Train Simulator With A Purpose
The Good: Innovative idea to have the player be a Freelance Entrepreneur and a Driver at the same time. You make your own deals, hire drivers, upgrade locomotives, promote cities so they have more goods to transfer (or people & mail, two modes of play, switchable between runs). Switches are flipped from cabin, no need for map for that, but check the map to take the bypass to a factory or city, when needed. Most switches are X crosses and plenty of them, you will not miss your turn even with adverse effects on. Plenty of realism, great graphics & beautiful scenery of Europe. Got me hooked, but I am already an experienced train driver from the grey pigeonholed games. You have to make several bad mistakes to derail or crash, this game is VERY forgiving. (but you do get fines)
My first ~6hrs. of play I drove ~3,000km & earned ~550,000eur, with which I bought 2 locomotives, hired one driver & upgraded the startup locomotive in expectation for another driver or backup.
The Bad: Adverse effects are trains coming up on your line or locomotives stuck on the way. Problem being, you will get emergency alerts, sudden red lights you can't stop before them (but only get a fine, you can correct and backup), only to find out the train was going on the line next to you or veering off on a split line. This is not always the case though & many times you do have to stop to sort it out, when both trains are stopped at the same cross, just choose the free line and you'll be told to proceed. Emergency brakes are the main reason your locomotive wears out in damages, but overall, you should make it to destination, because every station in between has a repair shop.
The Ugly: More of an Arcade drive but enjoyable, what was cut out is the Shunting & Consist Sorting. Which some people like, some may not, but you can still pickup multiple Contracts from the same station, you'll have to sort them according to YOUR preset delivery schedule. So it still requires a logistic mind sooner or later.