Voidtrain Review

Some games invite you into familiar worlds whether it be fantasy realms, post-apocalyptic wastelands, sci-fi landscapes. Voidtrain, however, does something different it drops you into a surreal alternate dimension, straps you to a customisable interdimensional locomotive. It tells you to get on board, explore and uncover the mysteries along a floating railway track. This adventure blends survival, crafting, combat and open-ended discovery.

This is a game about momentum both literally and narrative. It’s a journey through strange biomes, unpredictable encounters, and evolving mechanical systems that transform your humble cart into a steam powered armored train. While it’s rough ride in places with linear pacing, Voidtrain succeeds at delivering a distinctive, atmospheric adventure unlike anything else on the platform.

The game begins with an almost storybook introduction. You are working in a secret research facility when an experiment goes pear shaped hurling you into the Void which is a place full of suspended rails, drifting debris, and physics-defying landscapes. Your only companion is a small trolley that becomes your lifeline as you push forward into the unknown and find a way out.

This opening scene does a great job setting the tone. Whilst whimsical, it also adds plenty mystery and a persistent feeling of danger. Unlike many survival games, this doesn’t bury you in exposition. Instead, it lets the world speak for itself. Strange creatures flicker in the fog, abandoned structures float along the tracks, and clues about the dimension’s past appear in scattered notes and ruins along the way.

The train is both the metaphor and the mechanic at the heart of the game. Every new system revolves around expanding and caring for this vehicle. In the early hours, your locomotive is barely more than a cart with a lever. By the midgame, it becomes a multi-car mobile base with crafting stations, storage, weapons, engines, and heavy armor plating.

The sense of progression is strong and satisfying, especially as every improvement is something that helps the journey and progression feel much more worth it over time and effort put into it.

Like most survival games, exploration is rewarded and the loop is very similar in the terms of gathering materials, upgrades and expand your base (in this case, your train). Instead of running through forests, deserts, you are re tethered to a moving track that cuts through this haunting void. You float alongside the train, collecting scrap, wood, chemicals drifting near the rails.

Momentum matters if you drift too far behind, the train keeps moving, forcing you to scramble back losing out on precious time to gather everything you can before the next section. As you upgrade your tools, more materials become accessible.

Automating, smelters, and workbenches open up deeper crafting trees. Eventually, you unlock research and tech progression systems that let your train evolve from a flimsy trolley into a formidable machine. Like most of these games there a relaxing rhythm to these resource gathering stretches whilst putting pressure on to make sure you are well equipped from any danger that comes your way.

One of the greatest strengths is its surroundings and progression on the tracks to head to a station at the end of each venture. Each “station” or biome in the Void feels handcrafted, with plenty hazards, creatures, and mini-dungeons to explore. Some areas are peaceful, almost meditative and desolate that provides gentle ambient sounds.

Others are hostile, drenched in suspicion, noise and filled with aggressive enemy factions. The combat is serviceable, but not its strongest suit. Early on, you fight off simple creatures using basic tools and firearms. Later, you face more complex threats, including armored enemies and dangerous beasts in station areas. Where combat does shine is in its intensity. Getting ambushed while scavenging in open space or being swarmed during a station encounter creates memorable moments.

The game encourages preparation stocking ammo, upgrading, and fortifying your train and of course making sure you have a belly full of food to heal up. These systems connect well with the broader survival loop and create a great puzzle of inventory management when wanting to go off the beaten tracks.

These moments help break up the pacing. After long stretches of drifting and crafting, the game shifts gears into exploration, puzzle-solving, or combat. The visuals are soothing, with vibrant colors and a hypnotic sense of depth and really nails the theme of being in the void and the unknown.

The soundtrack keeps things atmospheric, supporting long periods of scavenging without becoming monotonous. It’s easy to lose track of time drifting through the Void as well as keeping you on your toes when danger arrives. This rhythm can be addictive and you end up turning into a hoarder building more storage rather than upscaling everything.

Some players may find the drifting sections slow or repetitive. Others particularly fans of games like Subnautica might find this a more calming experience. Progression is generally steady, with major upgrades arriving at clear intervals. The research system, crafting tiers, and materials help maintain forward momentum. However, during long play sessions the game progression feels very linear and doesn’t feel as free form as some may like.

It also supports cooperative multiplayer, and this is arguably the best way to experience it. Being able to divide tasks and setting tasks for each other to cover gathering resources, crafting components, manning turrets, exploring stations gives the game a lively dynamic. With friends, the moments of chaos become highlights rather than frustrations of being a solo player. C

Voidtrain stands out because it dares to be different. It blends survival, crafting, exploration, and light combat into a surreal interdimensional odyssey. Its moment-to-moment gameplay is relaxing yet tense, slow yet adventurous, simple yet imaginative. While its combat doesn’t quite match the depth of its building systems, and some stretches may feel repetitive, the overall package is compelling, atmospheric, and memorable.

If you enjoy survival-crafting games that emphasize creativity and then this is absolutely worth boarding. It stands out because it dares to be different. On Xbox, it feels right at home accessible, polished, and ready for long sessions of drifting, building, and discovering or short train journey’s with what lies beyond the next floating rail no matter what way you decide to play this a great addition to this genre.