The first Railfan for the PS3 was a bit of a revelation to me. Previously wary of the Densha De Go genre, put down as a Japanese niche with no real appeal, I tried Railfan for two reasons, one being something to play on the PS3, but more importantly, I was ready to try something new. What I found I liked, so much that I started to backtrack into the Densha series on the PSP.
Railfan wasn't as playable IMO as Densha, but it still had something about it. Railfan really lacked replay-ability, as some of the play modes after being initially cleared, really didn't warrant replay. Arguably the only mission you could replay with any challenge was the "Lets go by train" one. Densha, it seems, had more modes and missions that were quite comprehensive in comparison.
My anticipation of the new Railfan title, Railfan Taiwan High Speed Rail for its full title, was off the scale by this point. However I have been duped.
The "game" uses the recently opened Taiwan express service which uses a certain model of train normally used in Japan. As such, its a brand new rail line. And herein lies the "game"'s first problem, the track is so modern it's boring as hell. Here the track is mostly laid out on flyovers of major landmarks or cities, so all you really get to see are miles and miles of track with virtually no scenery whatsoever, with the exception of some grassy mounts and tunnels. And it only has about 8 stations.
I use the word "game" in quotes, because the package, regardless of the location's downfalls, feels incomplete and more like a demo. Or better still, described as some sort of merchandise you would by at the station on the Taiwan HSR line! The modes of play are terrible. Other than the traditional Train tour mode, the only Game modes are Power mode, Time Attack and Trial Drive.
Trial Drive is the most playable mode, as this sees you starting about half-way on the track to stop at about 5 stations, using the normal penalties and bonuses for arriving on time etc. But thats it, theres is only 1 mission, thats it. Play it once and its over. No unlocks, no other missions.
Time Attack challenges you to race the train from start to finish, no station stops and to stay within certain speed limits. This mode takes 80 minutes for the train to get from start to finish. I lost the will to live on more than one occasion during this long and agonizing trail, the only thing required of me was to ensure the train didn't go over 300km/ph. Yet again, on completion, thats it.
The final mode, the Power mode, challenges you to race the entire 80 minute circuit again in a bid to use less power. I don't think I can face this again.
Its such a shallow game in comparison to the original, and a joke against the Densha series of games. The limitations of the location are one thing, but the complete lack of challenge OR modes of challenge are not really acceptable.
One for the die-hards only. Buy and keep for a collectors item as its not getting released in Japan, its only available in Asia.
Next time, lets have a Railfan in London or somewhere more interesting. And don't forget to make a game out of it as well. Either that or pray Taito release a proper Densha game on a system other than the Wii.
Railfan wasn't as playable IMO as Densha, but it still had something about it. Railfan really lacked replay-ability, as some of the play modes after being initially cleared, really didn't warrant replay. Arguably the only mission you could replay with any challenge was the "Lets go by train" one. Densha, it seems, had more modes and missions that were quite comprehensive in comparison.
My anticipation of the new Railfan title, Railfan Taiwan High Speed Rail for its full title, was off the scale by this point. However I have been duped.
The "game" uses the recently opened Taiwan express service which uses a certain model of train normally used in Japan. As such, its a brand new rail line. And herein lies the "game"'s first problem, the track is so modern it's boring as hell. Here the track is mostly laid out on flyovers of major landmarks or cities, so all you really get to see are miles and miles of track with virtually no scenery whatsoever, with the exception of some grassy mounts and tunnels. And it only has about 8 stations.
I use the word "game" in quotes, because the package, regardless of the location's downfalls, feels incomplete and more like a demo. Or better still, described as some sort of merchandise you would by at the station on the Taiwan HSR line! The modes of play are terrible. Other than the traditional Train tour mode, the only Game modes are Power mode, Time Attack and Trial Drive.
Trial Drive is the most playable mode, as this sees you starting about half-way on the track to stop at about 5 stations, using the normal penalties and bonuses for arriving on time etc. But thats it, theres is only 1 mission, thats it. Play it once and its over. No unlocks, no other missions.
Time Attack challenges you to race the train from start to finish, no station stops and to stay within certain speed limits. This mode takes 80 minutes for the train to get from start to finish. I lost the will to live on more than one occasion during this long and agonizing trail, the only thing required of me was to ensure the train didn't go over 300km/ph. Yet again, on completion, thats it.
The final mode, the Power mode, challenges you to race the entire 80 minute circuit again in a bid to use less power. I don't think I can face this again.
Its such a shallow game in comparison to the original, and a joke against the Densha series of games. The limitations of the location are one thing, but the complete lack of challenge OR modes of challenge are not really acceptable.
One for the die-hards only. Buy and keep for a collectors item as its not getting released in Japan, its only available in Asia.
Next time, lets have a Railfan in London or somewhere more interesting. And don't forget to make a game out of it as well. Either that or pray Taito release a proper Densha game on a system other than the Wii.
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