The (not so) long awaited Glossop Line just released for TSW3, but is it worth the price?
The new Glossop Line marks a potential turning point in releases for TSW3 (I'll substantiate this later on, don't worry!) and shows pleasing signs of change for the future. Despite the average nature of the route and rolling stock, I have so far found the pack genuinely fun to drive on, for a few main reasons:
The immersion
The playability
The price
Immersion
When Train Sim World: CSX Heavy Haul first released it was hailed as being at the forefront of graphics, route building and immersion. This was certainly true for the time, especially when compared to the other simulators on the market at that time. The quality of the route building increased over time as TSW matured, however sometime after the release of the sequel there was a pronounced decline- shoddy buildings, poor attention to detail and many rough edges were commonplace in new release, driving many long time customers away from the franchise. Releases such as NEC Trenton and Linke Rheinstrecke are examples of such.
Why do I mention this? Well...
I truly believe that the route building, scenery and graphics of the Glossop Line are right up there with the standards of the best routes in TSW. The stations have character and charm, bridges are well modelled and other aspects such as foliage seem satisfyingly dense. Of course, not living in Manchester I could be completely wrong on this (please let me know if I am!), but to the untrained eye the route is actually quite nice!
Similarly, the rolling stock, whilst being carried over in whole from other routes, is also well made. The Class 323 wears its Northern livery nicely, my only criticism being a lack of weathering.
The signalling is also well designed, with functioning approach control and more fixed cautions than you could poke a stick at!
Playability
The route, whilst receiving plenty of criticism for its length, I believe is well suited to casual players. Services never exceed 40 minutes in length and provide a healthy dose of terminal operations, frequent stopping, express running and single-line working.
Additionally, novel features such as a railfan scenario and guard scenario (I will discuss these later) expand the replay value and I would expect to see these in most future releases where applicable.
The many layers add much extra playability to the pack on top of the base product, fetching a 158 from Midland Mainline, 66s from various routes and more, the route manages to feel alive in almost all areas.
Price
The route is very reasonably priced in comparison with other Dovetail Games products of late. There is also (in various capacities depending on platform) a loyalty bonus for those who already own Birmingham Cross City. Not having to pay the usual arm and a leg for products makes the route a good option for those looking to expand their library of routes without committing too much.
This is all good, but...
The route is not without its problems.
I'll do these in more of a quickfire style.
Manchester Picc still feels a bit dead. Maybe Dovetail should stay away from major termini unless they can populate them with more than one type of train.
The railfan scenario feels too childish, and I would prefer to see more work put into refining the simulation than adding too many kid-friendly gizmos to the game.
The guard mode needs refining. It is a good proof of concept, but needs fleshing out to make it really viable on a large scale. The ideas are sound, but after a few rounds of checking specific passenger's tickets and constantly being guided through with dialogue box after dialogue box make the experience gets a bit boring.
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