As I passed on the last game, Train Sim World 2 is a game I am coming into with fairly fresh and open eyes. It is a train driving sim and a damn fine one at that. I do feel that the game is probably way better if you are a train enthusiast. However, even my ignorant never-sat-in-the-first-class butt was able to have fun with this and I know nothing about trains.
When you fire up the game you are given a tutorial on the basics of driving a train. This is a pretty good tutorial in that it teaches you what you need to know, but it is not boring. It is way harder to drive a train than a car I can tell you that much. Take your time, especially with the speed and the braking as this is essential to master quite early on.
There are three famous lines that you will be driving your train along. There is Bakerloo Line in London, Schnellfahrstrecke Köln-Aachen in Germany, and Sand Patch Grade in the USA. Each one is drastically different. I am not just talking about the driving of the train, but in the aesthetic as well.
How to Download Train Sim World 2
You can download the game for PS4, Xbox One, and Windows. Click on the Download button at the end of the review to make your choice. Check out also our review of the previous edition of the game that was released in 2018 – Train Sim World 2020,
The Game Review
Each line has many different stops that you need to make. These require you to drive at a certain speed so you maintain your time and also break at the right places. The breaking was what I had the most difficulty with, but I felt like I was getting better and better with each stop. As well as driving to stops, you have some side missions as well.
The side missions are rather interesting. The reason I say this is that you stop driving the train and walk around in the first-person! That kind of blew my mind, but you do this to put up posters and making sure the newspapers are fully stocked. It was an interesting idea which I know does not sound exciting, but it certainly made for interesting side missions.
It is important to note that this is a train driving sim and a train driving sim only. By that I mean there is no building up your own company from scratch and worrying about your bank balance. There is progression in the game in the form of Action Points. You earn Action Points for driving good, completing missions, and for being a generally good train driver.
As well as the main single-player mode, Train Sim World 2 has another mode called, Scenario Planner. This mode allows you to plan your own route which is fun and you can even pick what objectives you want to do as well. It is a nice touch and something I am sure is going to be awesome for train enthusiasts.
Another mode that the game has going for it is called Livery Designer. Here you can design your own kind of trains. There a large selection of stuff to choose from so you can either go for something classy or something pretty obnoxious which is what I did. While I did not play the last Train Sim World game, you can import your collection from that game into this one.
The presentation of the game is great. While I am ignorant of the make of trains, I know a cool looking and highly detailed train when I see one! As well as the trains looking good, so do the stations and the carriages when you walk around them in first-person. There is no music, but the sound effects perfectly capture what it is like to be on a train.
While I may not be the target audience that Train Sim World 2 was going for. I must admit I had a lot of fun with this game. I liked how it was all about being a train driver rather than running a train empire. It keeps things more focused and fun in my opinion. If you are a bit of a trainspotter then you are in for a real treat with this one!
