There's personality in there for sure this is a release that stands out as refreshingly unconcerned by game design fashion, and is proudly unashamed in its enthusiasm for railways. While the likes of a scoring system showcase how it borrows from conventional gaming, Train Sim World 2020 is studiously devoted to realism, from the handling of the trains and their operation to the carefully reproduced stations and sternly implemented timetables. Put another way, even if you don't subscribe to railway magazines and travel the country visiting heritage steam lines (and you should, because trains are cool), developer Dovetail's creation can be a powerfully compelling game. You know you could lift your score a little higher. But surprisingly often, it pokes at you like an arcade game does, luring you back in with its remarkably generous capacity for perfection. It's entirely fair to describe it as slow, meditative and - relative to the furore and fury of a typical action game - even empty. Go hang around with some rail enthusiasts.Īnd that's the peculiar thing about Train Sim World 2020. If those words leave you cold, you're missing out. If the words 'BR's blue-and-grey era' fill you with excitement, Train Sim World 2020 might be for you. You know you can do it perfectly with that one more go. Heart beating, breathing clipped, it's time to hit restart. There's enough train on the platform to unlock the doors and welcome new passengers, but you were late, clumsy and left plenty of room for improvement. An inevitable stuttering cycle of speeding up and slowing down spirals, leading you to overshoot the ideal stopping point just moments after you came short byy five or so yards.
It's time to release the brake and dial up the throttle again. Then you shudder to a halt near-immediately, 600 yards out from the destination. With the pressure at the right level, shifting the same lever with precise timing to its 'LAP' position applies the brake. Pulling the brake to 'service' loads pressure into the system.
As 750 yards ticks down, it's all too easy to lose yourself to a frenzy of lever yanking. In your first few hours of Train Sim World 2020, however, you'll learn a great deal of respect for the starring vehicles' drives. As passengers we see trains coast to a precise stopping position so frequently we lend no mind to the skill that might be needed, instead focusing our thoughts on lost minutes and the scramble for a table seat.
TRAIN SIMULATOR PS4