It's one of the few games where I've never felt my options were artificially limited by the developer within the environment, though obviously that's the case; and where every actions I took had a host of logical secondary choices attached to it. If you're into strategic trading simulations, it truly doesn't get any better than this.

You will find yourself wanting to come back and try different tactics for your rise to fame. There is also enough to learn that you will have an almost constant discovery of new ways to make it to the top. I should mention here that the average gamer will find this game somewhat overwhelming.

For those who are already fans of the series, you’ll find more of the same thing that you loved in Patrician II; the biggest addition probably being the online multiplayer component, but Patrician III is structured in such a way that it is very accessible to newcomers as well, so come one, come all.

A lot of fun and can grow extremely addicting very, very quickly due to the various things and ways you can play, plus these factors also help to extend replay value and longevity well beyond a month or two.

Although the game is so fundamentally similar to "Patrician II" that those who own the previous game have little reason to pick it up at full-price, the feature additions refine the open-ended gameplay by removing some of the micromanagement and by providing more significant milestones to achieve later in the game.

If market trends and supply/demand curves don't set your blood aflame, Patrician III will have you napping in no time. [Jan 2004, p.157]

Veterans of previous Patrician games will no doubt feel at home, but new players may be scratching their heads at the vague objectives. [Jan 2004, p.88]

If you've recently discovered a fetish for selling barrels of picked herring, there is no game better than Patrician III. [Feb 2004, p.89]