Train Sim World 6

Train Sim World 6 was provided by Dovetail Games for review. Thank you!

Train Sim World 6 is the latest iteration in the yearly train simulator franchise. It brings with it some new routes and trains, supports the DLC for previously released iterations, and gives us some new features in a very familiar package.

Regarding the actual simulation of the trains, it's hard to fault Train Sim World 6. The train cabs are detailed with a plethora of knobs, switches, and dials. At first, it's quite overwhelming, as you would imagine a real train would be, but it does feel good once you learn the procedures for operating the train and are flipping switches and turning dials like it's second nature.

Likewise, the physics of the trains aren't to be sniffed at either, with acceleration and deceleration taking into account the type of train you're using, as well as the weight of your carriages, one of the key elements of driving a train is planning well ahead of where you are, due to the time it takes to speed up and slow down such a large vehicle, and the game conveys that well, along with providing a handy timeline warning you of upcoming signals, stops or speed limit changes.

Of course, if you are feeling particularly confident, you can also disable the HUD entirely and rely on visual cues and your train control panel to keep you advised.

The gameplay is largely centered around carrying out routes, making sure you obey signals, stopping in the correct position at stations, and sticking to your timetable, which is a heck of a task when you can't figure out how to turn the train on! These are presented as missions/scenarios, although you can choose your own train and drive as you please in "free roam". It can be quite monotonous, but you probably knew that when you opened a review about a train simulator, there's only so much they can do.

In my opinion, the best way they've combatted this is by allowing you to get up and walk freely around your train, even while it's in motion, exploring the cabin and passenger carriages freely. Even if you aren't currently driving, exploring the trains and seeing what different trains are like inside can be nice.

Train Sim World 6 introduces random events like signal and train faults to break up the monotony. Sadly, the system feels half-baked, with only specific faults able to happen on specific trains and specific events on specific routes. This is very reminiscent of racing "simulators" back in the 1990s, where your engine would randomly explode or punctures would happen, but no reason was given, and your driving was fine. Hopefully, it's a system that can be expanded and improved upon in future iterations.

There is a big selection of trains and carriages, even without Train Sim World's absurd DLC offerings. The routes, however, are a bit thin on the ground, especially if you go straight in with the standard edition and don't own previous versions of the game. You might want to approach Train Sim World 6 with the understanding that you will want to purchase DLC at some point unless you're fine with traveling the same couple of routes over and over.

The visual quality of the trains and routes is a bit of a mixed bag. Seemingly, Train Sim World 6 is still using Unreal Engine 4. On the plus side, this means the game is fairly easy to run. On the downside, it's starting to show its age a bit.

Train Sim World 6 impresses with its attention to detail, with stickers throughout the train, detailed cabs, and realistic stations, giving it a feeling of authenticity. But it still features low-quality textures, particularly if you explore the carriages on foot. The shading, while decent, is not at the quality we've expected from games on their highest settings in the past few years, either. Buildings and other railside assets are also repeated in some areas. No Ray-Tracing is available either, and that's a shame given the very metallic and glass nature of trains, both internally and externally.

Train Sim World 6 - Steam Deck Performance

Before getting into Train Sim World 6, expect a hefty wait to process Vulkan shaders. My Steam Deck took around 20 minutes to do this before I could boot the game. Fortunately, subsequent boots were quicker at processing shaders and usually only took 1-2 minutes.

The game supports 1280x800 resolution, so there are no black borders on the Steam Deck. Despite how in-depth the simulation and controls are, it also has pretty good controller support.

I will say that using individual controls in the train is quite difficult on the Steam Deck, as many buttons and switches are small, and it can be hard to pinpoint them with your crosshair. You can zoom in with the left thumbstick to make this easier, but it can be frustrating. Thankfully, key controls, such as throttle and brake, are mapped to your shoulder buttons, making them easily accessible.

When it comes to actual performance on the Steam Deck, we can run at 30 FPS here. I recommend you choose the Medium preset and make sure Volumetric Fog and Motion Blur are enabled in the "General" settings menu. You can also increase Texture Quality to "High."

The game holds 30 FPS with these settings, but do expect some traversal stutters, especially when traveling at high speeds. Once you get beyond 50 MPH, I noticed frequent stutters as new objects loaded in. The game does remain playable, though.

The power draw was around 18W-21W, and temperatures were around 60C-65C. So, you can expect around 2.5 hours of battery life on a Steam Deck OLED and around 1.5 hours on a Steam Deck LCD.

Accessibility:

Train Sim World 6 does contain assists, which help you operate the train. This allows you to focus on driving and less on other tasks you might otherwise need to handle. There are also subtitles for certain voiced lines.

Conclusion:

Train Sim World 6 will likely be your go-to destination for a train simulator for the next year. Still, I can't help but feel like its throne could easily be toppled if another simulator appeared using newer technologies and a deeper look at the inner workings of trains. Train Sim World 6 gives us a good idea of what being a train driver is like, but with the introduction of "faults," it would have been nice to know why or what caused the fault.

As for Steam Deck compatibility, Train Sim World 6 runs fine. It's not the best experience, with some issues regarding highlighting and selecting buttons in the cab and traversal stutter, but it is ultimately playable.

Our review is based on the PC version of this game.

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