Train Sim World 6 Review (PS5)

Train Sim World 6 has evolved dramatically since the first game in the franchise, released in 2018.

Back then, the franchise felt scrappy and simplistic, but it’s come on leaps and bounds in the years since.

This newest instalment is perhaps the most polished yet: its presentation – while flawed under scrutiny – gives you the real sense you’re on a journey, and its suite of available content is bordering on unfathomable at this point.

That’s because Dovetail has been iterating on the same core foundations for several years now, and while this sixth edition of the series is undoubtedly the best, it also feels somewhat superfluous.

For a few years now, the UK studio has been releasing annual updates for this series which improve upon the core experience without really reinventing it. It’s become a bit like a sports game in some ways.

But the developer would rightly argue that you don’t need to purchase this new version if you don’t want to: available until 11th November, a free client named the Starter Pack will allow you to download the upgrade and import all of your existing content for free. Generous.

So, what is new, then? Well, the slogan for this year’s game is “expect the unexpected”, and that’s underlined by a variables system which will impact your journeys in unpredictable ways.

Whether it’s a light failure, a signalling issue, or a broken window wiper, you may find your journeys halted by unexpected issues. The idea is to give variance to each journey which will keep you on your toes, increasing replayability.

When you consider that each route in Train Sim World 6 comes with upwards of 500 different timetables to complete, it’s an addition that will make each journey feel fresh. Pair this with the dynamic weather system and you do have a beautifully versatile basis for a near-infinite number of scenarios.

But the team, perhaps recognising not everyone will want to deal with these obstacles, has made the random encounters a toggleable option, so you don’t have to deal with them if you don’t want to. That seems smart.

The other big new addition this time – and no small feat to implement, we’re sure – are passenger announcements. These include the announcements of upcoming stops and really do add a level of immersion to the experience that’s hard to put into words. Once you’ve heard them, it’s hard to go back.

It should be noted that these passenger announcements only apply to new routes for now, but Dovetail has shown some interest in potentially patching them into popular past locations, which would be nice.

Unfortunately, that’s about it for the core game itself – there are various bug fixes and optimisations, but nothing transformative really. The user interface – which was revised a couple of games ago – is mostly the same, and all of the core features from past instalments remain.

If you’re purchasing the Standard Edition, however, you will get access to three new routes and their associated locos: Morristown (USA), Riviera (UK), and Dresden (Germany).

It’s once again an emphasis on the same three countries that have dominated Train Sim World since its inception, but with new expansion routes planned for Japan, Portugal, and Czech Repubic, it does feel like the series is finally beginning to properly live up to its name.

Of the three new routes, we’ve been enjoying Riviera the most, which is a coastal route that hugs the Dawlish Sea Wall and takes you on a scenic journey from Exeter to Plymouth and Paignton.

This route in particular really highlights the improvements to the game’s engine over the years: you’ll pass iconic red rock cliff faces, seaside towns, and even funfairs – it’s stunning.

We completed one timetable starting early evening, around 5PM, during late summer. And we got to watch the sun slowly set as we made our way along the 28km-ish line through Torquay, with the sky turning a subtle shade of purple as the day turned to dusk.

The presentation does still suffer when observed closely: some of the track details use fairly basic geometry, and the framerate can hiccup even on PS5 as it pulls in new assets.

But what it does brilliantly is convey the passage of time.

You can spend upwards of an hour completing a single timetable in Train Sim World 6, and you’ll always feel like time has moved forward from when you started to when you finished. That’s fantastic.

Personally, we’re less keen on the Morristown line just because we’re not particularly fond of the operation of the American trains, like the Jersey Arrow featured here. But your mileage may vary, and finding your own personal preferences is part of the fun.

We should also mention the new Leipzig line which expands upon Nahverkehr Dresden from a previous release. Entering the colossal Leipzig Hauptbahnhof is, frankly, a jaw-dropping sight – it’s one of the biggest railway stations in Europe.

We also really like the ICE-T train added as part of this route – it’s such a smooth ride.

But we must admit, our eyes are half fixated on upcoming additions, like the aforementioned Tadami Line in Japan.

Fans have been waiting for this one for a few years now, and we suspect it’s going to be a milestone moment for the franchise which will put fresh eyes on it. You will need to buy that separately, we should stress.

If we had one major criticism for Train Sim World 6, outside of the fact we don’t think an annual release was really necessary, it’s that with so much content in the game it’s becoming difficult to keep track of it all.

We’re not sure we have a solution for Dovetail really, and obviously it’s at the mercy of platform holders like Sony in terms of how it rolls all this content out, but the game can feel like a bit of a jumble at this point. It’s great that everything carries forward, but good luck maintaining it all.

Perhaps further user interface refinements could help engaged players get a better handle on everything they own and how it all interconnects? We’ve personally reached a point now where we only keep our very favourite content installed.