Trainz Railroad Simulator 2004 Review - PC

Trainz Railroad Simulator 2004 caters for everyone's playing style as it features three different gameplay modes: Surveyor, Driver and Scenarios. If you'd prefer to take complete control of the train as the driver, delivering required goods on your waybill and picking up passengers, the Driver mode is for you. If you'd prefer to create railroad tracks and surrounding terrain, the Surveyor mode would be the best choice for you. The Scenarios mode seems to be quite similar to the Driver mode except that the levels are more structured as they feature more detailed objectives.

The game has been developed so that it caters for people who are familiar with a train's cab controls and inner workings and also those who are new to them. On the screen at all times, in the top right corner, is a small box displaying your current speed, the area's speed limit, the buttons for switching between the various views within the game and the buttons for altering the speed of the train. The buttons that alter the speed of the train are intended to be used by those who are unfamiliar with a train's controls, featuring a simple handbrake button and a circular dial with a pointer inside it that can be dragged around to control the speed of both your forward and reverse acceleration. Inside the cab view of the train are the levers that control the train, intended for use by those who are familiar with a train's controls - although they're very simple to learn, as they're similar to the dial and button controls.

There's an expansive range of views available to you in Trainz Railroad Simulator 2004, including the external view, which is centred on the selected cab on your train but can be moved around and zoomed in and out; the cab view, which is situated inside the train's front cab giving you freedom to look around outside the windows and also control the train with the levers in front of you; and the free-roaming view, which allows you to move the camera around wherever you like. Unfortunately the free-roaming view is a little bit tricky to operate effectively; it tends to move a bit too far when you click a place that you want to move across to.

In the bottom left corner of the screen at all times is a small group of icons displaying the current drivers available to you on the track. These are quite pointless if you want to control the trains yourself; (continued next page)