Trainz Simulator 2 Review

It's a bit of a reviewing cliche to say that any game is only intended for those who like that sort of thing. However, Trainz Simulator 2 really does match that idea. As the name suggests, it enables players to control trains in a simulated and vaguely realistic environment. It's certainly different.

Proving to be rather complex, it's reassuring to see that Trainz Simulator 2 offers some comprehensive tutorials. Indeed, a lot of time can and should be spent on them; there's a lot to learn. Players have to ensure that they keep to the speed limits throughout the game, as well as read signals accurately. During more complex missions, one is also required to couple and decouple carriages.

There's a mixture of free roaming sections and missions, ensuring that Trainz Simulator 2 is oddly intriguing. Traveling from station to station is often a little slow going, even at high speeds, but that's part of Trainz Simulator 2's charm. The controls are both sometimes too sensitive (when manipulating the speed dial) and too awkward to tap (certainly where the small menu buttons are concerned), but it's never so infuriating as to make one quit.

Trainz Simulator 2 offers plenty of variety too, thanks to its multiplayer mode and the ability to create one's own routes. Content is certainly overflowing here - as it should be. For the most part though, I simply enjoyed traveling around the lands offered while feeling like a grown-up kid with a train set.

Having said that, Trainz Simulator 2 really isn't going to be for everyone. It's too niche and a little obscure to hook in those with no interest in trains. It's like few other games on the App Store (except for its predecessors, of course), and that's both a good and bad thing. The world in which the trains inhabit is surprisingly vast, if very graphically dated, so those who enjoy that sort of thing are going to have something to enjoy for a long time to come.