Choo-Choo Charles, the review of the horror with the spider-train

The independent panorama in recent years has made us discover several jewels, works developed by a handful of highly talented people capable of creating an excellent game even with few resources available. In some cases, however, the limelight illuminates a certain indie not so much for its qualities, but for the crazy ideas it offers.

Developed by Gavin Eisenbeisz, sole member of the studio Two Star Games, Choo-Choo Charles is a game inspired by the book Charlie the Choo-Choo (Charlie Choo-Choo in Italian), written by Stephen King and published under the pseudonym Beryl Evans. It is a children’s story starring a train driver and his faithful locomotive: it is immediately clear that the two works, in addition to some superficial elements, have very little in common, given that Choo-Choo Charles is a horror-tinged survival experience .

It has to be recognized that the idea behind the game can appear intriguing, and in this sense it is not surprising that it is at the top of the Twitch viewership charts. But behind the phenomenon, is really hiding something good? If you are curious to know what happens to being constantly chased by the diabolical and murderous version of the Thomas the Tank Engine, go with us into the review by Choo-Choo Charlesan indie whose success is nothing short of inexplicable.

Chuf Chuf

Even if it’s a horror that focuses all its cartridges on a fairly original gameplay formula, Choo-Choo Charles doesn’t give up on telling a history, in which you play the role of an ambitious museum looking for a new attraction to display in its collection. The opportunity to obtain a unique piece is found on the island of Aranearum, whose population is threatened by Charles, a monster who looks like a strange hybrid of half train and half spider. After all, who wouldn’t respond positively to this tempting offer?

The game map is a very small open world, which can be explored on foot or aboard a ramshackle locomotive, the only weapon that can be used against Charles. After the first few minutes of the game, which serve to give an idea of ​​the story, and having learned the very simple game mechanics, the hunt for the motorized abomination can finally begin. Basically, the aim is to upgrade the locomotive while exploring the island, while trying to survive the ambushes of Choo-Choo Charles thanks to the weapon positioned on the back of the railcar. The open world is littered with characters who assign the player a small number of missions and, if some of these are mandatory and carry the story forward, others are completely optional but reward you with additional weapons that will be decisive in the fight against the evil train.

Everyone on board

The locomotive, as mentioned earlier, embodies the only chance to survive the attacks of Charles, who cannot be countered in any way while on foot. L’exploration therefore it always continues along the tracks that cross the island, since it is never a good idea to move away from the only tool that guarantees the survival of the protagonist. Looking around and visiting the different points of interest in Aranearum will ensure you not only encounter NPCs, but also acquire scrap, an in-game currency that can be used to repair or upgrade the locomotive’s stats such as damage, speed, and resistance to Charles’ attacks. Scrap is mainly received by completing side quests offered by the inhabitants, but many more are obtained by exploring the structures scattered around the game world.

Choo-Choo Charles, as you may have understood, is quite basic and the interface also testifies to it, which is limited to showing a life bar that automatically recharges and another that indicates the resistance of the train. The simple story also sees the presence of other antagonists, people in the pay of Warren, an entrepreneur who found his fortune in the mines of Aranearum. The treasure that is hidden inside is represented by phosphorescent eggs guarded by some human enemies with clown masks, a bizarre stylistic choice but absolutely in line with the general absurdity of Eisenbeisz’s horror. The mines represent the only variation on the gameplay theme, since here you must necessarily rely on a crude stealth movement system useful for evading the control of the guards. This doesn’t work very well, and most of the time you are chased by hordes of goons armed with shotguns, just to add that extra pinch of frustration to the one you already feel running away from Charles.

Arrived at destination

The island is full of lethal threats to the player, yet you never breathe that anguish that should characterize any self-respecting horror film. This is due not only to the design of the antagonists, almost more ridiculous than scary, but also to theno real repercussions for a game over. Death, for example, causes only the loss of a very small amount of wreckage, while the saves are too permissive, with the player never really feeling in danger.

For example, during our test it happened to die inside a mine after having collected the eggs, chased by Warren’s henchmen; after the respawn, we realized that we already had the object in the inventory without having to repeat the section, due to an automatic save placed at the exit of the mine. This breaks down all sorts of difficulties within Choo-Choo Charles, nearly pushing a ignore the stealth mechanics of the game, the only one that added a minimum of variety to the constant going up and down the map aboard a locomotive. Not to mention that the fights are trivial and unexciting, getting boring after the first two times she has to deal with Charles. The hitboxes are not very precise and the only difficulty you can have is to overheat the weapon and remain exposed to Charles’s attacks for a few seconds.

It almost makes you smile to see that the most horrific thing about Choo-Choo Charles is not the monsters inside, but the technical realization enjoyed by the game, much like a demo made with preset assets. In terms of performance, the title runs well enough, but the enemies have no facial animation while they speak, the polygonal objects are reduced to the bone and repeat themselves with disarming continuity, and the whole lighting sector is so rudimentary as to create showy imperfections that break any kind of immersion. You can’t expect much more from a one-person experience, and it would be unfair to over-penalize the game for its graphical impact, but the technical aspect of Choo-Choo Charles is just the icing on a huge cake carelessness and superficiality that we are ready not to recommend to anyone, not even horror fanatics with a passion for toy trains.