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From the same company that developed 2004's successful Train
Simulator add-on route London & South East, Irish
Enterprise North is the first in a two part series that,
when combined, will see you travelling from Belfast to Dublin.
This add-on features the upgrades made to the route during
1998-99 which included the introduction of 90mph operation,
welded rails, colour light signalling and central train control.
The Belfast to Dublin route is served by a variety of diesel
and multiple unit type trains ranging from the converted BR
type Mk2 stock to the current Enterprise stock. Locomotives
featured are from the US built by General Motors...
Irish
Enterprise North was originally conceived as a Belfast
to Dublin project, but is now being released as as two separate
volumes. This first volume allows you to travel the 55-mile
journey from Belfast to Dundalk. The second part, Irish
Enterprise South, will cover the stretch from Dundalk
to Dublin will be released later this year (2006).
Before
we go any further I want to point out that I've never really
understood the appeal of Microsoft's Train Simulator.
In a moment of madness I went out and bought a copy of the
original Train Simulator - actually, I say "a
moment of madness" but I was buying it for the office
so that we could review the add-on games that we receive for
review.
We
loaded it up and started playing it and within 20 minutes
had totally lost interest. Personally, I find the excitement
of making a train speed up, slow down and hoot its whistle
a little to dull to keep me sat at my computer for hours at
a time - Flight Simulator, on the other hand is a different
matter altogether.
To
be honest Irish Enterprise North does add quite a lot
to the original game and if you love Train Simulator
then you'll probably love this too. Whether the trains look,
sound and drive like the real think is uncertain - only a
driver on that line would know, and I doubt they'll be rushing
out to buy it.
There
are people (probably the same ones that sit on Totnes station,
near our office, writing down engine numbers) who will find
this a big thrill. I suppose it is the closest you'll ever
get to driving a train, but then to be honest when you realise
there's not much skill involved, and that you'll spend hours
just watching the scenery go by, you'll soon realise that
driving a train is not all that exciting after all. I can't
wait for Microsoft's next game in a similar vein. What will
it be? Factory Worker? Bin Man? Office Temp?
Personally
it didn't do a lot for me, but for fans of the franchise there
is a lot of fun (?) to be had here with new trains and scenery.
It's a bit expensive when you consider that the combined price
of both parts of this add-on will be £50 - and I'm sure
you can travel from Belfast to Dublin for not much more than
that in real life. A bit expensive really when you consider
that.
Darren
Rea
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£19.99
(Amazon.co.uk)
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£21.97
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All prices correct at time of going to press.
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