Should you choo-choo-choose to explore Sodor?
Join Thomas and friends on a special journey across the Island of Sodor! Hop into the cab of the North Western Railway’s classic steam team, and enjoy nostalgic stories and all-new narratives right from the driver’s seat. Embark on a magical journey and explore the Wonders of Sodor as you’ve neverThomas & Friends: Wonders of Sodor seen them before! Take the controls of Thomas, Percy, Gordon, Emily, and Diesel to explore iconic landmarks across the Island of Sodor. At Sir Topham Hatt’s invitation, carry passengers in Annie & Clarabel along Thomas’ branch line, hurry express passengers over the top of Gordon’s Hill, or transport freight with the Troublesome Trucks. Thomas & Friends: Wonders of Sodor tells classic and original tales inspired by the Railway Series books and TV shows, now told for the first time in an interactive, first-person perspective – the first ever faithful recreation of Sodor in a game!
I grew up with Thomas the Tank Engine; my dad would read their books to sleep as a toddler. But it’s been a long time since I’ve seen anything Thomas related, other than him being included in mods for games like Skyrim and Resident Evil. As a father myself, I wanted to see if a modern game based on the series could be worthy of the name that I grew up with.
Wonders of Sodor is a bit different to what I expected from a Thomas the Tank Engine game. It puts you in first-person control as the conductor as you drive Thomas and friends around the Island of Sodor. You can get out of the cab, walk alongside the tracks and change them manually or through the map menu. I can’t say I’m a fan of putting James behind a paywall, but luckily it doesn’t interfere with trophies either way.
The main problem I have with the game is that if you make any mistakes in the tutorial or story levels, then you need to replay the entire scenario. No checkpoints, no skipping dialogue or cutscenes. It just seems incredibly harsh for a kid’s game to be punished that severely and I can see many feeling that hard done by that they put the game down as a result.
The overall controls are easy to get used to, but there are some issues switching camera angles from first to free-roam by clicking in the right stick numerous times. It just seems to work when it wants to, but it always seems to switch to forced first-person when going through a tunnel, which means you’ll need to keep clicking it after you leave the tunnel to regain the free-roam camera if you prefer to use it.
The gameplay consists of going on journeys, allowing passengers on and off the train you’re using, transporting freight or coupling and uncoupling carriages. There are story scenarios that have different circumstances like driving really fast with Thomas still attached to Gordon to teach him a lesson and so on.
The visuals capture the feel of Thomas the Tank Engine, but there are some issues with draw distance shadows, and the island of Sodor looks quite generic overall. The framerate seems consistent though and I didn’t come across any glitches. Voice-acting has the authentic feel of the series as well, alongside the classic theme tune.
The Verdict
It could have been done with a bit more polish in terms of visuals and overall presentation, but Thomas & Friends: Wonders of Sodor is a decent game for the series and while it does harshly punish players for messing up their journeys, it’s a lesson they’ll not forget. It’s a shame they put James aside behind a paywall, but it luckily doesn’t ruin your journey for the Platinum trophy.