or Germany just prior to unification) and, depending on the scenario, some goals to achieve before the time limit is up. You'll start with a map of some region of land (such as the Northeast U.S. And stopping other people from making money that, by all rights, should be yours. Like any Tycoon game, Railroad Tycoon 3 is about making money. Cosmetically, the new 3D engine will be the most obvious difference, but it's the underlying economic simulation that is by far the biggest change to the franchise.
It's got some rough edges, and the economic model might frustrate micromanagers out there, but like a temperamental lover you tend to overlook the faults to immerse yourself in a boxcar-load of intense strategy gaming.įor longtime fans of the series it's been a long wait since Railroad Tycoon 2 - about five years. It's a game that could be played on many levels, online or off, by casual train buffs or hardcore strategy addicts alike. It achieves a kind of holy grail for strategy gaming: It's easy to learn, easy to start to play, and yet underneath the surface there's an incredibly deep economic simulation that takes hours to figure out and even longer to master. Railroad Tycoon 3 is one of the best strategy/empire-building games of the year. To ease recognition and make management easier, the trains, stations, towns, and other landscape features are not completely accurate in scale to their surroundings, but they now appear much more realistically across the game world countryside. Players can now view any part their developing empires from nearly any angle, with a camera angle that spins, pans, and zooms smoothly on most contemporary computers. While Railroad Tycoon 3 is designed to retain and improve upon favorite gameplay features found in the earlier titles, it also makes some changes - the biggest of which may be the switch to full 3D, thanks to a game engine PopTop developed itself for this project. Online multiplayer support includes a matchmaking service. A sandbox mode is also available, for those who would rather build their rail empires on their own terms.
This third edition of Railroad Tycoon challenges would-be captains of industry to prove their capitalist savvy in 25 scenarios set in locations around the world. More than 40 locomotives, from the earliest steam-powered machines to the latest electricity-driven "bullet" trains, are available to haul these goods from town to town. Players can choose from over 35 different commodities, the value of each tied to a dynamic in-game economy. Track-building tools include bridges, overpasses, and the return of tunnels from the original version of the game.
Beginning with a modest amount of start-up capital, players found a company, purchase cars and locomotives, lay down track, and choose the kinds of cargo their fledgling rail systems will move and trade. As did that game (and also the classic original, Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon), Railroad Tycoon 3 casts players as the captains of an up-and-coming railroad system, in competition with other, like-minded entrepreneurs to claim as much of the lucrative 19th and 20th century rail trade as they can. Developer PopTop delivers gamers to the age of steam, steel, commodities, and capitalism in this sequel to its 1999 hit Railroad Tycoon II.