At first glace the gameplay appears to be a simple, "lay down some tracks, commission a few trains and then move on to the next scenario." In reality, it’s a whole lot more than just that. Getting started in RT3 is easy and you will (mistakenly) think that you’ve quickly mastered it, but as each scenario becomes more challenging, you’ll see just how deep the gameplay is. The learning curve is thankfully short, and will never leave you feeling like you’re lacking something.

If this game’s only requirement were to throw down a few miles of railroad track and watch trains go back and forth between stations, you would be bored to tears within an hour. And so you’ll be glad to know there’s a lot more to it than that, including building stations, maintenance facilities, and trains, then setting up the most profitable train routes while competing with other railroad companies. To add to the sim appeal of the game, you’ll also need to manage the purchasing and building of local businesses and industries while upgrading your trains and facilities. The name of the game is profit, and as such, you’ll need to keep not only your train company profitable, but also manage the local economies. After all, what good is it to have a great railroad if the local towns are too poor to afford to ride it?

The timeline for this game is astonishing. Just as the Civilization games allow you to advance through all the ages of civilized man, in Railroad Tycoon 3 you basically go though the entire history of the railroad industry. The timeline spans from the industry’s humble beginnings, with steam trains traveling at a maximum of 25 MPH all the way to futuristic "bullet" trains powered by electricity and traveling at 300 MPH.

The graphics in RT3 are nothing astounding, but in most simulation games, you are more interested in gameplay then super flashy 3D graphics. In Railroad Tycoon 3, the best visuals appear when you take the third-person view of an individual train. The terrain is detailed nicely on the map, though it’s nothing to write home about.

There are many different camera perspectives available, including top-down and third-person views on the trains and game activities. The camera allows you to zoom in and out, and rotate the entire map up to 360 degrees.

Sound in the game is good and fits the tone of the gameplay. You’ll hear train whistles, engines and background music that matches the era that you’re playing in. When it comes down to it, however, the sound seems to be an afterthought, as it’s now all that noticeable during gameplay. When you do hear the little bells and whistles, it boosts the immersiveness of the game, but not so much so that you’ll miss it if it weren’t there.

Replayability is where Railroad Tycoon 3 really shines. With plenty of single player scenarios, multiplayer internet/LAN play and the freehand "sandbox" mode; you won’t lose interest any time soon. Each scenario is more complex then the last, allowing you to learn as you play. There are three difficulty settings, so when you’ve finished a single player scenario, you can play it again on much tougher settings, offering you a whole new challenge.

While RT3 as a whole is a pretty good game, there are some issues with control, especially when trying to line up railroad tracks. Also, the lack of a solid instruction manual leaves you relying solely on the tutorials. And how on Earth do you rename a train? I really wanted cool train names like "East coast Trader" and "Wabash Cannonball" but was stuck with "Train 1" and "Train 2."

In sum, Railroad Tycoon 3 is a very enjoyable game that I had a lot of fun playing. While it may not be the fanciest, most high tech game out there, it’s a great addition to any sim fan’s collection.