floating debris, broken statues, giant swords, and void whales – and while interesting and absolutely at times majestic – after awhile all the “sections” feels the same. The same asset. The same gate. This also extends to platforms- and while there is some variances, the layout is always similar, lacking enough difference to really make it exciting. The exception to this is when there are story elements woven into the location- which make things more interesting- but all too soon you’ll be thrust into the repetitive “time in between” where it’s the same stations, and mirror layouts with VERY minimal changes between major areas.

The Void is a beautiful, mysterious and DANGEROUS place.

Ultimately, Voidtrain is a fairly fresh take on the survival-craft genre, bringing some interesting twists with it. While the execution is far from flawless, there absolutely is some merit to be had behind the concept. Still in Early Access, there is still plenty of time for adjustments to be made, and many HAVE been made since initial launch. User ratings have steadily risen, showing the developers at HypeTrain Digitial are absolutely listening to feedback. The revised Road Map shows upcoming overhauls to combat and AI, which is absolutely needed- and I absolutely look forward to the adjustments, including new enemies. While there may be some growing pains still to come, the unique concept and heart behind this title is really what shines, and it looks to have a more than promising future going forward. If you’re a lover of Survival-Craft tiles, Voidtrain is absolutely worth a look, as long as you’re willing to manage your expectations, and remind yourself it still has time and PLENTY of room to grow.

Voidtrain is available on the Steam Marketplace in Early Access for $29.99USD.