Today, Rivet Games release their Isle of Wight Route Add-on for Train Sim World 2, and they have very kindly sent RailAdvent a copy to review.

The Isle of Wight (Island Line) runs from Ryde Pier to Shanklin, an 8.5 mile route in the south of England. This route-add on is available for PC, Xbox One and PS4

What’s included for the price?

Included in this brand new 8.5 mile route is 1 tutorial scenario, 5 standard scenarios and over 60 timetable runs for you to complete. Also included with the route is the BR Class 483 in Network South East livery, the oldest piece of rolling stock still in revenue earning service in the UK.

First Impressions

Being a brand new train and route, first up was the tutorial scenario. This is a very detailed look into how to drive the train, and points out exactly where certain buttons or levers are. This is far easier to learn and understand that a normal manual and you will very quickly learn how to drive the Class 483.

Although rather short in length, at 8.5 miles, the route is really detailed, with the pier, bridges, tunnels and stations bringing a sense of realism to the line, don’t forget to look out for the Isle of Wight Steam Railway at Smallbrook Junction.

Optimisation and Detail

This route is incredibly well optimised, even with mid-tier laptop, I was getting a constant 50-60 fps, this only ever dropping below 50 when a screenshot was taken.

Detail on the Isle of Wight route is up there with the best on TSW2, liveries on the 483, station signs and other minor details are super clear and are not pixelated.

During the tutorial scenario and other standard scenarios, I found all the different animations to be high quality, moving around the train and cab are smooth, and I didn’t notice any frame drops.

The sounds are excellent, and you can really tell they put the effort into this area. Rivet Games has said that the sounds for the units were recorded from the real thing.

Having only one train, the Class 483, and just an end to end line, this route can feel a bit repetitive, but this is true to life, only the Class 483 operate on this line – so I can’t really fault the route – and I still found the route enjoyable after a few runs up and down, still seeing things I had missed on other runs prior.

General Gameplay

During general gameplay, you will find the graphics to be stunning to look at, and the countryside feeling and the bright livery of the Class 483 help towards this. The 483 is intuitive to drive, and once through the 10 minutes of so of tutorial scenario, you are more than set to take to the driver’s seat of the 483.

There’s plenty of buttons to click, giving a real sense of reality. The scenarios are engaging and fun to complete too, especially with a variety of weathers to enjoy. Although there are plenty of clicking buttons, it is still very easy to drive, meaning you arent sat for 15 minutes trying to release the brakes. In a way, it is very very similar to the London Underground stock on the Bakerloo Line (though, it would be… the Class 483 are old LU trains after all).

For me, the length of this route is just right, at 8.5 miles long, it takes around 20 minutes to drive from end to end. In my opinion, this is just right for a quick game on Train Sim World 2 without having to sit down and drive the 100s of miles from London Kings Cross to Edinburgh.

Another nice addition is that the Isle of Wight route is Scenario Planner compatible, which will allow you to make your own scenarios for the route, and add in some other traction (perhaps London Underground stock from the Bakerloo, or an SD40-2 from Sand Patch Grade). The Class 483 is also Livery Designer compatible, so if you enjoy making your own liveries, you can dive in and perhaps create that South Western Railway Island Line livery after all.

Any Bad Points?

The only bug/issue I have found whilst reviewing this route is that for some reason, you can get into the cab of the driver’s doors at a station, but then it is near impossible to then leave. I had to resort either going through the passenger saloon or using the middle door on the front of the 483.

I also had an issue that sometimes the cab doors effectively locked, and then you couldn’t open them to try and attempt an exit, nor could you get into the cab through the cab doors.

I am sure the door issues are easily resolved in an update.

A very picky, and not really a bad point, is that it would have been nice to have the SWR Island Line livery as part of the pack, but this is clearly subject to licensing, and the NSE livery is very nice anyway.

Final Thoughts?

All in all, then, this route is really enjoyable, detailed and scenic. Drive the detailed Class 483 from Shanklin to the seaside at Ryde.

The Isle of Wight line add on is available for £19.99 from the Rivet Games store by clicking here.

My only thought on the price is for the 8.5 mile route, I would have preferred to see a £12.99 – £14.99 price tag, which would put it in line with other routes, but it isn’t for me to set route prices.

You do not need any other DLC to run this route, just TSW2 itself.

I would definitely get this route and add it to your TSW2 collection.

Want to see the route in action? Make sure to follow the RailAdvent Twitch channel to see when I live stream the route: twitch.tv/railadvent

A big thank you to Rivet Games for allowing us to preview and review this superb route and sending us a copy.

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