Atrain 9 V4

BurnItDwn

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
26,188
1,659
126
So, I used to play A-train in the 90s (the version sold in the US as A-train was actually a-train 3.) It was an awesome game. I loved the more complicated/difficult learning curve and way to make the cities grow, and the level of discipline and caution needed to not go completly broke ...

It was published by Maxis, and released in the US some time after Simcity, but before Simcity 2000. I think I played it in the very early 90s, for countless hours.

Anyhow, Steam added Atrain 9 recently. Its priced at the high end, like a AAA title ($60), normally my rule of thumb is pick stuff up on steam sales cheap, but, I said what the hell and bought it on steam.


Gameplay is surprisingly like I remember from my childhood, only, its even more complicated and difficult and complex. Also, it looks fantastic. I am gonna be playing this one for a LONG time....

Anybody else pick this one up?
 

BurnItDwn

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
26,188
1,659
126
So, I've played it like 5 or 6 hours over the weekend, and meh, I dunno, its kinda boring. I dont think I would recommend it to anybody unless they were die hard fan of the genre ...
 

JimmiG

Platinum Member
Feb 24, 2005
2,024
112
106
It does look a bit boring in the gameplay videos I've seen, and I don't know why it sells for $60 like some AAA title. I like Train Fever because it doesn't get overly complex or slow paced (except in the beginning). I know some got frustrated by the lack of options, but I think they achieved a nice balance for what the game tries to do. The first Cities in Motion was also very good. The second one suffered from being overly complex and dull, plus the AI was kind of unrealistic. Nowadays I'm mostly playing Cities Skylines. The transport options are simple, but it's so satisfying to build an entire city from the ground up.

I also played A-Train in the mid 90's on the Amiga 1200. I was too young to really understnad what I was doing, but I enjoyed watching the trains go around the city, and the buildings lighting up at night.
 
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Elcs

Diamond Member
Apr 27, 2002
6,278
6
81
I also played A-Train in the mid 90's on the Amiga 1200. I was too young to really understnad what I was doing, but I enjoyed watching the trains move around the city, and the buildings lighting up at night.

Same. It was a beautiful game.

I always had issues trying to get the bullet train coming through my city. They'd build some of the track but never seem to finish it.
 

BurnItDwn

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
26,188
1,659
126
The current Atrain is more or less the same as the old 90s era Atrain. its got better graphics, but, they managed to make the US worse. its larger in scale, but lacking a lot IMO. I much prefer openttd for the complex track layouts and schedules/timetables or simutrans for the fact that each passenger has a specific destination, so you cant just connect 2 cities with a train and be done, you need a complex web of connections to hubs ..

Atrain tried, they have a very nice looking game, and the city growth works really well, economic sim seems to work decently well, but I cant get into it really. I like to have long strings with multiple stations along the string, like every suburban train line out of every major city but this game, it really doesnt make more sense to have more then like 2 or 3 stations on a line ...