PREMISE

What exactly makes Choo-Choo Charles tick? It’s not like the game’s name gives too much away, right? So what the hell is it even about? Well, Gavin Eisenbeisz (or Two Star Games, which is the name of his studio) has essentially taken the spirit of the comedy Thomas the Tank Engine PC mods we get for all manner of games on an alarmingly frequent basis, and turned that into the heartbeat of this game. Choo-Choo Charles is set on an open world island that is terrorized by a horrifying sentient train engine with large spider legs. The most useful tool you’ll have at your disposal is a trusty old train engine of your own, using which your ultimate aim is to get powerful enough to be able to take on and destroy Charles and free the island from his terrifying shadow.

CHARLES

Charles himself is quite the menacing foe. The tank engine is pure nightmare fuel, not only because of the aforementioned spider legs, but also because of its terrifying maw full of razor sharp teeth. For good measure, the titular Charles also likes to munch on humans for sustenance (or maybe just as a hobby). Meanwhile, those spider legs serve a purpose as well- though your own train engine is restricted to only being able to move around on train tracks (you know, as trains are), Charles can use his spider legs to traverse the ground and all surfaces freely- and with terrifying speed, at that. Charles is something of a pursuer enemy that’s always out hunting for prey, which means when you’re exploring or changing tracks or traveling on foot (more on this in a bit), you’re going to want to be careful and keep an eye out for any nearby threats. If the monster train catches you off-guard, you might not have enough time to flee the scene.

UPGRADING YOUR TRAIN

Scraps will serve as a crucial currency in Choo-Choo Charles, and can be found by exploring or completing missions. What makes them so important though? Well, Scraps is what you’ll be spending to upgrade your train, which, as you may have imagined, will be a core component of the experience. Upgrading your train will entail attaching more weapons to it with which to attack foes, while Scraps can also be spent on upgrading various stats. This includes your train’s health, the speed at which it can move forward and backward (which sounds like it’ll be particularly useful, for obvious reasons), the level of armour equipped for your train, and how much damage all weapons on your train will do.

OPEN WORLD MAP AND STRUCTURE

As we’ve mentioned earlier, Choo-Choo Charles is going to be an open world experience, and based on what we’ve seen of it so far, it looks like a lot of it will feature dark and creepy wooded areas (which does fit the campy horror vibe rather well). Scattered throughout the open world will be three special items, and players’ main goal will be to gather all three, which can then in turn be used to summon Choo-Choo Charles for a final confrontation. There will, of course, be random and dynamic encounters with Charles throughout the map, but once you’ve summoned him, you will be tasked with destroying him once and for all, so make sure you’ve upgraded your train enough. Once Charles has been defeated, you can freely explore the open world map without the constant threat of his presence, and work your way towards 100% completion.

MISSIONS AND SIDE MISSIONS CONTENT

Part of the above described core loop is, of course, going to be to travel to new locations on the island. Seek out NPCs and accept and finish missions for them, and you’ll be rewarded with Scraps, while exploration will also net rewards. Crucially, missions will also reward you in other ways- like new weapons to use against Charles. There are still some details that remain unknown on this front- for instance, what to expect from these missions in terms of their design or variety. Hopefully, the game will keep things interesting to make sure it holds players’ attention.

ON-FOOT EXPLORATION

Driving your train around the island is of course the primary focus of the experience in Choo-Choo Charles, but the game will also bring some variation to the proceedings by allowing players to explore on foot. From collectibles to puzzles to locations that have their own lore and backstore details to reveal, Choo-Choo Charles will look to reward players for exploring in a number of ways, and plenty of that will be on your own feet rather than while driving your train.

LENGTH

Exactly how long is Choo-Choo Charles going to be though? Well, it might be an open world title, but it’s worth remembering that this entire game is a solo effort, which means you shouldn’t be expecting a long runtime. Speaking last year in an interview with Escapist, developer Gavin Eisenbeisz revealed that Choo-Choo Charles will take roughly two to three hours to finish, while fully upgrading the train, completing all the missions, and finding all the collectibles will take another hour or two on top of that.

LAUNCHING FOR PC ONLY

Choo-Choo Charles will be launching for PC on December 9, but are there any plans to eventually bring the game to additional platforms as well? Well, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch versions aren’t part of the plan right now, but Eisenbeisz has said that they’re not completely off the table either. If they do come (which isn’t a certainty, it’ll be some time after the PC launch). “The initial launch will likely just be PC, on Steam,” he told Escapist in the previously mentioned interview. “I might bring the game to some other PC storefront as well. As far as consoles go, I would love to make the game available on Xbox and PlayStation, but those versions are likely going to come some months after the PC launch. Nothing is confirmed, and I’m not 100% certain I’ll be porting the game, but It’s definitely on my radar and something I’m interested in doing.”

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

As you may have expected given the game’s size and the scope of its development, Choo-Choo Charles doesn’t have very demanding system requirements. So far, only its minimum specs have been revealed, but they’re very reasonable to say the very least. You will require a 2.5 GHz Quad-core Intel or AMD processor, either a GeForce 470 GTX or a Radeon 6870 HD, 4 GB RAM, and roughly 3 GB of free storage space. In other words, if your PC isn’t super outdated, you should be able to run this game without any issues.

But it’s not over yet. December offers even more big releases worth checking out, whether you’re a survival horror fan, racing game enthusiast, or looking to toss a coin to your Witcher, once again. Let’s look at the biggest games launching in December 2022.

The Callisto Protocol

Striking Distance Studios’ The Callisto Protocol immediately made an impression when it was revealed to be directed by Glen A. Schofield, co-creator of Dead Space. The over-the-top brutality, moody interiors, terrifying atmospherics, and sci-fi setting call Visceral’s franchise to mind. However, it builds on that formula in unique ways. Melee combat and stealth are possible, and you’ll need to rely on the former with how scarce ammo can be.

The mutant Biophages aren’t just shambling, violent reminders of Black Iron’s inmates. They’re monstrosities that can transform, becoming stronger if you don’t kill them fast enough. Of course, death plays a major part in The Callisto Protocol as protagonist Jacob Lee can be eaten, crushed, dismembered, and all kinds of horrible things (which you get an Achievement/Trophy for witnessing, so feel free to experiment). Along with working through the prison, Lee traverses Callisto’s surface and investigates the remains of the first colony.

With a 14 to 15-hour playtime, alternate routes, and a compelling mystery behind the terror, The Callisto Protocol is looking to be a scary good time. It’s out on December 2nd for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, and PC.

Marvel’s Midnight Suns

Marvel’s superheroes, a dark premise, and tactical turn-based combat from the team behind XCOM? That’s a concept many got behind before its official reveal, but a lot more is going on in Marvel’s Midnight Suns than meets the eye. Developed by Firaxis, it sees The Hunter resurrected to fight their parent, Lilith before the world ends. They’ll do this with the Midnight Suns, a collection of heroes ranging from the upright Captain America and Spider-Man to the more occult-minded like Nico Minoru, Magick, and Ghostrider.

Combat plays out in a turn-based fashion like XCOM. However, each hero’s abilities consist of cards drawn and played as the fight progresses. You can have three heroes in a party for a mission, and additional actions like throwing enemies into the environment are available. It’s a big shift away from tactical cover-based combat, but over 80 abilities for The Hunter and unique play styles for each hero (including Heroic Cards) make for plenty of customization. Plus you can hang out with heroes at the Abbey to upgrade their passives, unlock new cosmetics, Combo Cards, and much more.

Marvel’s Midnight Suns also releases on December 2nd for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. The campaign is about 50 hours, but completing the side content can push that past 80 hours.

Need for Speed Unbound

Criterion Games is back on the Need for Speed franchise with the colorfully stylish Need for Speed Unbound. Set in Lakeshore City, players dive into the resident underground street racing scene, completing weekly qualifiers and participating in The Grand.

Along the way, they’ll meet several characters, including A$AP Rocky, who hosts the Takeover Scene. There are over 140 vehicles to choose which are extensively customizable with tons of different parts. Much like Need for Speed Heat, you participate in races and events during the day to earn money or Bank and then risk it all at night for bigger returns. The cops are also back and more brutal than ever, with everything from a pursuit helicopter to Undercover Camaros, and do anything to stop you.

So far, it all sounds very Need for Speed-esque, but Unbound embraces street culture with its use of Tags. These special effects apply to boosts, drifts, jumps, and much more for some visual flair. You can also use work from artists like Sentrock and JC Riviera as Wraps for your car and strip it down to its innards with new full kit options.

Need for Speed Unbound releases on December 2nd for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Whether gimmicky or a huge step up from Heat, it’s worth keeping an eye on.

The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners – Chapter 2: Retribution

As the follow-up to The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners, Chapter 2: Retribution continues the journey of the player character, The Tourist, in New Orleans. You’re still killing Walkers, whether it’s with firearms or axes, and exploring the environment for resources and other survivors, who you can either help or harm. The sequel offers new locations to explore, new quests, and new weapons like the sawed-off shotgun and chainsaw.

You’ll also encounter a new faction, the Exiles, and it may be worth helping them. They’re rejected by the Tower and unfavored by the Reclaimed, so you’ll need to weigh your options carefully (especially since the former seems to make some big moves). There’s also the Axeman, an unstoppable enemy that constantly pursues you.

The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners – Chapter 2: Retribution is out on December 1st for Meta Quest 2, but also coming to PlayStation VR and PlayStation VR2 in 2023.

Hello Neighbor 2

The first Hello Neighbor was a unique concept. A stealth horror game where you snuck around the mysterious Mr Peterson’s house and tried to avoid capture, and each time you failed, his AI would learn from it. Unfortunately, bugs and issues with performance and controls severely hampered its potential.

Hello Neighbor 2 seeks to remedy that, opening up the entirety of Raven Brooks for exploration. You’re a journalist investigating Mr Peterson, but it seems the town itself has something to hide. There are multiple neighbors now, from the Taxidermist and the Baker to The Mayor, who possesses an attack dog. An AI Neural Network is employed for the neighbors, ensuring that they learn from your tactics and optimize their methods accordingly while still acting naturally. As the game progresses, you’ll come across different events, some predetermined and others procedural.

In terms of improvements, the controls should be more fluid, and players can benefit from improved climbing to better explore the world. Hello Neighbor 2 is out on December 6th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, and PC, in addition to Game Pass. An average playthrough will take about eight hours, but there is side content to indulge in.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Next-Gen Update

After a few delays, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition is finally set to release on December 14th for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S (with the update also free to PC players). It adds ray-traced global illumination, 4K/30 FPS and 60 FPS modes, FSR 2.0 support, vastly improved vegetation and screen space reflections, and other improvements.

In terms of quality-of-life features, the long-running Wolf School Gear quest bug has finally been fixed. The map allows for filtering out all the different question marks, and the mini-map is more dynamic, with objectives disappearing while exploring or fighting. A new camera setting that sits closer to Geralt, accessibility features for subtitle size and HUD scaling and a new control option for using Signs are also being added. PS5 players can also benefit from DualSense support. Of course, all versions also receive access to content based on Netflix’s The Witcher, providing new armor for Geralt and alternative appearances for characters like Dandelion.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition is out on December 14th for Xbox Series X/S, PC, and PS5. It’s a free upgrade for owners on PS4 and Xbox One, but if you’ve never played the original game and its expansions and want to see what the fuss is about, this will be the definitive version.

Choo-Choo Charles

If you asked someone to define a survival horror game, traveling on the tracks while a demonic spider train tries to eat them would have been the last guess. Developed by Gavin Eisenbeisz, Choo-Choo Charles is about the same demonic train, who goes by the name Charles. It’s your job to kill it. You start with a relatively mediocre locomotive and can upgrade it with weapons like a flamethrower, heavy cannons and rocket launcher.

Scavenging parts is necessary to achieve this, though, which is only possible while traversing the world.  With a vast open world to explore and secrets to uncover, who knows what else could lie in store? We’ll find out when Choo-Choo Charles launches on December 9th for PC.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion

One of the best PlayStation Portable games ever, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7, gets the remastered treatment. “Remaster” is probably an understatement, though – Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion looks almost like a remake with redone assets, character models, environments and effects, all in Unreal Engine 4. It even runs in 4K resolution on Xbox Series X and PS5, with a variable 60 FPS (though PC players can take advantage of up to 120 FPS).

On top of this are tons of quality-of-life changes and improvements. Combat is more fluid with linkable combos, and you now have more slots for Materia and items. A new Dash function has also been added to get around the environments faster, while the combat UI looks far sleeker. Limit Breaks are also freely accessible without relying on the Digital Mind Wave (and you can now skip the latter’s cutscenes). There are also new cinematics for the Summons.

There aren’t any new story elements, but if you want to know more about Zack’s story and the events leading into the original game, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion is the best option. It launches on December 13th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

Dragon Quest Treasures

As a spin-off of Square Enix’s Dragon Quest series that releases on December 9th for the Nintendo Switch, Dragon Quest Treasures tells the story of Erik and Mia. Upon boarding a Viking longship and meeting mysterious creatures named Porcus and Purrsula, they venture to the land of Draconia.

Unlike other games in the franchise, Dragon Quest Treasures is more about exploration and treasure-hunting. Draconia comprises five different islands, each with various treasures like weapons and armor (some of which may be familiar to series fans). With the help of various monsters, you can navigate the environment with their unique Fortes, look for the treasure through their eyes with Fortune Finder, and even fight hostile monsters. They’ll even carry your treasure.

Upon finding the treasure, it’s back to base for evaluating it for the best price. It’s all to find the seven Dragonstones, but overall, Dragon Quest Treasures presents a unique spin on the traditional formula of turn-based combat. In addition to series favorites, there are new creatures to encounter, rival gangs to battle, and a wide range of monsters to recruit.

Announced last year, Choo-Choo Charles is about a demonic locomotive which roams the world. Your job is to slay it – an impossible task from the outset, especially given your dinky little train. Nevertheless, by scavenging parts, it can be upgraded and utilize different weapons, from a flamethrower and machine gun to heavy cannons and a rocket launcher.

Other interesting aspects include a cult that seemingly worships Charles and an egg that could be the demon locomotive’s offspring. Time will ultimately tell, but it’s shaping up to be a memorable adventure. Choo-Choo Charles is developed by a single person, Gavin Eisenbeisz, and went viral last year. Stay tuned for more details en route to its PC release.

Yep, console release next year

— Two Star (@TwoStarGames) October 8, 2022

In this series of features, we have looked at many such promising indie or AA games as the likes of Project Magnum, Faith of Danschant: Hereafter, Untitled FPS Game and Black Myth: Wukong. Two Star Games’ upcoming Choo-Choo Charles is yet another such game that seemingly came out of nowhere and took social media by storm recently – thanks to its intriguing concept and spooky visuals. To that effect, the time seems ripe to finally ask – what the hell is exactly this game?

Choo-Choo Charles is an upcoming survival horror title from Two Star Games which is a studio run by solo-developer Gavin Eisenbeisz. The developer is just 20 years old, and already has 8 years of experience in developing full-fledged PC experiences with the likes of walking simulator Night in Riverager, the side-scrolling horror game My Friend is a Raven, and a couple of other games. Two Star’s previous work has been well-received by players, on account of the striking atmosphere and dazzling art design. Choo-Choo Charles is easily the most ambitious game from the developer, and Eisenbeisz seems prepared to knock it out of the park once again with its unique concept and promising gameplay.

The game is set against the backdrop of an unnamed island and sees players running away from Charles, which just so happens to be a train engine with the legs of the spider and the face of a blood lusty monster. Suffice to say, it looks really scary and just one glimpse of this gargantuan beast is enough to give one nightmares for days on end.

Players will have their very own scrappy train on their side, which they will be using to traverse the many areas the island houses. Two Star Games has confirmed that the game’s setting will be an open world, and players can expect to explore a variety of locales – from frightening forests to expansive beaches to frosty peaks. Additionally, players will also get to visit settlements of sorts which are inhabited by strange paper-doll NPCs who will give out side-quests in return for scraps or weapons such as the Driller, the Boomer, Bob, and many more that are sure to be useful against that monstrosity.

The main goal of the game is to upgrade your train into a death machine that can stand on its own two feet against the daunting presence of Charles. The primary resource for upgrading your train are pieces of scraps that you will find throughout the world, that should encourage players to scour the vast stretches of this setting. Given the fact that traversal works through mostly train tracks, players will be frequently switching track routes to reach their destination – which in theory at least, seems to be an exciting new spin on “getting from point A to point B” formula.

By collecting these scraps, players will be able to use them to increase core stats of the engine such as health, armor, speed, and damage. As you upgrade your engine, you will also see stark new changes in its appearance as it slowly evolves from a run-of-the-mill engine to a tank of destruction with horns and what have you. Players will also have a collection of bobbleheads on the train’s dashboard, which we are assuming are collectibles that players will find by venturing off the beaten path in the game’s open world.

The most intriguing part about Choo-Choo Charles is its engaging and player-driven progression loop, as players will start the game running away from Charles as they stand almost no chance at defeating it to eventually becoming so well-equipped that they summon the beast by honking the horns of the train and defeat it on their own terms. It also needs to be mentioned that Charles will continually impose the player with its intimidating presence ever so often (approximately every 10 minutes or so to be precise), keeping players on their toes at all times. This constant sense of cat-and-mouse chase seems to be directly inspired by the likes of Resident Evil 2‘s Mr. X  – although, unlike that inspiration, players can actually defeat the enemy in a non-scripted fashion.

This then combines with a Breath of the Wild-Esque open-world progression system where players are essentially free to face the final boss from the onset – but they first need to get stronger by exploring the open world until they can actually stand a chance against the final goal. The two systems seem to complement really well within the context of a survival horror game, and Choo-Choo Charles has the potential to really knock it out of the park if it manages to coalesce them together in a meaningful way.

On the more technical side of things, Choo-Choo Charles is being built through the use of Unreal Engine – although it isn’t confirmed which version of the engine the final game will be using. Regardless, the fact that a solo developer is at the helm really speaks to the strengths of Unreal Engine in how flexible it is for all team sizes. What’s even more impressive on that note is that Two Star Games also creates their own 3D assets and textures, as revealed in an interview with PC Gamer. All of this results in a visual presentation that’s sharp and unique, and the game excellently blends its realistic environments along with paper-doll NPCs without any element feeling out of place. The sound design also looks to be excellent yet minimalist in a similar vein, and the game relies on mostly ambient sounds to create an unsettling and ominous vibe at all times.

Choo-Choo Charles is currently listed for an early 2022 release for PC via Steam. Two Star Games hasn’t specified any firm release dates as of yet, although considering that the game was just announced last year – it seems unlikely that the game will be hitting its projected release date but this is something that remains to be seen.

In the same interview with PC Gamer, Eisenbeisz also revealed that the game was in “very early, early development” and that he might just end up needing more time because of the scope of the project. Of course, it’s ultimately best to delay games to a further date to ensure quality than just rushing to meet release deadlines. We sincerely hope that Choo-Choo Charles turns out as great as it looks to garner all the critical and commercial acclaim it deserves.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.