Nick Ireland

Almost nailed it, almost. It's a great simulator that is geared towards newbies and casual train fans alike. 3 scenario's play out in campaign format and while they are tedious when first starting out, it is essential knowledge further down the line. The engines have alot of love put into them with alot of accurate details that really do give you the feeling that you are moving large tons of mass. The sound design is also stellar, the sounds of the trains become so familiar over time that you are able to point out what engine is passing you before seeing it. The weather cycles are also well done and really change up the scenarios and challenges. This was a game that was somewhat easy to pick up but as many other people can attest, it does not do a very good job of explaining what you are doing or why you are doing it. This can create alot of headaches for players and eventually a waste of time as you get stuck easily and there is no help system to inform you what to do next. Also there are some game breaking glitches I have encountered for instance a 1 hour real time journey on mission "Fueled Up" requires you to haul a long trail all the way up to the summit of sand patch. Granted this is a slow mission that does take a long time to commit at full throttle even. By the time you get to the end you will un hook your cars and attempt to take a spare engine out of service, the problem I faced on 3 play throughs is a faulty trigger event where the signage never allows you to cross the tracks. This requires you to restart the entire mission, resaves do not work. These little events eventually make the game monotonous