It is definitely worth the money!
User Rating: 8.7 | Railroad Tycoon 3 PC
Railroad Tycoon 3 is a game that can actually qualify as one of the best tycoon games I have ever played. It is both fun and challenging and a game I am just not able to put down. That claim is really one that I rarely use about any games. Obviously the best part of this game for me is the gameplay. I really like the stock market part of the game that adds realism to the game's economic aspect. One thing about the gameplay is how the smallest mistake or misinformation can influence the outcome of the whole scenario. I mean even something that I thought I was going to get away with, really messed me up and made me say "Man, I shouldn't have done that!!!". Now that is really somehing that is rare. In fact you'd have to be playing SimCity 4 to get this type of detail in gameplay. I like the fact that products ship themselves on land. It affects the player both negatively and positively. Another thing I like is how over time things stop shipping to different places simply because of the advancement in technology. In some scenarios that is a key turning point in the game. The selection of trains is obviously also an important aspect and the reliability, the ability to climb mountains, and the speed should all facto rin the way you pick a train. The most important thing is the annual maintenance cost - that is what can make or break you. Heck, even the location of your tracks can be the difference between a win or a loss. The gameplay is all in all really fun. Of course the accesibility is also important and Railroad Tycoon 3's presentation is flawless. The menus are easy to use and the interface, while a little big, does not require a learning curve. The game modes are adequate, but the sandbox mode is simply not as satisfying as the campaign and the scenarios. The campaign is long and it takes you from the first railroad to the future of underwater tunnels and supersonic trains. The scenarios span almost all parts of the world and are really different o that keeps the game from getting boring. The graphics in the game are very good althogh I would have liked more different types of buildings, instead of the same farms and churches everywhere. We all know buildings in the orient are different from the nes in Chicago. Other than that though, sometimes I am amazed by the quality of the graphics, especially the water texture. Also I like the details in the buildings, like the little merry-go-round in the school, or the wood going through the grinder in the lumber mill. The sound in the game is unbelievable. I was playing a scenario in Africa and when I put my camera in or around the jungle I could hear monkeys and parrots and other jungle sounds - something that is absent from other parts in the game. Also the buildings have different sounds, like the school has kids giggling and playing outside, and factories have sounds of different machinery. The trains sound awesome with each sounding diferently from the last. The music in the game gets repetitive though, but it goes nicely with the theme of the game. I guarantee anyone who is planning to buy this a long time of getting trains from one point to another. The game is simply very replayable and everytime you play a scenario you have to use a different strategy from the last time, since the location of the goods varies with each reload of a scenario. All in all this game will hold you for a couple of months at the least. I really enjoy playing this game and I will continue to play scenarios that I download from the internet fansites. i strongly recoomend this game to anyone looking for a tycoon gam that is true to the word tycoon.
