Microsoft's latest addition to the "Simulator" series takes a marked departure from the earlier, well established titles such as "Flight Simulator" and "Combat Flight Simulator" in that it does not have anything whatsoever to do with aircraft. As you may be able to surmise, this particular title is all about things locomotive. From steam engines to diesel to electric, it's all here - it's authentic to boot; the sounds, sights and tracks are all captured or modeled on the real thing. That doesn't make it fun though - what does make it fun?

Woah nelly - just hold on a minute. There are a few things to look at first...

Surprisingly, there is no manual in the box. What you do get is 2 CD's, a quick start guide and a handy keyboard layout / signal guide card. There is a full manual as PDF on the CD, which can be accessed from the game. This was something of a disappointment - a paper manual is definately preferred and expected from a serious simulation. That said, the system used is actually quite good as it lets you get into the game very quickly. Just be warned all you manual jockies out there - there's nothing in here to cut your teeth on.

Despite a lack of experience the target audience actually has in "driving" trains, most will have no difficulty getting quickly underway - the system is intuitive and the interface reassures; all but the complete computer novice will be nervously pulling out of the station in no time.

There is no intro movie - it's just straight into the game. You can choose from an introductory ride, one of three voice over tutorials, Drive a train, Load a saved game, or adjust your options. "Options" is where Voodoo 4 and 5 owners will strike the first of several technical obstacles; you will need to disable mip mapping in the Voodoo Tools options just to get into the game. Once there, the second obstacle rears it's ugly head - at the start of each journey, it is nessesary to page out of the sim and then go back in to stop the trees looking like it's Christmas time. In the view of the cab (drivers station), a faint grid was also able to be seen, as if it is made up of individual blocks. Fortunately, these problems seem to be restricted to 3DFX chipsets and there is plenty of help on the web if you do encounter any nasties.

The "Drive a train" section is where you get to really explore the game. You can choose from 6 different routes from around the world and then select an appropriate locomotive in which you wish to travel - all of which affect the graphic detail that will envelope you in the game proper.

"Explore the route" allows you to take a train specific to a selected route for a free run, or choose to use any other engine (either from those shipped with the game, downloaded from the internet or created by you) with the only exception being electric trains can only be run on routes designed for electric locomotive transport. This is a great way to see the routes and also offers an excellent opportunity to experiment with different trains. You can also set a number of options such as time of day, season and if it is fine, raining or even snowing. The only downside to this mode is that, unlike in one of the "Activity" modes, you don't see any other trains while exploring the routes.