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Railroad Tycoon 3

	Author: Mike Dorn Article Type: PC Game Review Publication Date: 12/26/2003 Developer: PopTop Games Publisher: Take-Two Related Categories: Trading and Commerce, Empire Building, Industrial Revolution, Simulation

Interface

The interface is very clean. Any task or bit of information is easily accessible from the main menu of options and the approach is extremely player friendly. One favorable aspect in a continuous game is the ability to make changes or build while paused which is included in Railroad Tycoon 3.

I did run into occasional problems when zooming in and out and trying to maintain a constant 3/4 perspective. Sometimes moving in and out would change my viewing to higher or lower angles, but this is only a very minor annoyance.

Laying track seems easier than in the past version, but the most important addition to the interface is including an option to immediately undo any track just laid. This is a huge improvement over the previous edition, because laying track is still one of the most important things the player does and remains fraught with slight misjudgments or misclicks. Using the grid overlay can help overcome the trial and error involved in placing track through mountains or hills. An option allows the gamer to specify their preferences for placement of tunnels and bridges before actually trying to build track. With these preferences in place, laying track will conform more closely to the gamer's preferred alternatives when laying track and connecting cities.

An important element of any railroad game is the ease of managing the individual trains and their consist (the cars attached to the train). I will discuss the actual gameplay and AI aspects later, but the interface for making changes is extremely streamlined and easy to use. If the gamer prefers to manually adjust the consist, every choice is included on the menu and making changes is easy. Adding a Boxcar (which automatically repairs the train if broken down) or a Passenger Car (which allows you to pick up stray tourists at any location) is as simple as checking the box to include each on the train.

Gameplay

PopTop deserves kudos for how they have reduced the micromanagement in Railroad Tycoon 3. The AI that handles consist assignment is extremely competent and after trying it both manual management and AI management- I was forced to conclude it understands the game much better than I do. The AI makes very good choices about the consist and I left it on automanage following my experimentation. The AI's choices can be supplemented by specifying minimum and maximum number of cars, whether to attach a boxcar or a passenger car and wisely using these alternatives can enhance the profit earned by that train.

The game still revolves around taking fullest advantage of the economic conditions. Building track while the economy is down and then running more trains in boom times has been a consistent tactic dating back to the original classic. Fast freight still maintains its place as the most profitable cargo, but it is at least possible to do well hauling other types of cargo now. Because of the improvements to the entire approach to the underlying background transportation and economy, Railroad Tycoon 3 seems much closer to running a real railroad than Railroad Tycoon 2.

Another improvement is that the financial markets appear improved over its predecessor. The way they work in Railroad Tycoon 3 reminded me very much of the original classic, a feeling I did not have in Railroad Tycoon 2. To see the fullest effects of the financial market, try playing multi-player since nothing beats a devious human manipulating a company's stock or the bond market.

PopTop also reduced the sheer number of improvements that can be made to stations, but this is significantly balanced with improved investing in specific industries. The gamer can do very well if they tie managing their railroad to industries that they own and can support with needed raw materials. This demonstrates there are many choices of approach to growing financial fortunes and this variety of choices allows gamers to find the approach that is most comfortable. Any strategy game worth its salt strives to give the gamer that kind of choice, but games that successfully address this ability are the ones that work themselves up to classic status.

Connecting the English Coasts.	Like the Olympics, a bronze doesn't seem too fulfilling.