Last Train Home is a historical strategy game about a World War 1 train heist

By Tomas Franzese June 11, 2023

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This story is part of the Digital Trends Summer Gaming Marathon series

THQ Nordic announced Last Train Home, a new real-time strategy game where players must fight and survive as they make their way through a rough Siberian winter on an armored train, during the PC Gaming Showcase. Ahead of its reveal, Digital Trends had the opportunity to learn more about this game.

EMBARGO JUNE 11: Train gameplay from Last Train Home — THQ Nordic

Last Train Home is developed by Comanche developer Ashborne Games and is based on a real historical event. In World War I, a group of Czechoslovakian soldiers found themselves trapped after the Russian Revolution and civil war began, with the best course of escape being to cross Siberia and escape from a port on the opposite side of Russia. To do this, those soldiers stole an armored train and fought any Russian forces they came across as they rode it through Siberia during a harsh winter. Last Train Home adapts this perilous journey into a video game, with players having to manage their train and soldiers in the hopes of making it through Siberia alive.

This real-time strategy game plays out in two parts. Players travel across Russia on a train, making sure to fortify their locomotive and keep its passengers as happy and healthy as possible as they do so. This part of the game plays closest to something like Frostpunk or This War of Mine. Players can stop the train at certain points, though, and then must venture out with a group of 10 soldiers to complete objectives in a gameplay style that looks more like Company of Heroes.

EMBARGO JUNE 11: Combat gameplay from Last Train Home. — THQ Nordic

Damage is persistent, and death is permanent, so players must take care of anyone injured on the train afterward. It seems like Last Train Home will be a very tough adventure. It isn’t structured around repeated runs, though; instead, THQ Nordic says it has a 40-hour campaign, with players being able to restart from specific points along their journey if they are completely wiped out. For those who like RTS games where it feels like everything is against the player, this game should be on your radar.

Last Train Home will be released for PC later this year.

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Tomas Franzese is a Staff Writer at Digital Trends, where he reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…

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