Such a cool concept, and such a letdown.
[u][b]PROS[/b][/u]
- Trains
- Atmosphere (to an extent)
- UX-wise everything is in order, controls are intuitive, the tutorial and UI do their job, no bugs
I also considered listing Charles as a pro, but that would imply that it's a fun enemy as a whole, and while the design and spidery animation are super cool, it seems like it's where all the effort and creativity went, and unfortunately also where they ended. I was so hyped for this game that, when I finally got the time, I bought it at full price without hesitation. And so, while I understand the number of reviews (clearly I wasn't the only one hyped), it's mind-boggling to me now that 92% of them are positive. I mean, if it was truly fun for so many people, who am I to negate their experience. But to me, it seems like the dev cashed in on the hype, and only pushed the game to... well, I cannot even say "bare minimum", because honestly it's not even that at times.
[u][b]CONS - MY EXPERIENCE (FIRST 15 MINUTES)[/b][/u]
So, for the cons, I don't even know where to start. Perhaps I'll just retrace my experience from the beginning.
- Starts with an exposition cutscene, where a character calls us to come to the island to help with the monster (Charles). We close in on the NPC in a phone booth. As the camera zooms in, I realize... the character's mouth isn't moving as he speaks. "Haha, it's actually refreshing to see that in 2026, I guess the dev focused all the effort on gameplay and story, instead of going for form over substance. Good for him!"
- You arrive at the island. The graphics are pretty simple, but totally appropriate for such a game. Lighting and fog make up for it - as long as the atmosphere is there, I'm happy.
- You follow the NPC during the tutorial. He then sends you alone to fetch a key from a shack. Earlier he said "Stay close; Charles isn't the only thing to fear around here" and now he sends you alone, so, you know, "ooo, the horror part begins!". While walking through the grass, I started hearing noises all around me, as if some creatures were sneaking up on me. Quickly realized there are no creatures, it's just literally the SFX of walking through the grass. "Well, it's pretty blatant, but totally expected of a horror game". Carry on.
- You unlock the shack where the train is. The building is pretty large, with some crates and an upper floor. Naturally, before getting to the objective, I explore the building, but there's literally nothing to find there. "I guess it's still the tutorial, straight to the point, I can respect that".
- You start the train. Stuff happens, no spoilers, but it's pretty cliched. But also short, so at this point I'm still like "Cool, the game is not pretending to be something that it's not. Let's get to the gameplay!"
- For a moment, it feels great. It's you, your train, and an open world in front of you. How cool is that! Well...
I could go on, but hopefully the pattern is clear. You keep stumbling upon half-baked elements, which, if I just listed them, you could say that I'm nitpicking. But they keep piling up, and you keep telling yourself "OK, the dev skipped this part, probably to focus on that other part", but at some point you realize the good part isn't coming.
[u][b]CONS - LIST[/b][/u]
A couple of other negative reviews already explain the issues pretty well, but here's my list. Disclaimer: I didn't even reach half of the game before refunding, but looking at the reviews (and skimming a playthrough video), I didn't miss much, it's mostly the same until the end.
- Lazy sound design (constant rustling to a point where you just stop paying attention to it, sometimes an animal howls somewhere, and that's it).
- Lazy writing, everything is just spelled out and cliched.
- Lazy objectives. "You're here to help us? Thank you. Go there, fetch me something, and I'll give you scraps to upgrade your train". Repeat.
- Lazy graphics. Low fidelity can be totally fine if done right (Witch Hunt or early Frictional titles are on a similar level, and I got totally immersed in them and loved them). And I actually like the crudely hand-drawn style. But when you see wooden walls that look more like mud, a metal tank with an ugly, obvious texture seam running straight through it, blatantly repeating patterns on water and bridges, or an NPC with a huge texture glitch on both his shoulders, which makes him look like a mannequin (in case the dev reads this, I mean Daryl), it doesn't really help with immersion. I mean, in 2022 there were already dozens of techniques which could fix these in 15 minutes (even for a self-taught solo dev), if only the author cared. So at some point you realize that NPCs not moving their mouths is not "cute", it's just lazy.
- Empty world. While I hate typical collectibles and having to press the use button constantly to gather all the junk literally on every step, I don't think the opposite extreme is good either. I'd expect some lore, easter eggs, but there's nothing. Just those scraps here and there, and a lazy note at best.
- Despite all the rustling, and despite what that first NPC said, there's actually nothing to fear there. No danger, except for Charles popping up every now and then out of nowhere.
- The game is not scary.
- You can hear Charles from afar, but as far as I could tell, there's no actual mechanic involved. He appears, you shoot him, he retreats. If you try to reverse, he attacks the front of the train, while the gun is at the rear, so he's in the one single blind spot and there's not much you can do except die and restart. So if you hear him it's best to actually do nothing, just keep going in his direction so you pass him and then you can shoot him from the rear gun while he's chasing you, until he retreats.
- It's supposed to be "open world", but the train tracks are pretty linear and, again, there's not much incentive for exploring on foot, because there's nothing to find.
- The train upgrades are just speed, damage and armor, 3 progress bars that you fill linearly, nothing changes visually on the train. There are also guns you can unlock and swap, and while the system is quite OK (you have to swap them manually, manage overheating and conditions like how close Charles is), it's not enough to save the game.
- Here's a good one. A slight spoiler I guess, but not really. The main objective is to collect 3 items, each in a different cave/mine, I believe. So you go into the mine, the game teaches you the leaning mechanic, but there's literally nobody there all the way through. At the very end, you hear a whistling enemy. Now, get this. He just walks in a loop around a small rectangular building, passing the item every minute. So you can literally just go behind his back, pick the item and leave. At first I thought "well, I better leave quickly, before he notices the item is gone and starts chasing me". Nothing of that sort. He just keeps walking right past the now empty pedestal, still whistling, still looping. At this point it hit me that the game is probably not getting any better.
[u][b]SUMMARY[/b][/u]
I don't refund games, my mind doesn't automatically go there, I don't start counting 2 hours etc. But in this case, at some point it struck me "wait, I don't want to play this". I shut it down at 2:03 h, but fortunately Steam accepted my refund.
If anybody wants to play a good solo dev horror game, one that is actually scary (but not jump-scary), with great atmosphere, graphics with similar fidelity, but executed with more heart and care, with great sound design, world-building and gameplay, I highly recommend Witch Hunt from 2018.
And as for Choo-Choo Charles... I really, REALLY wish someone took the concept of "riding through a scary world in a train which is your weapon, and your shield", and did it justice. But it's so specific that it would probably be plagiarism, so it's never gonna happen, which just makes me sad.
