Railroad Tycoon 2 Gold
by Gathering of Developers

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Product Summary

• PC Gamer (1-year)

Video Game Reviews of Railroad Tycoon 2 Gold

Customer Review: "We were waving our arms out the window"
Summary: 5 Stars

The opening footage to Railroad Tycoon 2 implies that some gnarly train wreckage is on your way. Indeed, the game has some beautiful trains, puffing and zipping their way through impressionist landscapes. Tragically, one can only deliberately crash a train by failing to properly maintain it. A destroyed train is a solitary event (no impact with another train), and instead of car after car piling up after the train has fallen off the tracks, the destroyed train sits on the track -- blocking traffic -- and then disappears in a puff of smoke. What a letdown!

Mind you, this is about the only way that Railroad Tycoon 2 has fallen down. It is highly customizable, and it is graphically beautiful. It comes with a challenging campaign and dozens of scenarios. The map editor allows for some sophisticated rendering of real landscapes taken from satellite data. Dozens of scenarios are available on the Internet, so this investment might be one of the best entertainment values out there.

There is increased flexibility in the corporate financial model, and some of the AIs are truly vicious, but you can simply turn them off in the scenarios. Even if you can't play smash-'em-up with the trains, there is plenty of havoc that you can wreak as you try to crush the economic dreams of your opponents and, of course, the thousands of railroad employees working for you.

Description of Railroad Tycoon 2 Gold

It isn't easy. Those pretty trains chugging across the bucolic landscape have to be maintained, repaired, and replaced regularly or you run the risk of experiencing an expensive breakdown or crash. As the years tick by you must also adapt to historical demands. New industries spring up while others become less important. The passenger and mail routes that generate so much cash at the beginning of the game don't even cover your expenses once the automobile steals the show. The availability of new trains (the game models over 60), the fact that demands wax and wane over time, and the inclusion of a fully functioning stock market simulation that allows for hostile takeovers add up to a game where players always have something to do.

This Gold version of the game includes both the original Railroad Tycoon 2 and the expansion pack Railroad Tycoon 2: The Second Century along with 12 bonus scenarios and an electronic version of the strategy guide. It's enough to keep fans of business simulations and strategy games occupied for months. --T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

• Accurate yet fun business elements
• Always something to do
• Nice graphics and a terrific blues soundtrack

• Micromanaging cargoes may be too tedious for casual gamers

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