"Loco Mania" Review (PC)

Pros:

• Challenging puzzles
• Easy camera controls
• Well done 3D world
• Upload scores
• Multiple playing modes

Cons:

• Levels do not ease into harder situations
• Labeled a sim, but more of a puzzle game

• As the train dispatcher, your responsibilities include confirming trains are on the right tracks and heading in the right track direction by controlling track switches.
• 12 maps inspired by European landscape.
• Play Time Attack, Check Point and Time Attack Unlimited game modes,
• 3D graphics and effects - daylight, smoke, snow, rain, and more.
• Upload and compare your scores to other "Loco Mania" players.

Your view is not from a desk at a major train station, but from overhead where you can zoom in and out and pan around the 3D world. Switching track directions is a matter of clicking on a intersection. In fact all the controls of "Loco Mania" are simple. Perusing the world is made easy by using a combination of the keyboard and mouse. Even on a laptop the changing the view was not a problem.

Switching the tracks and the signals is what you’ll be doing for the majority of the game. Trains enter the screen from multiple areas on the map. Each train has specific locations they need to visit and/or exit. Getting the trains from one end of the map to another is not always straightforward. There are other trains you need to dispatch moving on the tracks at the same time. Making sure to set track switches and signals for the right trains is the puzzle needed to be solved in each level. You have to be quick and organized to keep the trains ended in the right direction. It’s easy to get sidetracked with a new train and forget to change a switch.

The four gameplay modes are built around the same idea. Get the trains to their destinations as quickly as possible. One mode you have to get the trains there before time runs out. Another is about having the right school. And of course, there is free play mode where you can do anything you want. There is nothing wrong with having multiple modes. I applaud them for giving us plenty of options, even if they are basically the same thing. "Loco Mania" does not have multiplayer games - technically speaking. You can upload your scores to see how your times place against other gamers. Not as fun as live online play, but the end result is the same. You can see how fast you are compared to everyone else.

Don't buy "Loco Mania" thinking you are getting a full-blown train simulation. It's not what you will get. If you've been wanting a puzzle game with plenty of challenge, "Loco Mania" may have what you want. For the rest of you, skip "Loco Mania."