Back in Service: a subway conductor Steam Charts & Stats

This beats subway sim 2, im loving this little gem. well done guys

Back in Service - Metro Driver, is an absolutely fantastic little indie gem, and it deserves much bigger acclaim. Unfortunately, i can't vouch for how realistic the metro driving itself is, i don't have anything to compare it to. Feels similar to other train sims i've played. Where Back in Service outshines the competition is the "level design". Re-creating Prague's metro in Back in Service is a work of art. Absolutely stellar. The stations feel so real that whoever created the models should get some kind of a prize. I wonder if the devs used photogrammetry, or if they hand-built everything themselves, but the stations look 100% real. I even managed to succesfully troll few of my friends by taking selfies in front of a large TV with the game running, to make them think that i'm physically in Prague myself. The stations models are THAT GOOD. I got only one little nitpick - anachronisms. From how everything looks, the game seems to be supposed to take us back to the metro of the eighties (at least i think so), with the old train type and limited station amount, but some of the banner line schematics show the current metro network, instead of the era-appropriate ones. But again, that's just a small thing, and maybe the game wasn't actually supposed to simulate 1980s metro, but only train of that era. At present, the game covers the core part of Prague's metro line A (green one), Dejvická to Želivského, which is most of what i remember from my childhood in the 1980s anyway. The line was extended from Želivského to Strašnická & Skalka a littlebit later, and the extension beyond Dejvická happened relatively recently. I still remember when i was visiting my doctor in 2010, beyond Hradčany, walking across the park and looking down into quite deep digs. And into tunnels planned for the metro extension and other one nearby for road tunnel "Blanka". So, at current time, the driving is limited to the center part of line A, and addition of other lines isn't even fully confirmed yet (but probably planned), but you can actually pick a time (differs in difficulty and how tight the timetables are). What i love about the game is, that it opens up some of the service areas not accessible to the public, and you can explore them. There is even a hint of an "open world" mode, where you just ride the metro from station to station, talk to various characters and do odd jobs for them. I love that the side quests are there. There are just a few of them, but i'm sure the number will grow as the game gets more fleshed out. I wish more of the service areas were made accessible though. And i wish the developer great success. For those who don't know - a huge chunk of the development was going on as a one-man project. Only when the game caused a bit of a buzz, backers appeared, the single developer could hire a dedicated 3D artist, but that happened later. So keep that in mind please. This is an amazing achievement. Once again, a dedicated indie dev absolutely dwarfs the "big" train sims. I'll never not wonder why people still let the big studios get away with shlt like additional payments, zero day DLCs, p2w, releasing bug ridden mess and blaming it on everything but themselves, while independent gamedev scene gives us jewels like Back in Service, Factorio, Space Engineers, Songs of Syx and more. Not to mention other Czech developers who started independent and became huge. Dan Vávra obviously (Mafia, Mafia 2, Kingdom Come 1&2), Bohemia Interactive that started with indie project called Operation Flashpoint. A game that essentially CREATED the milsim genre. Czech developers are special in the best possible ways. They're creative, they're innovative, and they're... they're just good. They're basically the best on the planet. And i truly wish that everything in Czech republic had the same high level of quality, the creativity, open-mindedness, and just good ideas overall. As the following suggests, that is not the case unfortunately. P.S. There's an INTERESTING rumor about the line A extension from Dejvická. The line A was ALWAYS meant to eventually continue westward from Dejvice, all the way to the LKPR airport (Letiště Václava Havla / Ruzyně). For a reason that was never explained well, it did not happen. The line WAS eventually prolonged, but instead of going to the airport, it goes west from Dejvická, but then weirdly turns south-ish, and goes to the biggest hospital in Prague (Motol). Obviously, the presence of massive hospital complex at one of the stations line A was eventually prolonged to - was used as the reason for the diversion, but even if you look at the map and follow the line A from Dejvická, the turn to the south just doesn't make sense whatsoever. It's pretty obvious that the line was supposed to continue, placed shallow under Evropská street, and go all the way to the airport. But the tunnels turned south instead. The rumor says, that the reason why that happened is pure corruption/backchannel pressure and lobbying. Lobbying is a bribery made legal everywhere, but in ex-eastern bloc, public relation and lobbying seems to be attracting a very specific type of people. Again and again, various shady types appear, types that one wouldn't expect to have any influence over politicians, or something as complex as city infrastructure development. But they do. They're in the system, and they made things very lucrative for a select few while screwing them up for everyone else. If metro directly connected center of Prague to the airport, taxi drivers would lose a huge chunk of their profits. Center to airport or even southern or eastern outskirts to airport are one of the best routes taxi driver can do. Taxi drivers used to have a mob-like union at that time, and it was quite influential. They got away with A LOT, for a loong time. They had magistrate workers in their pockets, and who knows who else. I think that the situation somewhat improved recently, mostly due to Honest Guide's efforts (google him, if you don't know Janek Rubeš already). He should be thanked for his efforts to clean up Prague's tourist zones. Obviously he's just one guy, but if his activities inspired more people to do the same, Prague's center would be a lot nicer place. So, Taxi union mob, actually affecting where will the metro line go? Sounds implausible? Well, i wish you'll never lose that optimism. My own experience with state sector leads me to believe that this is not just possible, but that it's very probable. That the "rumor" is actually what happened. That pressure from a taxi union is essentially the only reason Prague STILL doesn't have comfortable, direct connection to the Airport. There's some kind of a fast train line planned, but what would YOU find more comfortable? 1.To be able to board on Staroměstská & get out at the airport terminal. Or 2.having to ride Staroměstská to Muzeum, xfer to line C, ride to Hlavní Nádraží or Nádraží Holešovice, get out, walk to the station, xfer to train, and THEN finally ride to the airport. There's also shuttle bus from main railway station. Being able to ride metro to the hospital is useful, but i know that i'd definitely vote for the line A going to the airport instead. After all, the line could have a Y junction with one way to the hospital&other to the airport. Czech Rep. is a paradox of sorts. Country that used to be part of the West, but was sadly given to USSR's sphere of influence. After 40years, we got away and are one of the better faring ex-eastern bloc countries, but the state sector was never truly fixed. Never got rid of the backroom deals, nepotism, 2 sets of rules, one for "friends&family" and one for everyone else. The corruption and shady side of the state's inner workings - it isn't as bad as in countries further East, not as brazen, but it's still there, present. Unfortunately. Oh wow, i made a rant, my thoughts kinda escaped, sorry... SUPPORT THE DEVS! BUY THE METRO GAME! IT'S AMAZING! :-D

It's a pretty fun game at first, but with how short the route currently is and game's repetitive nature, I can only get so much enjoyment out of the game once I've unlocked the limited gadgets and accessories to add the the train, and can easily keep up with the timetable. I know the game is still in somewhat early development, and it was quite enjoyable starting out, so in the end I'd say it's still a good game with even better potential. Once more updates roll out I'll certainly be revisiting the game.