Internet Railroad Tycoon 3

If Pop Top and Take 2 had titled their latest release Railroad Tycoon 3D, we probably would have dismissed the entire project as being little more than a face-lift for a classic game that was looking a little worn. Even with its actual name, Railroad Tycoon 3, there will be gamers who think it��s all about the graphics. To be sure, there is great satisfaction in being able to lock your camera onto a train of your choice and watch it traverse the rolling hills of your expertly designed system. Certainly, there is great satisfaction in viewing the lovingly crafted 3D models of some of your favorite locomotives as they steam through the mountains. And it��s extremely gratifying to see the rain, lightning, and nightfall effects play over geographical features that evoke the actual look of the places being simulated.

Railroad Tycoon 3 is more than a face-lift, however. The 3D adds to your track-laying problems, providing real grades that affect the speed of your trains. Plus, RRT3 features a scenario builder, so you no longer have to provide game saves and describe artificial problems for another player to keep track of and solve. Now, you can build entire scenarios with clear-cut victory conditions. There��s also a wider variety of locomotive power (40 different locomotives) than in any previous RRT game, complete with a massive grid of comparative features for each included railroad engine.

Wrong train on the tracks

Unfortunately, this is where my main quibble with the game arises. If Pop Top went through the trouble of localizing geography and the historical goals of the scenarios (which has been done masterfully), why not do a better job of restricting the locomotive power to the appropriate country? It��s possible to play French scenarios in which you see only one French locomotive, as opposed to a strange assortment of German, Italian, U.S., and Swiss power. The Australian scenario features articulated U.S. steam engines (Big Boys) that were relatively rare even in the United States and aren��t mentioned in any of my sources on Australian rails.

Still, the new economic system is marvelous, with more load types than in previous games. The production chains are easy to follow, with some changing according to an advancing timeline within the scenarios (for example, lumber is delivered to the toy factories until 1955, when plastic becomes the dominant demand). Better still, you can better manipulate RRT3��s stock and bond markets more effectively than you could in its predecessors; now, you can set or suspend stock dividends and buy back stock to entice new investors.

Cornering the market

Best of all, your company can now own industries other than the restaurants and hotels that adjoin the stations. Once your company supplies a steel mill that starts to produce profits, it��s possible to follow your monopolistic, robber-baron instincts and buy that industry. In one Australian scenario, I followed the principle of horizontal consolidation, buying the logging camp, lumber mill, paper mill, and furniture factory in that order. Since I had connected all of the elements, I was able to buy them before they went up in value and thereby increased my net worth by about double what it would have been with pure rail traffic alone.

The bottom line is that any would-be robber baron should be pleased with Railroad Tycoon 3. It has all the features that made its predecessors great, plus more economic options and a lot of beautiful model trains, trestles, and terrain. It may not be perfect, but it��s still awesome.

Verdict

4.5 Stars

You don��t have to love trains to enjoy the historical and economic challenges here��but a little train love won��t hurt.

Tips for Tycoons

Market Cap This trick may seem obvious to many investors, but it has served me well: Just before I plan for my company to issue stock, I purchase 1,000 shares using my personal purchasing power. The higher demand raises the stock price so that the new issue will be roughly $2 higher per share, increasing the total capital received. Keep some purchasing power in reserve in case you need to do it again.

Industrial Espionage Click on the industries served by your route and monitor their profits and losses. If you know they��re being supplied with the right raw product for the production chain (for example, coal and oil to an electric plant), purchase the industry just as it��s moving from single-digit losses per year into the profit column. It��s a nice boost for your annual profits.

Upgrades/Downgrades Sometimes, the fastest locomotive isn��t your best choice. Don��t wear out expensive locomotives on short hauls or waste fast locomotives in curving, mountainous terrain that only encourages them to crash and derail. Save the expensive engines for the larger stations and longer runs. Use the older power on the little runs till the wheels drop off.

Publisher: Take 2 Interactive

Developer: Pop Top Software

Genre: Strategy

ESRB Rating: E

Required: Pentium III 400, 128MB RAM, 1.2GB Install Recommended: None

Multiplayer Support: Internet

Copyright © 2003 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in Computer Gaming World.