LADYDRAGON.COM - 3D Railroad Master

Abracadata is a company that currently does Railroad based game. Here they propose 3D Railroad Master, a strategy game where you have to drive a locomotive with his cargo among the stations where you have to deliver the merchandise. You always hoped to be a train engineer, here is your chance!

Once you've avoid the oncoming train, you must enter your name. When it's done, you're accessing the main menu. There you have five choices: Start game, About, Options, Help and Quit. In the about sections you'll find the credits of the programmers, artists, etc. of the game. In the help section, you can always find useful information.

In the options screen you'll have to choose between diesel or futuristic engine cab, in this window again, you can decide if you want to play in full screen mode (which can slow down the performance a little bit) or not. You can also enable/disable the background music and sound effects, etc.

Now that you have select the options you want, it's time to start the game! Once you've click on the Start Game button in the main menu, an other screen appear. Then you can decide to take a training layout or a mission layout.

When your choice is made, you'll be able to take the control of your engine.

For the difficulty level, they can vary according some factors like: number of pickups/deliveries, number of animated objects to avoid, travel on more complicated layouts, time to make a pickup/delivery, etc. All these factors must be determined before your start. And now, let's go for the next stop!

I think that the base idea is very attractive end relatively well done. This game was not able to get my whole attention, I know that I'm not a railroad passionate person, but there was many game before that successfully got my attention even on topic that seems to be less attractive to me. The challenge in this game failed to get my attention.

But, we have to say that the graphics are very well done, but they are very hardware demanding. There is something I find strange, it's a 3D game with no reference to 3DFX or OPEN GL even others...

The audio quality is also well done. When you're in control of an engine, the sound effects put you as near as it can be of the reality. The control is good, but it's not intuitive enough in a case where you need to react very quickly.

One thing is sure, if you always wanted to know what it looks like to be a train engineer, 3D Railroad Master will show you. As a matter of fact, if you generally like simulation, you will love that game.

Company
Abracadata
www.abracadata.com

Category
Train Simulation

NOTES

Interest : 80 %
Control : 80 %
Graphics : 85 %
Sound : 84 %
Originality : 86 %

TOTAL : 83 %

Requirements:

Operating System:
Windows 95/98

Processor:
Pentium 166MHz or better

Memory:
32 MB of RAM

CD ROM:
2X or faster

Hard Disk:
40MB

Michel Blanchette

DEMO