As much play as “tycoon” has had in PC game titles over the last few years, it can be easy to forget that the term had another life before defining a game genre led by mass-market bestsellers like RollerCoaster Tycoon and Zoo Tycoon. Railroad Tycoon 3 can claim an older and more authentic tycoon heritage as much because of the series’ more than decade-long history as the fact that it deals directly with the cutthroat business practices of 19th-century industrialists like Cornelius Vanderbilt and his ilk. While it builds on nostalgia for powerful steam locomotives and for earlier days when the business landscape was wide open and ripe with opportunities, it’s even more than that, with missions that span two centuries of railroading. Even though the impressive new 3D engine makes the trains plenty interesting to watch as they roar by, this isn’t a strict simulation for train lovers so much as a strategy game of business and building challenges. But as such, Railroad Tycoon 3 is a breeze to get into and will offer anyone hours of enjoyment.
Railroad Tycoon 3 covers a lot of ground without miring you in details best left for unseen assistants. With a design that streamlines a big chunk of micromanagement, it’s big-picture time and the task at hand is laying down the background for industrial progress. There’s no need to have played PopTop’s Railroad Tycoon 2 from 1998, but those who have will–after the shock of the major graphics overhaul wears off–quickly notice that managing cargo loads is much simpler. There are also many more industries to build in the extra time freed up by not micromanaging payloads, and structures can be placed anywhere on the map and not just in the station. These changes, plus enhancements to the economic model, work to create better pacing and a more interactive world.
Never has there been a tycoon game this visually attractive or effectively designed to minimize micromanagement. Railroad Tycoon III is surprisingly easy to learn for a game of its scope, and it has something for anyone with a fondness for trains or for making loads of money–which means just about everyone.