TRAIN SIM WORLD
Next stop: disappointment
Writing this review at the train station, waiting for my delayed commute home yet again, is a little bit upsetting. Because, I know, for a fact, that I could do better. I’m almost always at least ten minutes early, approaching the railway station at speeds upwards of 100mph before desperately hammering on the emergency brakes to make sure the train stops in the sweet spot, as the passengers scream for their lives. 1
This console version of Train Sim World comes with three routes as part of the base game – New York’s East Corridor, Rapid Transit S-Bahn in Germany, and the Great Western Express Reading to London Paddington route. Each has a handful of trains to master, scenarios to complete, and a service mode where you can freely drive routes you want or just ride trains.
There’s a lot of detail in how the trains operate, but none of the scenarios get very complicated or challenging. Train fans will love driving along the tracks, but the environments aren’t that pretty, and the track selection is limited. Reading to Paddington is arguably the worst one of London’s connections to the West Country. Graphically I encountered plenty of glitches, including one that transformed Paddington into a hell dimension, 2 and another that fused a fake wall into one of the carriages.
Perversely, there is a great joy to Train Sim World once you get past all the niggles, chugging along at a clean 125mph, the world zipping past you as you keep an eye on your next stop, easing the throttle, lightly touching the brakes. The engines themselves are on point, but it’s a bit lacking in reason to drive them. Oscar Taylor-Kent