Choo-Choo Charles (NSP, XCI) ROM

Choo-Choo Charles is a 2022 horror game developed and published by Two Star Games. The player controls a monster-hunting archivist to upgrade their train’s defenses to fight and defeat the titular character, Charles, an evil spider-train hybrid monster that wanders the landscape looking for people to eat.

After the first trailer was released in 2021, it went viral on the internet, provoking reactions on websites such as Twitter and Reddit. This led the game to receive a spot in Time’s most anticipated 2022 video games. The game received mixed reviews from critics.

GAMEPLAY

The gameplay consists of traveling across an open world map in a train, performing tasks for non-player characters, collecting loot, and using that loot to upgrade the train to fight against Charles, who periodically hunts for the player and can be fought off using the gun mounted to it.

The goal of the game is to collect three glowing eggs that will summon Charles to battle the player as a final boss. The game takes players around three to five hours to fully complete.

The map is an island lined with interconnected railway tracks, which carry the player’s train to a series of locations where quests can be completed for non-player characters. Four main NPCs progress the main quest. Besides Charles, the player also faces armed cultist enemies, who guard the three glowing eggs needed to complete the game.

The game encourages players to use stealth to sneak past these guards to steal the eggs and escape without notice, although it is also possible to simply run past them and either kill them with the train’s guns or run them over. The game’s optional quests generally consist of fetching objects for non-player characters, in exchange for new weapons and other rewards.

PLOT

The player controls an unnamed archivist and monster hunter simply known as “the Archivist”, who is summoned to the island of Aranearum by their friend Eugene to help deal with Charles, a man-eating locomotive/spider monster who has been terrorizing the island.

Upon arrival, Charles attacks them and kills Eugene, but not before he tells the Archivist to find Charles’ eggs, which they can use to summon and fight Charles, and gives them a train mounted with a machine gun to traverse the island and fend off Charles.

Eugene’s son Paul and the inhabitants of the island have formulated a plan to defeat Charles, but they need the Archivist to execute it. The Archivist is given the goal of traversing the island to meet with various non-player characters. These characters give the Archivist keys to the mines where Charles’ glowing eggs are located, scraps with which to upgrade the train, and additional weapons like a flamethrower, rocket launcher, and anti-tank cannon to better fend off Charles.

The Archivist also comes into contact with cultists led by mining company owner Warren Charles III, who seemingly plan on using Charles for world domination. They learn that Warren is responsible for causing Charles’ awakening, having discovered Charles’ eggs after digging too deep during a mining operation.

After collecting all three eggs, the Archivist summons Charles, who transforms into “Hell Charles” and devours Warren before chasing and attacking the Archivist. After a grueling battle, the Archivist successfully lures Charles onto a bridge that they and Paul rigged with explosives, and detonates it, sending Charles plummeting face-first onto one of the bridge’s wooden support beams, instantly killing him. However, in a post-credits scene, it is revealed that Charles has hundreds of eggs hiding in a cavern, indicating his return.