Sometimes, you need more than just an interesting viral idea to really make your mark. And for Gavin Eisenbeisz – the founder of the solo studio Two Star Games – this statement sadly rings very true. He is the developer behind Choo-Choo Charles, that game that was all over TikTok and YouTube for a few months. The one where Thomas the Tank Engine’s non-copyright infringing cousin got in a fight with a huge spider.
No Home Runner
What may surprise you is that, although Choo-Choo Charles looks and sounds like a horror title, it’s a comedy offering. And under all of its moody setting and tones, the whole thing hangs its hat on one core joke.
You play as an unnamed archivist and monster hunter simply known as ‘the Archivist’. You are summoned to the island of Aranearum by your friend Eugene to help deal with Charles. The titular Charles, a man-eating locomotive/spider monster hybrid, has been terrorising the island, and you are the archivist to put a stop to it.
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But, shortly after your arrival, Charles crashes your party. Eugene ends up on the other side of the tracks, but not before he handily tells you to find Charles’ eggs. These eggs can be used to summon Charles with for a final showdown, even though he hunts you across the whole island for most of the game.
Yes Way Home
To get there, you must use your trusty train, complete with trustier machine gun. You can also use the locomotive to traverse the island, help locals, and fend off Charles.
Helping the residents of the island will also unlock you some new and powerful upgrades. Stuff, like weapons or extra scrap, that you can use to beef up your little train for the final fight.
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These side quests are where the game tries really hard to be funny. However, more often than not it all falls down, and ends up as just another fetch quest.
And technically, there are three main missions where you have to steal three eggs in order to summon Charles.
These missions see you having to ‘sneak’ into cult-controlled areas. Since all you can do is lean left and right to dodge them, I found the best solution was to just run in, alert them all and then shepherd them back to my train and mow them down.
Garden of Gore
Combat is non-existent in the game beyond being able to man whatever weapon is mounted on your train, and this all feels unfinished in ways and overly clunky.
The first few encouners with Charles may get you going, but you soon peg realise it’s the same thing every time you fight.
You hear a train whistle in the distance, and then if alerts, he rushes at you. And the solution each time is to do a set amount damage to him to make him retreat.
What start as tense encounters, where you are underpowered and will likely get killed, quickly become nothing more than an inconvenience once you acquire better weapons.
Also, you should have no fear of failing in Choo-Choo Charles. The penalty for death is only the loss a few bits of scrap. Choo-Choo Charles took the gaming world by storm with a striking trailer, and what felt like an original idea, but the final product is as deep as a puddle.
Thin Premise, Thinner Value
On paper, the game is a winner. But, in reality, it just falls flat sadly for a number of reasons from rough edges, short run time and overall bare bones offering.
Beyond the dull quests, the biggest issue with the game is its length. With it take only a few hours to compete, even less if you don’t do all of the side activities or collectables. And £16.74/€19.99 for the pleasure is a steep price for what you get.
Choo-Choo Charles contains too many rough edges, and feels overall unpolished. At times, the game descends into a mess, thanks to its bugs and horrible gameplay sections. It has a few moments early doors, but realistically it all runs out of stream way too quickly.