Recent reviews by ChainChomp2

Got this just to give the developer something extra for what I feel is a great game.

Hopefully he adds the new music added in 1.1 including Shane and Emily's themes, as well as Emily's new dance music. In the meantime they can be found in-game on the saloon's jukebox.

Edit: Looks like the 1.1 tracks have been added! Drug trips with Emily are a go.

Me: Alright, I'll just play for an in-game day or two.
Also me: *plays through the night and past the next sunrise*

The file saving only at the end of your day throws off any plans you have about stopping, because as soon as your character wakes up and the next day starts you instinctively get into the next day, and the next day, and the next day...

Very down-to-earth (haha get it?) and lighthearted, while also deep and full of character. Has a very friendly community and a developer that puts his heart into it to make sure it's in good hands.

Super addictive if you haven't guessed. Many ways to play through it, or you can just play your main file forever and ever and ever.

My original review as of 2014, and updated afterwards:

Had this since TS2012, but it's been changed/revamped/retrofitted/whatever word you want to use since then. Some changes good, some not-so.

From what I've observed overall, the unit is very easy to control as one'd expect, being a MU. Visual and modeling details have always been a personal high point, with the animation being good. Some touches are here and there like the panto sparks, updated livery, and the lens flare as another user has noted. I wouldn't be absolutely sure but I think the specs have been redone since then too, like how in the past it'd top out at 147 MPH in the sim, when the real one, as also noted in promotional material of this DLC here and there, can go up to 162 or 165. Seems to speed up a lot faster so it can be assumed they gave it a bit more juice.

Other bugs have been fixed when you load a scenario partway through that had to do with the Cruise Control, displays, and other cosmetic functions. The "Acela Express" scenario was also optimized a while ago, although the last time I played it, it still suffered here and there from an AI train desyncing and derailing offscreen, the player being held up at Newark by a signal and thus not be able to satisfy the timetable, or be unable to finish the scenario at all with a set of points always set against you.

If you also own or plan to own the New York to New Haven DLC, there are a few more Career Scenarios available using the Acela there too, although the Achievements seem to be broken at the time I write this.


Now, some of what prevents this DLC from being more perfect (in my eyes, anyway):

• Cruise Control is broken; it either takes longer to kick in than from before this DLC was reworked, or it doesn't at all—the Class 390 is a better example of how it should function.
  
• Pantographs can be a bit wonky; by default, the front pantographs are used relative to the direction being traveled, when it should be the rear ones. The cab switch to choose a pantograph doesn't appear to be animated either, and whatever I do seems to cause an indefinite loop of raising and lowering the "unused" pantograph.
  
• Carriages leave a lot to be desired; while I did note the modeling was nice, inconsistencies from the real thing include the lack of the Business Class "End" Car (it's like the First Class Car, with two doors rather than four), how the carriages are generally flipped as opposed to how they should be in consists (ex. the First Class Car's—and wouldbe Business Class End Car's—doors should be adjacent to the Power Car, the two middle Business Class Cars, seat-wise, should face away from each other, and the Cafe Car should also be flipped relative to how it currently is (to give an idea, the windows, on the side with less windows, should be closer to the closest Power Car)).
  
• In addition to above, they lack a passenger view.
  
• The horn does not automatically turn on the bell like it does on the ACS-64 (as well as how it did in the original Kuju/MS TS).
  
• Whatever updates done to the DLC also messed with the lights; the marker lights (the red ones) on the opposite power car don't always turn on when the front ones are switched on, and the ditch lights can either be on or off; they don't flash or alternate like previously (at least for me).
  
• I probably don't even need to mention the sounds, save for the horn and bell really (though, this is only minor personally).

Otherwise, it's a must-have if you're going to drive on either of the Northeast Corridor Route DLCs, especially when you consider the workshop scenarios available here for them. Too if you just like fast trains like I do.

***
Update Jan 2017: I tried this DLC a few days ago (or 2 years after initially reviewing this) and I've noticed these changes and improvements, as well as stuff that still keeps the DLC from being the best it can be.

Pros:

• Cruise Control is set by a combination of the on/off switch and the lever next to the throttle. The desired speed can be set by the lever and the switch is turned on once reaching said speed to maintain it.
  
• Passenger view added to the First Class car.
  
• Pantograph controls less buggy and work properly. Front/rear/both pantographs can be raised independently; by default in many scenarios the front pantograph is raised whereas the rear one (relative to direction traveled) should be raised instead. (x) The switches themselves still don't seem to be animated even if they are clickable however.

Cons:

• First Class car still needs to be flipped; doors should be on the end adjacent to the Power car. (x)
  
• Business Class car adjacent to First Class car needs to be flipped. (linked above)
  
• Café car needs to be flipped. (x)
  
• Business Class car adjacent to Power car should only have two doors (can be a reskin of the First Class car barring any differences in the interior). (linked above) (I'd do all of these if I knew how to edit the default consists and apply them to all scenarios.)
  
• Ditch lights switch only works in "off" and "fixed" settings. The "flash" setting itself is activated with a press of the horn and not the switch. (x)
  
• Horn still doesn't automatically turn on the bell like the ACS-64.

I'd still recommend it, but felt the need to point these things out since it's not exactly a free product.

I've wanted this game for a while, but didn't own an Xbox even though I've played it and thoroughly enjoyed it before. Looking around on forums people are complaining about the price being the same as it was four years ago with no DLCs included, and being a lazy portover but I don't mind too much since I already use a 360 controller with other games. It just depends if you want to play it on PC is all. Hours and hours of fun, totally worth it IMO, won't need to wait for the sales really...

One thing of note is that multiplayer is peer-to-peer, unlike other Behemoth games like Battleblock Theater which seem to use servers. If your or your friends' connections are weak (like mine), expect a lot of sync lag to add to your play time.

Probably a really old game for most of you but I've only played a couple hours after getting it alongside Portal 2 for less than 7 bucks and it put my worn-out intelligence to the test. Also good for people unfortunate enough to be gaming on a laptop like me where you can't run every game with good performance since it works fine with high settings albeit some stretching depending on your card (I had the same problem with The Sims 3 but it had a fix, so this one might too). This game gets the job done especially for its cost and in these times. Have yet to try out Portal 2 since I need to turn my settings a bit farther down for that...