Gametap Now Play
GameTap launched in 2005 and was hailed as the first-of-its-kind broadband entertainment network, delivering games and video through a unique 3D desktop client. The client application, revolutionary for its time, was written in C++ using a custom 3D engine developed in house. Nominated for a technical Emmy (Outstanding Innovation and Achievement in Advanced Media Technology for the Best Use of “On Demand” Technology Over the Public (open) Internet) in 2006, GameTap won the Horizon Interactive Award, Best in Category: Video Games in 2007.
GameTap and Metaboli merged forces in September of 2008 to form a new global network dedicated to the digital distribution of games. Gametop is now a partnered company that spans the Atlantic and can provide the best of both companies to all of its members. Gametop is a company of gamers dedicated to the community of gamers to provide the best value in gaming.
Among others Gametop partners include names like - Microsoft, Sega, THQ, Take 2 and Ubisoft. And, thanks to more than 40 content partners, Gametap offers the very best catalogue of video games available to download in the world.
To play the most popular online games like CALL of DUTY 2, OVERLORD, RAINBOW 6 VEGAS, SIMS III, CIVILIZATION IV, STARTREK ONLINE, and RESTAURANT EMPIRE II join GAMETAP
At the very start of it all, you are forced into a major executive decision. When making a company, you have to put your own money up to create the company’s initial balance. You then have the option of selling stock of up to ten times the amount of money you put up. If you put up $250,000, then you can get an additional $2.5 million for the company. However, if you take that option you will not have full ownership of the company. You now have investors that will be watching your every move and on your back to get a profit. Keep them happy and you’ll get constant raises. Irritate them and you could be fired from your own company.
After you start the game, you have several options. You can either start laying track or you can purchase area businesses. Personally, I recommend a little bit of both. The railroads are slow at the start of the game, and businesses are pretty much stable if you find the right ones. It’s good to have one just in case the other doesn’t generate profit in a timely manner.
While the game consists of connecting rails and buying businesses, there is more fine-grained control for the people who want things to be perfect. You can view the supply and demands of certain areas and set up trains just to carry the cargo that sells. It’s not completely necessary for casual play, but for the scenarios that have a stricter time requirement it’s essential.
Getting a Gold (or even Silver) medal can be a challenge. The first Gold medal can be won rather quickly if you don’t intend to continue playing the scenario after you win. After that, you have to get a little creative as the scenarios get harder. Instead of having a gradual difficulty curve, the game gets harder rapidly over the next few scenarios.
When the scenario is complete, you get a little mini-movie depending on how well you did. Sadly, this is lacking in general satisfaction. Another disappointment is that the game automatically save different files after you win in the campaign. For example, it saves a file called “AFTER_1″ after the first one, and “AFTER_2″ for the second and so on. Since you can replay the scenarios after you win, this is unnecessary and could have been done with only one file (or one file per person). A minor annoyance, but not a game breaker.
A few oddities include the fact that you can only click on the front window that is open in game. You can move the windows around to see, but you can’t click outside of them. One time where this is extremely annoying is when you’re going through your industry list and selling poor businesses. The window doesn’t overlap the bottom panel, but you cannot click any of the buttons on it. This little issue would make the game a LOT easier if resolved.
The game also got a little weird for me when it came to setting resolutions. Every time the resolution changed, the game window would reattach itself to the left edge of the screen. Normally, not a problem. However, the campaign lobby is always at 640×480, and thus the window gets reset each time you go there. I have no idea if this is just a problem for me, or for others. Leave a comment below if it is.
Despite the few problems, Railroad Tycoon 3 is a very enjoyable game. Although it was been seven years since release, the game still has a huge following. There is even a huge community for the game out there. There are tons and tons of mods for the game, so the fun doesn’t necessarily stop when you complete all the scenarios that the game has to offer.
Here is the review breakdown:
Grapnics: 5/5
Sound: 4/5
Story: 5/5
Game Play: 2.5/5
Replay Value: 5/5
Overall Review: 4.07/5 C
