Railed Up

Railed Up is a multiplayer combat game for one to four players, set on tramways suspended across the lower levels of a towering city. You steer along the tracks, collect ammunition and attack rival electricity providers. In the solo campaign, you follow Iskhar as he climbs through the city to confront the electrical gangs and uncover the past that drives his revenge.

The lower city

The year is 2376, and miles-high buildings cover the world. Iskhar lives with his family in the lowest layer, where they are one of the area's main electricity providers. With little sunlight or rain, the inhabitants rely on the polluted ocean below for water. Those who can afford to move migrate to higher levels, leaving the bottom increasingly desolate.

Suspended tramways connect the enormous buildings and form a sprawling railway network, including tracks that run inside buildings. Some lines were built by residents for convenience or after hostile encounters destroyed the regular routes. Their condition varies: some have no return track or proper stations where passengers can get off.

Iskhar is young and reckless, intent on revenge against the competitors who harmed him years ago. His older cousin Eliace shares his desire for retribution but knows the journey will be difficult, and tries to guide him upward. An electrical engineer with broad scientific knowledge, including expertise in weaponry, Eliace also knows how to use tramways for defense.

Tramway combat

Fights take place in arenas where your tramway can move only along the tracks. You can usually fire only perpendicular to its direction of travel, though some special weapons are exceptions, making positioning important. To win, gather ammunition and destroy your opponents; the last one standing takes the fight.

Electricity leaks along the tracks provide ammunition as bright spheres. Small spheres give one unit of electricity and large ones give five. Tramways can store up to 20 units, and leaks reappear only when none remain available.

The basic missile costs one unit and deals one damage, while a tramway's health bar holds ten. With five units, you can place a mine that deals five damage to an enemy that hits it, or fire five short-range missiles at once. Each tramway also has a distinct weapon that costs ten units to use, with effects ranging from defensive to extremely powerful.

The electrical gangs

As Iskhar faces each gang in the solo campaign, he gains access to its tramway arsenal. The rival providers include:

• Express Charge: A company that presents itself as a police service for the lower city. It restricts residents from developing their own energy sources in the name of security, forces them to subscribe, and imposes fines even on customers of other providers.
• D-tone Eight: Based near the water at the city's lowest point, this provider draws electricity from tidal changes. It mainly supplies overload: modified electricity that people inject through cables into their eyeballs.
• Light Circuit: Its members replace parts of their brains with electronic devices. The company provides effective, expensive services, and its members see themselves as a caste rather than a company.

Style and tone

The setting combines science-fiction influences including steampunk, tech-noir and dystopian fiction. The graphics are entirely 2D, mixing realistic shading and textures with hand-drawn elements such as animated character portraits. Orchestral music with a distorted sound adds drama to fights and reinforces the atmosphere of unease.