Amiga

Transarctica

Wenn einem soviel Buntes wird beschert, ist das immer eine Reise wert – also machen wir dem waffenstarrenden Superzug „Transarctica“ Feuer unterem Dampfkessel und tuckern erneut durch schienendurchzogene Eiswüsten (Landkarte à la „Railroad Tycoon“), um die Welt von ihrem zukünftigen Klima-Kollaps zu kurieren...

Die Franzosen prophezeien uns eine völlig verschneite Welt, in der es nur noch eine Möglichkeit gibt, die weißen Wüsten zu durchreisen – mit den gewaltigen, waffenstarrenden Zügen der alles beherrschenden Eisenbahngesellschaft "Viking Union"! Da mit solchen Allesbeherrschern selten gut Kirschenessen ist, hat sich eine kleine Gruppe von Rebellen gebildet, die den Grund des kühlen Übels erforschen und womöglich beseitigen will. Unsere Revoluzzer verfügen ebenfalls über eine Power-Train (nämlich die "Transarctica") sowie hoffentlich einen zuverlässigen Zugführer vor dem Monitor...

Taking the lead from such PC games as Dune 2, Silmarils have come up with, would you believe it, a futuristic train simulation. The Earth has been turned into a frozen wasteland by a failed experiment aimed at counteracting global warming. What's left of mankind resides in small communities linked to railways controlled by the nefarious Viking Union. After reading some books explaining how to reverse the effects of the experiment, you've saved up your hard earned cash to buy a train of your own and set out trying to implement the plan.

It is pretty much like Storm Master (by the same people) but with trains, and although it is a novel idea, it is one that partly works. The attempt at a strategy/adventure crossover scores top marks for creativity and atmosphere, but what is lacking is any true gameplay or addiction. If you are into making copious notes while you play then you will like trading and building up your train, but you will need a lot of patience to cope with all the travelling.

Despite rumours to the contrary, this is not a Ranulph Fiennes simulator. You are not endeavouring to cross the arctic armed only with e penknife and a short piece of string. Instead, you are aiming to liberate the world from a post nuclear winter and domination by a group of bad guys. It is like this, y’see. A mad scientist type called John Merrick had this great idea to get rid of the greenhouse effect by blowing up a couple of nuclear bombs at each pole. It would have been a good idea, if the scientists had not completely naffed it up and plunged the world into a never-ending nuclear winter