Sid Meier's Railroads! | Great remake of the original Railroad Tycoon

Sid Meier's Railroads! | I knew it was bad long before it arrived

pc & video games:

Sid Meier's Railro...

	Sid Meier's Railroads! Windows \| 2K Games, 2006 average customer review:based on 52 reviews view larger image
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Great remake of the original Railroad Tycoon

I've never taken the time to write a review before, but all of the negative comments made me feel obligated to defend this game. A number of the negative reviews point out that many aspects of the game are far simpler in Railroads as compared to RRT3, which is absolutely correct. If you are seeking a complex simulation, Railroads is not the game for you. If, however, you are wanting a fun and easy to grasp game with trains, then I wholeheartedly recommend Railroads. It is one of my favorite games of all time.

I knew it was bad long before it arrived

I'm not trying to boast or claim to be a Nostradamus of game prediction, but when September rolled around and there was still only one totally meaningless preview video and a handful of screenshots showing at most a train on a track next to some ridiculously off-scale buildings floating around on the net, I knew this was a dumbed down rush job. From what I've read on gaming forums that at least one developer has participated in, this was never meant to be "Railroad Tycoon 4", and to that end at least there's truth in advertising.

Beyond that however, the changes are designed solely to cater to the casual gaming crowd and to drive up sales. I cannot imagine any other reason, since released as is this game was bound to disappoint long-time RRT series fans. The fact that they do not even include a map or scenario editor to extend the pitifully short life of the game's included maps is perhaps the most disappointing. The scale of the maps has already been beaten to death, but those other reviewers are not inaccurately describing their cramped nature. Everything else that was even remotely challenging (track laying, the stock market, chained economies, etc.) in the previous titles is more or less gone or dumbed down to near pointlessness.

This is a game that caters to the Sims crowd, and that is not a bad thing in itself but I fear games like this will become ever more numerous as sales numbers overtake depth and challenge and catering to smaller, more "intense" and educated gamers. If this is the heir to Railroad Tycoon, god forbid what Civ 5 may end up as.

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