Recent reviews by Kellanium

I could go on about the balance and challenge of the game, and how it occasionally feels a little *too* punishing, but instead I'm just going to say I have two railguns and two grenade launchers so ♥♥♥♥ you <3

I have, at time of review, put 635 hours into this game. I play it nearly every day. It's extremely fun and I enjoy it immensely. Unfortunately it has also consumed my life. I see conics on the way to the grocery store. I think about how the oberth effect when I toss a toy to my cat. I blame all of my household accidents on Jebediah Kerman. Its so much fun but this game will ruin your life.

AGAIN, DO NOT PLAY THIS GAME. IT IS TOO MUCH FUN AND IT WILL CONSUME YOUR LIFE!!!!!

This game has destroyed my life. As of this writing I have poured the equivalent of four months and one week of continuous time into this game. It has consumed my life. I see killboxes everywhere I go. I bemoan that my underwear is not made of hyperweave. My greatest desire is to capture and brainwash my coworkers into joining my household.

Five stars would buy again

An absolute waste of money that might have worked 10 years ago when it was released but is hopelessly broken now.

The couplers stretch like they're doing yoga, it doesn't register as a collision but it's definitely jarring to descend a grade and see one of your locomotives with its nose up the other's ass. There is, however, a freeware patch out there that's dead simple to install that fixes this.

The engine is both extremely overpowered compared to prototype both in terms of acceleration and dynamic braking performance, moreso on the braking side of things. Setting the dynamic brakes, even to notch 1, results in the engine slowing down 10 mph in about 5 seconds. You have to ride the automatic brakes instead going down a grade.

The exterior is gorgeous but the interior is hopelessly dated.

Overall, I can't recommend this at all. Spend your money on something else. The scenarios aren't even particularly engaging.

Dovetail doesn't care about American railfans.

We've been beating around the bush with this for years, but it's come to a head with this DLC. The brakes on it are hopelessly broken. MU Operation is nearly impossible outside of scenarios, the banking comm/HOTD doesn't work, when you try to release the brakes the brake pressure flashes violently between 89 and 90psi every frame, the sound goes wild, and you can't move.

The physics are, as has been discussed elsewhere, pulled straight from the AC4400 that comes with the base Sand Patch Grade. The textures look great at first but the more you walk around the more you notice funny little mistakes like the 74V receptacle missing a texture, or how the generator field switch requires you to get out of the seat and crouch to actually flip it, the handbrake wheel on the back of the loco cilps into the long hood.

This sort of garbage doesn't show up in any of the European and UK DLC. The roadmap every other week is filled with fixes to British Rail and Deutche Bahn bugs, with American content forever remaining "in planning".

Don't buy this DLC. Don't Buy this Game. Dovetail only cares about getting your money, and after that, you're on your own.

One of the best US Loco DLCs available. This is one of DTM's best efforts yet. Really you're getting 3 locos for the price of one in this pack. GP35, DD35B, and DD35A (cab unit).

The included scenarios are all fun, the train controls well, and its gorgeous to look at both inside and out. What's not to love?

It's fun but the adhesion physics are all messed up. It skids on dry rails and the brakes lock at any speed above 5mph.

Aurora, IL is my hometown and I've spent many hours riding Metra to and from downtown Chicago, as well as driving up and down the Fox River.

The layout in this is stellar, the landmarks are all there, you can even see the Leland Tower and the Hollywood Casino in downtown Aurora. The wayside warehouses are exactly where they should be. It's like living out my childhood fantasies of driving a train around town! If only BNSF would license stuff again for TSW.

Update:I have left my original review up below, but I have to update it due to recent events, as well as revsie my rating

As it turns out, as the game configured itself it was using my computer's dreadful intel integrated graphics, instead of my fancy Nvidia. A bit of settings tweaking has both greatly boosted performance and eliminated the crashing issue. The game is now extremely enjoyable. It's easy to grab onto but surprisingly in-depth. While I look forward to more expansions of Train Sim World, this one is also a very fine addition to my collection and will provide many more hours of enjoyment.

ORIGINAL REVIEW: When it works, it's really fun. But often, it doesn't work.

The game is, on a foundational level, a 15-year-old program, that has been patched and kludged into modern form. Often it crashes from memory overflow errors or direct3d glitches that happen seemingly semi-randomly. Certain routes and locomotives seem to be more effected than others. The Clinchfield EMD F7 is by far the worst in this regard, but I've also had issues with the UP Big Boy and Southern Pacific Cab Forward DLC trains.

I mostly play this because Train Sim World does not as yet have steam power supported, but I expect when that happens that it will be a much less frustrating experience.

I've been playing MSFS since the 98 version, when i was 7 years old and my grandpa introduced me.

If you like super-nerdy sims with too much detail for normal people, this is absolutely the game you want. Frankly, if you're looking at it, it's probably a game for you. If this is the first time you've heard of Microsoft Flight Sim, it might not be. Even if this is your first time, though, I do recommend it! It's just a fun, immersive distraction. I recommend having a joystick at the minimum. You can go real deep on equipment and paid DLC, but for the latter, just know there's an enormous community out there of freeware devs who make absolutely fantastic planes!

In short, if you like planes, and want to fly, but don't have tens of thousands of dollars for lessons, this is for you.