Choo-Choo Charles Reviews
Choo-Choo Charles is a haphazardly assembled meme-come-to-life that’s short, silly, and exceedingly dull.
But sadly, a reliance on bad stealth sections, a lack of scares, and an overabundance of upgrade materials early on derail the game and make it a rather lackluster, not very scary experience.
A weird meme turned survival horror game with a compelling elevator pitch, Choo-Choo Charles sees you stalked by a half-spider, half-train monster.
Choo Choo Charles never takes itself seriously, but there's a fun game at its core with simple yet effective mechanics.
Slightly above average or simply inoffensive. Fans of the genre should enjoy them a bit, but a fair few will be left unfulfilled.
Choo Choo Charles reminds me of a movie by Full Moon Studios - like Demonic Toys, Hideous, or Head of the Family, it’s an entertaining “what if?” concept that just isn’t enough to support an entire piece of media. With basic gameplay comparable to any number of low budget horror titles, it’s a fun idea and absolutely nothing besides. I wish it had more to offer, but like so many joke games before it, we already got the punchline when we saw the trailer and there’s nothing the gameplay adds on top of it. To be brutally honest, Choo Choo Charles would have been better as a fake game, or at the very least nothing would have changed if it was.
Will there ever be another Choo-Choo Charles? I sort of hope so. Sure, this first stab at it has issues, but there’s no reason Two Star Games can’t continue to mold this into a dark horse juggernaut. It may take years, but I hope it happens. I’ll be keeping a close eye on the future of this franchise.
While it may not have a lengthy playtime or genre-defining mechanics, Choo-Choo Charles is nonetheless an impressive project created by a single person. If you're craving some dumb spooky fun centered around upgrading your own train whilst trying to derail a demon spider locomotive (a very specific craving, indeed), then look no further.
If you’re looking for a scary Spider Train experience that’ll get your heart rate going, you’re probably just better off watching that Spider-Man 2 scene where everyone keeps Peter Parker’s secret. At least that way, you’ll have seen a good movie instead of playing a video game that was simply made because the idea sounded good in theory.
Choo-Choo Charles is undoubtedly an amusing concept. But it feels more like a semi-polished tech demo than a retail experience, which isn't helped by the awful enemy logic.
Choo-Choo Charles will offer temporary thrills to meme-lovers or horror-fans, but doesn't do anything particularly groundbreaking.
Undoubtedly fun for a fright night with friends or a YouTube reaction video, Choo-Choo Charles will find its place comfortably as a not-so-serious meme game with some good horror ideas. There's a charm to the whole experience supported by the fact that its short runtime means it never overstays its welcome. However, the game's shortcomings are simply too obvious to overlook. Requiring more polish, depth, and variety, Choo-Choo Charles doesn't have the longevity needed to be anything more than a fleeting piece of sharable internet entertainment.
Crude, repetitive, rarely scary, and quite often boring, Choo-Choo Charles butchers an unusual concept and only offers a few moments of mediocre tension.
Choo-Choo Charles is the antithesis of a game that wears its silly nature on its sleeve, it hinges on the wacky premise of running from a spider-train to draw people in, but fails to deliver on anything to keep people thanks in large part due to its lackluster story, forgettable characters, shoddy design, and buggy experience.
It might not be the most refined title out there, but "Choo-Choo Charles" continues Two Star Games' trend of creating "artistic, atmospheric horror games."
Choo-Choo Charles is a brilliant proof of concept and a unique twist on the horror market. It tapped into the Thomas the Tank Engine horror games and creepypastas fairly decently, got something good out of it, and molded it into a standalone game with a (technically) original villain.
Choo-Choo Charles is a hard one to review since everything but Charles is lacking that polish in design, animation, and certain mechanics. However, it is still done well enough to stay engaging to get you to the fun moments. There aren’t any performance issues or glitches I ran into either. With its bad character models and some silly side missions, Choo-Choo Charles is simultaneously silly and scary. At one point you’ll be collecting pickles, and the next you’ll be in a heart pounding fight with a demon train engine with spider legs.
Choo-Choo Charles may have its flaws, but with such an original premise, the experience, though short, is worthwhile.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Whoever expects a coherent analysis of Choo-Choo Charles in this rubbish of a text box, go to the countless websites that will offer it. This is a game that has both its own personality, as well as its plethora of glitches, glitches, 'what are you doing', 'what's going on here', disgustingly basic design. Fight against a spider ghost locomotive that you are not going to kill. Limited movement, a 3D engine full of stuttering and people with eyes glued together... And this is great!... or not. But the review number stops there.
Review in Spanish | Read full review