Like Microsoft's much lamented Flight Simulator series -- and indeed, Microsoft's own Rail Simulator, released way back in 2001 -- Britain-based developer RailSimulator's latest ode to the choo-choo, RailWorks, is pure simulation. In other words, it authentically and in great detail depicts the operation and capabilities of real-world trains. It does not allow you to engage in head-to-head duels to the death with your buddies. It won't let you tweak your locomotive until it breathes more fire than a volcano. And it definitely won't fulfill the desires of anyone who'd like to jump the tracks and careen full-bore through the streets on a pedestrian safari.
Nevertheless, there's always a market for the sober, sim approach. There's always a market for games that let the player experience what it's really like to control an airplane. Or a motorcycle. Or a race car. Or even a boat.
Yet there's one key difference between all of the above and a train. A train is on rails. Unlike an aircraft, which can maneuver at incredible speeds in virtually any direction, or a car, which responds instantaneously to throttle and steers right or left with just a flick of the wrist, a train is a ponderous beast that goes only where the track says it can go.
If you check out discussion forums such as www.train-sim.com, where would-be engineers the world over gather to discuss the latest train games and compare notes, you'll find there's a fervent community that really digs this sort of thing. They like building new routes, adding scenery elements, coupling and de-coupling, dealing with all the nuances of making a real train do real train things, taking in the sights and sounds as they whiz through country and urban settings, and using crazily authentic devices such as the Desktop Train Cab Controller.
But know this. If you're not a train maniac, if you're not a model railroader from way back, if you're not connected -- deeply and metaphysically -- to the lore and the lure of the romantic ideals of this whole train thing, RailWorks will likely leave you flat. Real flat...like the unlucky kitty who chose the wrong time to cross the tracks.
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