KishMish Games have recreated the beauty of Moscow’s subway network that lies beneath the city. This ‘realistic’ simulation of how the subway network works allows you to get behind the controls and live your lifelong dreams of travelling the lines.

There are currently two trains in the game with super different controls on the dash so it makes for a fun time figuring out which button does, one train is an older model and then you have a more modern model with more modern controls for easier driving. There are 24 stations built into the subway system so there is plenty of stops to make. You can’t just start the train and not watch the game as you need to keep an eye on things like your speed and also the stop lights scattered through the subway system.

I could not find another train to have a collision with which was upsetting. In the current build of the game, there are two game modes the first being free mode which allows you to jump into either of the trains and do things how you want without being set to a schedule, the other game puts you into a pre-set schedule and different conditions which made for a different experience.

This title would be awesome on the PC but has not been optimised for the Nintendo Switch. One of the main things in this title is you need to move around to press buttons, turn knobs, and make fine adjustments to get the train moving and running perfectly. I found the movement was far too quick, even with zooming in to see what things were saying. You moved so far that you spent more time than needed to click one button and were frightened about moving on to the next start-up or stop procedure.

I was a little confused because the selection was “ZR” and I could not see anywhere to change this simply to a button on the face of the console. I was not a fan of movement around the carriages either. The movement didn’t feel fluid and it felt like it was janky to describe it. I would love to see some more work put into the optimisation of this title so it’s easier to play on the Nintendo Switch.

The main thing in simulation games is there is one key aspect to what the developer is striking for. In this instance, it’s the underground metro trains and you spend lots of time in the driver’s seat, so you would expect that to be the highest detail which was not the case. Some train models looked great and some looked like they were slapped into the game without much thought, with buttons on the controls looking like black dots from paint. The passenger character models were alright but were dated-looking and again ruined the immersion into the simulation a little, with the fact that they seemed to be standing still and not moving and just teleported onto the train.

I would have loved to see some more texture work put into the cabins, the long run into the stations, and the actual tunnels you drive through, the stations themselves looked okay but could have looked more alive like one you would see in real life.

I was pleasantly surprised with the audio in this title and how good it sounded. I had the ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova Earbuds in and the immersion followed quickly. The prompter you need to use that has pre-recorded audio snippets was not great and ruined the immersion of being a train operator. I enjoyed the immersive feeling of hearing the train echoing through the tunnels, or the squealing sound the brakes made when you needed to stop. That part filled the train-loving spot in my heart. It would have been awesome for the audio prompts to be a little better worked on, and maybe some chatter from the passengers as they were riding the Whippy Express.

This title would be great on the PC but it has not been optimised enough for the Nintendo Switch which was disappointing. The game at times was nearly impossible to play not being able to get the computer to read out the correct prompts, the inability to press buttons due to it not being optimised, or poor visuals. You could say the current state of the game is a “train wreck” and hopefully the developers can work to push an update to fix said issues.

Written by: Hayden Nelson