Simulation games typically fall into one of two different camps. First, we have the genuinely enjoyable simulation games, such as American Truck Simulator, Farming Simulator, and Train Sim World. They give players a chance to live a life doing something that they may not be able to do in real life. And they’re beloved by fans for a plethora of reasons. This second camp, however, is more sinister and not so loved. They’re simulators that boil down the charm and toss it out of the window. Train Sim World VR: New York falls in that second camp, turning the charm of Train Sim World into an exercise in patience, taking any fun or strategy out of the game, and turning it into a bargain-bin experience that should have been derailed and retired before being allowed to leave the station.
I Hope You Like Pressing A Button Over and Over Again. ‘Train SIM World VR: New York’ Has Plenty of That
Train Sim World VR: New York has three different game modes available. First, we have the Career mode. In Career mode, it was my job to guide the train, make stops, let pedestrians on, follow speed limits, and ensure we had safe travels. I could honk my horn at train fans and rail workers. And that was about it. Once I did the first mission, I had a quick look at everything I was going to experience here.
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There is no baseline progression in Train Sim World. Everything you do in Career mode is laid out in front of the player after the first mission. It’s the same thing over and over again. Press a button to let pedestrians on. Wait for them to board. Press the button again to close the doors behind them. Get the train moving. Honk a horn when a visual prompt tells you to do so. Apply the brakes. Press a button to let pedestrians on once again. It’s an exercise in repetition, with the only thing to strive toward being a higher score. Do these scores do anything? No, not at all. They just populate a virtual logbook, and you can try to beat your own scores again.
The second Train Sim World game type here is the Journey option. It’s the same thing as Career mode, but it’s slightly more realistic. And by “realistic,” I mean that you have the same basic objectives, but you don’t get the visual indicator to honk a horn at someone. You don’t even have to honk your horn in this particular game type. You just have to press the button to let pedestrians on. Wait for them to pile onto your train. And press the button again to close the door. How enthralling.
‘Train SIM World VR: New York’ Also Suffers From Horrifying Pop-In, Rendering the Track Seemingly One Rail at a Time
Fans were quick to point out the quality difference between the base game and this VR experience in the announcement trailer for Train Sim World VR: New York. Rather than only showcasing the VR experience, the base game was intermittently scattered throughout the trailer, showing the obvious difference in graphical fidelity between this VR adventure and the typical current-gen Train Sim 5. I’m not the biggest stickler for graphics, but Train Sim World VR: New York is an ugly game, and there’s no way to skirt around that fact.
At first glance, when inside the apartment, I was surprised to see how Train Sim World looked. It actually looked quite nice. There was an acceptable amount of detail when exploring the small area, and I was excited to jump into the lead car. But, as soon as I sat down on my caboose, I was exposed to the real world around me. And it looks nasty. Train rails popped in on my journey between stops. Polygonal train workers that look as if they were peeled out of a Nintendo 64 game robotically waved at me. Unenthusiastic passengers who looked as if they would rather be anywhere else but here waited to board. It’s not a visually appealing game by any means.
I know that the Meta Quest isn’t the most powerful headset on the market by any means. But there are plenty of games that are much larger in scale than Train Sim World that look tremendously better. I’m always the type to put gameplay over graphics any day of the week. But when the gameplay is as mind-numbingly simplistic as it is here? There’s no shot of redemption. Maybe the final game mode could save this package completely?
Exploring Stations and Taking Pictures Are Not Any Better Here, and Just Add Filler to the Overall Package
Finally, we step out of the Trains and explore some of the stations, snapping pictures as we go. This idea sounded genuinely kind of neat, as I have never been to New York myself. But if this is what the New York train stations have to offer, I’d rather sit at home and not worry about traveling. Empty stations, with the occasional bird chirping, are all we get to see here. But wait, the camera around our neck. Maybe that’s worth something, right? Well, not really, since there’s not a whole lot that we can do with that, either.
Hilariously enough, the photo-taking aspect has the most “gameplay” of this whole package, as I could point and shoot to take a picture. Once the knock-off Polaroid had printed the picture, I could grab it and shake it to help it develop faster. That’s really all there is to this aspect of the game, too. It’s all a lot of wasted potential at the end of the day.
I wish I had more positive things to say about Train Sim World VR: New York. But this feels like a tremendous waste of time and resources. There’s nothing here worth exploring, even for the most dedicated of Train Sim World fans. It’s ugly, boring, and most importantly, not worth the $30 price of admission. No actual game progression, paired with the most simplistic gameplay loop imaginable, makes this an unimpressive attempt at bringing Train Sim World to a new audience.
Verdict: Don’t Bother
Train Sim World VR: New York is available now on Meta Quest. A code was provided by the publisher for the sake of review. Reviewed on Meta Quest 3.
