Developed by Dovetail Games – the folks behind the Train Sim World series of games, they know their way around a caboose! - this is a wonderfully realised world in which the characters are absolutely TV perfect and the voice actor from the show also appears to add class to the game.
There are several modes, with exploration (free roam) mode, and a more mission-centric being the main focus. I was intrigued as to how they would make a game in which you can effectively just go forwards and backwards interesting, especially when the sim element is removed or heavily simplified, but Dovetail Games have really worked some magic here with the chapter stories, voice work, and overall presentation being spot-on.
There are also various options that allow you to tweak the accessibility and difficulty to your preference, as well as light customisation options with your train driver and chosen train that allow you to switch the views up as you bump and shunt your way around, solving light puzzles, lining up carriages and generally keeping Sodor running.
It’s hard to fault the presentation, setup, trueness to the source material, and mission structures that introduce beloved characters and situation, unfortunately there are weird design choices that hamper and stifle the experience.
Initially opting to try the exploration mode to get to grips with the game, I quickly discovered that you can’t simply drive your way around the entire island, tooting your horn and enjoying the scenery, but are instead locked to certain sections with no clear way of whipping around without imposed limitations that feel oddly rigid, such as the free-mode abruptly coming to an end if you so much as drive through a junction.
Moving on to the missions, I was impressed with the setup, voice acting and visuals, but upon actually playing the mission, the same stiffness and unforgiving gameplay cut through, with a single crash or even taking too long to brake on a hotspot causing an instant mission fail that makes you have to sit through the unskippable into sequence again.
Bearing in mind you’ll probably be playing this with a younger child that will need several tries to get to grips with what needs to be done, and you’ll soon find yourself grinding your teeth at the slightest dawdle past a junction or squeezing the brake so hard that your controller creaks as your train rolls inevitably past the small world-marker that means...yes...you’ll be forced to sit through that mission intro scene once more.
This whole irritation is exacerbated by the fact that – on the Xbox at least – there is a bug that freezes your controller occasionally when you switch the view from the train to the walking sections, meaning that you’ll need to quit out and load the game again.
There’s so much to love in Thomas & Friends: Wonders of Sodor, but the game design means you’ll be sitting through the same sequences over and over, because of the slightest infractions, and the camera-freezing bug is a little too constant to be ignored.
SUMMARY
Honestly, if the game just had a slightly looser vibe in terms of mechanics, the cut scenes were skippable, and that pesky camera freeze bug was gone... this would be a full-throated recommendation.
To be honest, I can imagine if I had covered this game three months down the line when some patches have been added, it would be a very different experience. But as it stands, this is a flawed gem for fans of the cheery engine.
6.5/10
💧MELTING💧
(also available on PC, PS4/5, Xbox One)
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