What is it?
Sooner or later, it seems, all game series have to go 3D, it's the law of the Millennium. In this case, according to some reviewers, it actually improved gameplay. Pity it also made the buildings look like cardboard cutouts, and the whole game like a very cheap model train layout.
Reviews
- Unlike previous games that suffered a terrible collapse in the
transition to 3D, Jakub Wojnarowicz ensures us, Railroad
Tycoon 3 has only benefited from it:
The 3D engine allows players to lay track in natural curves, rather than angles of 1/8th or 1/16th of a circle, as was true in the previous games. This also means that it’s possible to wind your way through the valleys among hills, rather than brute-forcing over, or paying for an expensive tunnel. Most importantly, the transition to 3D allows players to get up close to the locomotives and enjoy some fantastic scenery.
- There isn't a computer game that can wave a wand and restore that
same sense of visceral delight, Barry Brenesal mourns, that
electric trains used to give:
But what computers can do is provide at least a visual sense of that remembered excitement, embellished by an extensive terrain that certainly no train set ever equaled, and only the mind can surpass. They can also give us a strategic game based on supply and demand, corporate and personal financial growth that no five-year-old ever conceived of, unless it was a five-year-old Milton Friedman. These are the elements that combine to make Railroad Tycoon 3 such a strong title.
- Railroad Tycoon 3 is unquestionably the best of the Tycoon series,
Peter Cohen is sure and wholeheartedly recommends it:
If the game’s economic focus sounds more like a chore to you, don’t worry. Railroad Tycoon also offers a Sandbox mode, which lets you focus on building without worrying about the pesky laws of supply and demand or how much money is in your company’s coffers. This mode was perfect for my four-year-old son, an avid train enthusiast, who just wanted to build tracks and watch the diesel engines run. The game also includes an editor that lets you design your own maps.
