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Game Information
- Platform: Windows NT / 98 / 2000 / 95
- ELSPA Minimum Age: 3
- Media: Video Game
Product Features
- Comes with free Official Strategy Guide while stocks last
- One of the most realistic train experiences ever brought to the PC
- Hundreds of miles of highly detailed, accurately recreated rail routes
- Real-world, detailed sound effects
- Dynamic, 24-hour environment
- Route Editor
- Six highly detailed train routes
- Nine drivable locomotives
Product details
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Microsoft Train Simulator has been developed by the team responsible for Microsoft's flight simulator range and shows the same high attention to detail in both graphics and gameplay. The latter is similar to GP3's, giving you the chance to control whatever level of detail you want--from the pressure gauges to stoking the engine. Of course, the un-technical among us can just take the train out for a spin and keep it simple across the six world tracks that Microsoft initially offers. Graphics, like the flight sims', are very impressive, but will need a powerful machine to get the full beauty while chugging along in the countryside.
Apart from the free reign on the tracks, there are a number of missions, or tasks, that you've got to complete, ranging from simply getting from A to B to rescuing a train à la Thomas the Tank Engine. With more depth than most, this game is for all comers alike; whether you've been following trains for the last 50 years or this is your first foray, the learning curve is there. Okay, so you can't back left at a whim, nor fly by the control tower at mach six, but the thousands of train aficionados out there are sure to have their imaginations stoked by the six tracks, nine locomotives and track editor. --Jason Denwood
DailyRadar.com
Preview: UK developer Kuju has announced it is underway with Microsoft Train Simulator, a game which will put enthusiasts in the cab of a variety of locomotives -- including Japan's high speed bullet train.
As well as a variety of engines, the simulation will include hundreds of miles of realistic track recreating a variety of famous train routes around the world. Routes on offer include the Santa Fe Railway, the mountainous Hisatsu line on Japan's southern island of Kyushu and the Orient Express route across the Alps.
"We are pleased that Microsoft is giving Kuju the opportunity to develop Microsoft Train Simulator," said Ian Baverstock, business development director at Kuju. "Kuju's established reputation in creating high-quality simulation software is crucial in helping us deliver Microsoft Train Simulator to the same high standards Microsoft Flight Simulator has set." --DailyRadar.com
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Train Simulator realism,
By Ian (Fife, Scotland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Microsoft Train Simulator with Free Official Strategy Guide (PC) (Video Game)
After reading the previous 17 reviews of Train Simulator, I am surprised at the favourable comments on the graphics and sound. Compared with the shoot-em-up games my kids play, I thought the graphics on Train Simulator were fairly crude. I've only looked a Flying Scotsman on the Settle-Carlisle line, I must admit, but the graphics look much more like drawings than photographs. The sound is poorly handled, increasing speed in steps rather than continuously as the locomotive accelerates, and the exhaust beat is that of a 2-cylinder loco, not a 3-cylinder loco like Flying Scotsman. There is no "clickety-clack" as the train progresses along the rails, either. And why should I have to look at the loco from outside to see if the wheels are slipping? I should be able to hear that in the cab. At least I haven't encountered (yet?) the broken coupling rod which features so prominently on the advertising screenshot. The game shows promise, but needs further work to im prove realism. Use of the Automatic Fireman seems to mean there's little challenge in running to time.I would suggest searching the Internet for demo versions of other train simulators, which provide more of a challemge, albeit without any attempt at realistic graphics.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
MSTS - addictive and frustrating,
By A Customer
This review is from: Microsoft Train Simulator with Free Official Strategy Guide (PC) (Video Game)
Received MSTS at Christmas, and am still working my way through the various routes and activities. It is certainly addictive and the graphics are very good.As other reviewers have said, you do need a high spec PC to do the game justice; otherwise you have to trade off quality of graphics for performance. I have a 800MHz Intel HP PC, and have already uprated the RAM from 64 to 320Mb - well worth doing, it made a vast improvement to the frame rate. I am now thinking of acquiring a better video card for even better results. Now the bad news.......am I the only one to have noticed the inevitable "bugs"? These are especially evident on the Marias Pass Route with its long freight trains. Uncoupling cars is very difficult because the Train Operations window does not always show the entire train. Also, External View 2, which is supposed to show you the end of the train, seems to work properly only occasionally during shunting activity, which again makes things very difficult. Another bug I found was that the brakes on the cars do not always release after coupling-up. This makes them almost impossible to move! I had to give up the Whitefish Yard Switching activity because of these problems. Other niggles are that the siding names are extremely cluttered and almost unreadable in a large yard like Whitefish, and the car numbers will not always display properly. Come on Microsoft, when are you going to release the fixes for these? Having had my grumbles, though, I must say I am still enjoying the other routes without too many problems.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Think before you part with this much money,
By Ian Nixon (UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Microsoft Train Simulator with Free Official Strategy Guide (PC) (Video Game)
Think before you part with this much money for this game. Yes it's graphically stunning and if you're happy travelling the predefined routes and following the pre-defined activities with locked cameras and no replay option then this is the one for you.However if like me you were expecting more for the price tag and want to get into building your own routes and trains then you may be disappointed. The documentation that comes with the game is nothing short of inadequate and the strategies guide simply the user manual you didn't get with the game. Don't expect any help from Microsoft either as they never grow tied of telling you that the tools aren't supported. Creating a route starts with the over complicated geography extractor, which appears to give the promise of getting the broad topography of the area you are modelling but produces a large flat landscape. Once into the route creator you building blocks are limited with about 80% of the objects in the pre-programmed routes unavailable. This can be rectified by re writing some of the games files, it is noted that the tools are for advanced users but I think this is pushing it. Once you have access to insignificant items such as stations, you hit the next problem which is that these come as one large structure, making it difficult to extended or add platforms. Add to this the fact that, try as I may I can only build tunnels full of soil and the process soon becomes more trouble than its worth. The general feel the game leaves you with is 'are well Train sim 2 will sort it all out' but this seems to be a growing philosophy at Microsoft. My advice is to keep an eye out for the up and coming release Trainz from a company called Auran.
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