Choo-Choo Charles Review: The Little Engine That Could (Eat You)
A Steam review code was provided to SVG for this review. “Choo-Choo Charles” is available now on PC via Steam.
From “Resident Evil” and “Silent Hill” to “Outlast” and “Dead Space. Gamers have had plenty of opportunities to experience fear from the comfort of their own homes. Even with its wide range of review scores. The Callisto Protocol” is still a title that most survival horror fans are probably going to check out to form their own opinion (if they haven’t already). But if you’re looking for something a bit different within the survival horror genre. The meme-ready “Choo-Choo Charles” may be right up your alley. A title that seemed like a joke at first has finally been released and it takes trainyard scares to the next level.
It may not be the most refined title out there. But solo indie game developer Two Star Games continues its trend of creating “artistic, atmospheric horror games” with a quirky and fun train-based title that pushes on full steam ahead. One that, at the very least, is worth more than a mere two stars.
The Island of misfit trains
In “Choo-Choo Charles,” you take on the role of a monster hunter contracted with taking down an abomination named Charles, itself a cross between a steam engine locomotive and spider. Complete with eight legs, hollow eyes, and twisted, gnarling teeth. The game takes place on Aranearum — a dark and dreary island that you traverse using your own run-down train engine, hunting for ways to put an end to Charles (and put him in your oddities museum back home).
Choo-choo motherf***er
Combat-wise, it’s rather simple — on your train, you have a default machine gun, and across the island, you can acquire different weapons like a flamethrower. Which can help to chip away damage and slow the threat down, a missile launcher to deal more damage at the cost of speed, or keep to the bog-standard machine gun with a balance of the two. On foot, you are completely defenseless to the stalking spider-train that lurks in the open world.
There are also cultists hellbent on aiding keeping Charles happy and shotgunning you in the face. Unfortunately, they all are encountered on-foot, meaning you have to out-maneuver them. Or lead them back to your train to dispatch a couple rounds into them. Which leads to one of the game’s many issues.
Derailed
If it wasn’t clear, Choo-Choo Charles makes heavy use of assets, off-putting voice acting, and a lack of facial animations. Making games with assets isn’t the issue, but rather it’s a dubious thing as some will absolutely devalue the game for using assets. To me, that’s unfair, as the game has some sort of charm. Its core premise is what it hedges its bets on, rather than its cast of characters outside of the antagonist itself.
I will say this — I am glad that Two Star Games went the extra mile to include voice acting, this isn’t a thing they had to do. It was an inclusion that is supposed to immerse you in the world, but unfortunately, it just falls flat.
Disregarding the core quality of actors, the mixing is all over the place. Almost like it was just dropped in after whatever post-processing the actor felt was necessary. Case in point, Gale is too quiet, with his dialogue getting overshadowed by the rain and ambiance. Meanwhile John’s is a lot deeper and studio-esque, cutting through the ambiance right outside.
Linking up with voice acting, though, facial animation does not change. I wasn’t expecting this grandiose level of detail in dialogue, but considering the game makes it a point to hover around the center characters. It really takes you out of the game if you look at it for more than a second.
He’ll be coming ’round
Choo-Choo Charles” doesn’t necessarily take itself seriously, but when it matters, it manages to be effective and engaging. The game has its moments of pure terror when you come face-to-face with the nightmarish monster on the tracks.But the indie element of the game keeps you pretty grounded. The open world is surprisingly large and begging for you to explore it, or at least take on all of the available side missions.
“Choo-Choo Charles” may not be the smoothest ride. But the daring experience of uncovering the mystery of the island and facing off against Charles will have you chugging along with excitement.
Last Stop
Choo-Choo Charles is the antithesis of a game that wears its silly nature on its sleeve. It hinges on the wacky premise of running from a spider-train to draw people in, but fails to deliver on anything to keep people thanks in large part due to its lackluster story, forgettable characters, shoddy design, and buggy experience. It has nuggets of potential that perhaps its sequel could improve upon. But for now, it’s just your run-of-the-mill indie horror that, without constant updates. Will fall out of favor for better, more polished projects.