Microsoft Train Simulator

The performance optimizations make the game even smoother than it was before. Lower-end machines will finally be able to experience the high attention to detail that the series has always provided, without having to turn down every detail.

As I said before, gamers who are looking for a true-to-life simulation have to look no farther than Microsoft Train Simulator. It may be tedious at first, but before you know it, you will be handling your train like a pro.
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The

Beta Information

I remember the first time I played Microsoft Flight Simulator. I had visions of the golden days of playing Aces of the Pacific and flying like a pro. I installed MSFS, and I realized that Aces was a kid's toy compared to the realism and accuracy portrayed by Microsoft.

Each year that passed, Microsoft has continuously produced a flight sim that surpassed the last, adding both more detail and an always-improving game engine.

But for some reason, when I saw Train Simulator sitting on my desk, I thought it would be similar to Railroad Tycoon. After reading through the manual, which is coming along very nicely by the way, I realized that this is the MSFS on rails. Fine. Since this is just the beta, I won't go reviewing the game, but I can tell you what I have seen so far.

After installation and inital startup, you will be presented with a menu with five options: Train Ride, Tutorials, Drive a Train, Continue Saved and Options.

For those of you who don't have a super fast machine, the options menu has tons of tweaks for you.

When you first begin, it's obvious that you won't know exactly what to do (unless of course you are a professional), so MS has provided a small tutorial to teach you how to handle the three different types of locomotives: electric, diesel and steam. With audio and illustrations, you will be more informed after stepping away.

If you don't want to jump right in the seat of a 150-ton beast quite yet, you have the option of watching an introductory train ride. This will give you a feel for the train and the techniques you will need to be a good engineer. You can change the views to get better angles of the area, or just sit back and watch the ride.

You will be presented with a list of activities and routes that you can drive using different weather conditions, rules and goals. While some are as easy as meeting deadlines, others are much more difficult. For example, driving heavy cargo through a raging snowstorm is difficult.

From what I can tell, the list of different trains, cargo and locales is quite impressive. Whether you are driving a KIHA 31 Diesel through the snowy Austrian Alps or an Amtrak Acela HHP-8 high-speed electric locomotive through the U.S.A., you will see the full details of their real-life counterparts. The locations have the same attention given to them with real cities, buildings and tracks laid throughout the game.

However, I have noticed that the graphics don't seem up to par with MS Flight Simulator and MS Combat Simulator. Aliasing is a big problem right now, and using hardware or software anti-aliasing would probably be a big hinderance on performance. The gauges and levers inside the machines don't seem to flow smoothly, which might be addressed before the release. Also, some of the landscape, such as trees and shrubs, look very blocky. But still, this is a beta, and when you add the fact that you will have hundreds of miles of terrain, these little things won't be that big of a deal.

As for the audio, everything has a wonderfully realistic tone to it. The shriek of the braking system and the sound of the horns are all authentically represented. There isn't any music in the beta, and I don't know if there will be in the final either. I am not sure if music would be fitting in this simulation, so I'm relatively glad it is non-existent.

Controlling the game, like MSFS, is handled by the keyboard. The help system is called by the function keys leaving almost the entire keyboard for different functions of the locomotives. You can also use the mouse to correspond to the appropriate controls, but like Unreal Tournament under DirectX, there seems to be some mouse lag on my test machine.

Most likely, like MSFS, there will be tons of new locations and trains available for download after the release to add to the replayablility. Whether you will want to play this game or not will depend on what type of gamer you are. This is a true-to-life sim, no ifs, ands, or buts. For those yearning for a simulation of the rails, MSTS is coming along quite well. I'll do a full review upon release and address whether some of the minor issues have been tweaked. For now, check out these screens and pre-order if they make you drool.
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