Recent reviews by Phaze

This is the start of what will be a fantastic new series for train fans. The level of detail the developers have achieved using the Unreal 4 engine and their Simugraph simulation engine is nothing short of amazing. The ability to walk on foot and move about the train and railroad just makes the game so much more immersive and really helps draw you in and allows you to appreciate the scale and detail of the trains and the route.

The trains, rolling stock and route are modelled in very fine detail. The lighting is also some of the best I've seen in a simulator.

The tutorials on offer help teach you the basics and there is a manual as well that details some of the more advanced functions such as setting up trains as multiple units. I would have liked to seen tutorials cover the trains in more detail such as performing cold starts but the information is at least available in the manual.

The game offers a selection of scenarios as well that cover some of the main areas on the route, the scenarios include some good voice-over work which is a nice touch.

There is also a service mode which is basically a 24-hour timetable of train services that run across the route that you can interact with as well, riding on or driving trains or just observing them on-foot.

The game does still need some optimisation work and given the level of detail its best played on a powerful computer. That said it is a brand new engine with some strong capabilities (64-bit, DX12 support) so the developers have alot of room to improve it.

A solid RTS in a day where new RTS games are becoming incredibly rare due to their PC only nature and amount of effort to develop. A decent set of campaigns as well as proper skirmish mode support and multiplayer. There is some solid game design in it as well, with units being able to be grouped into self-sufficient armies that position themselves appropiately in battle as well as resource nodes that are linked in a supply lines fashion that make it easy to plan your next moves.

The fact the engine is 64-bit, multithreaded in everyway from AI down to the unit's weapon systems and supportive of DX12 means this game has huge potential. Armies can comprise of hundreds of units. Each unit are able to have multiple weapons and spew out hundreds of projectiles at one another as if it was a bullet hell shoot-em-up game. Maps are large enough to support up to 14 AIs / players.

With the promise of more content (both free and paid) this game has a good chance of becoming one of the greats.


Note: I haven't played the original Ashes so I can't comment on how it improves from that. I understand some players who bought the original might be upset with this standalone expansion. I believe the developer had good intentions and really wanted to respond to criticisms levelled at the original game such as no strategic zoom and the feeling of a lack of content compared to other RTS games that have already recieved expansions and DLCs. Please give this a chance as it is genuinely becoming a great game.