When I went to download Train Simulator 2022, I did a double-take on the Steam page.
Why? Well, it listed the year as 2009,
Digging a little deeper I found out that this game was originally released all the way back in 2009!
To be fair, developer Dovetail Games has been regularly updating the game, but under the hood, we have an engine that is well over a decade old.
How to Download Train Simulator 2022
You can download the game from Steam. Click on the Download button at the end of the review. Check out also our reviews of the previous versions of the game: Train Simulator 2019, and Train Simulator 2018.
The Game Review
I have always wanted to drive a train; it is something that movies make look so cool!
To be fair, most of the movies I have seen with trains have them hauling down the track at an uncontrollable speed, but that is not what we have here with Train Simulator 2022. This plays it as straight as can be, hence the simulator in the name.
If you are someone who has played this series for a while, you are actually getting a fair bit of new content here. There are four new routes, many new models of trains, and career mode has plenty more challenges for you too.
People who like this series and its spin-off (also made by Dovetail Games) Train Sim World, have a lot to keep them busy and entertained here.
While I am not an expert on trains at all, I was still able to figure out the controls easily enough. There are a few control options for you, but I used the mouse along with the onscreen mini-map to guide me.
The onscreen mini-map I am sorry to say sucks! It is supposed to keep you up to date on stuff, most importantly the speed you can go.
Well, more often than not it does not change and if you are not keeping an eye on things at the end of a route, you will end up with a terrible score for speeding. This is beyond frustrating, especially as some of these new challenges, or whatever you want to call them can last over an hour!
The game just feels kind of old and I would say that even if I did not discover it is an updated version of an older game. Visually, Train Simulator 2022 is a bit of a mixed bag. It is neat when you are on a long open stretch, you can play around with the camera. You can take in the sights of where you are driving through and even go and sit in one of the seats.
One other thing I have to talk about is the immense amount of DLC that this game has. I have learned that lots of DLC are kind of the thing with this series. You get a lot of content for the base price, but there are over 600 pieces of DLC for this game. If you bought it all, you would have spent the better part of three grand.
I have to admit, I am clearly not the target audience for this game. If you are a trainspotter and find the world of trains interesting, Train Simulator 2022 has more than enough content to keep you happy and riding those rails. I do not think that this is a bad game at all, but it has clearly outstayed its welcome on this current engine and it is time for the folks at Dovetail Games to create a whole new engine and game.
