Parents' Guide to The Final Station

This side-scrolling adventure captures what it might feel like to be an actual person who wakes up in the midst of post-apocalyptic chaos. The narrative style of the game is great for people who enjoy opening every door to search for clues. The story unfolds as you go, and the survivors you rescue help fill in the missing pieces. But saving people isn't as easy as finding them and getting them on your train. You have to decide if you will sacrifice the very sparse and valuable resources you gather to feed and heal the survivors or keep those resources for yourself. Sometimes there simply aren't enough items to save everyone, and you're faced with the tough decision of whom to save and whom to let die. It's not all doom and gloom, though, with some goofy humor and twisted jokes popping up to keep things from getting too bleak.

But a big miss with this game is the survival aspect. With frequent checkpoints and no penalty for failing, you're not really surviving the apocalypse -- you're just kind of hacking your way through it. There's still a decent challenge with the scarcity of resources, especially ammo, but even combat has its ups and downs. For example, a well-placed head shot takes fewer bullets, but if you've encountered a horde of infected, things can get a bit chaotic, and the lack of clearly defined controls can be a hindrance. Finally, the game is pretty short, only taking about four to six hours, depending on how thoroughly you want to explore. At least the Switch version includes The Only Traitor DLC, which easily doubles the play time of the game while also introducing a spin-off story. It adds new mechanics, like picking and choosing the best survivors you run across -- although leaving someone behind for a character that's possibly better seems rather cruel. But it does give a new take on this wasteland and addresses some of the mysteries of the original. Adventure and action fans should really like the mystery and gameplay of The Final Station; it'll keep players on their toes as they explore the ruins of society.