Tropico

"A nice vacation from all the "American City" builders.. no pun intended!"

Introduction:
Tropico is a game where you are the presidente. You are thrown into many different situations where you must take control of the island and tweak it to your likings. Unlike all the other city building sims out nowadays, this one is very original. First off, you are the presidente of an amazing island where the water is light blue and the beach is a couple yards from the housing. Sounds like a nice vacation rather than being a mayor of a city that has hundreds of factories pouring pollution out of the smoke stacks, huh?

Gameplay:
Another city builder game, yet not like the others. You are on a tropical island.. thus the name Tropico. Its a beautiful island.. unhabited.. but its your job to turn this small island into a somewhat civilized place. The way you go about it is up to you. In some scenarios there are certain objectives you have to go by and some are quite difficult, but for the most part, the island is totally up to you. Do you want to control your island by military power and corruption or do you want to turn it into a lovely tourist spot? Do you want to be a bunch of communists that are uneducated and spend their time farming and making cigars or do you want to educate your people and be religious as well? Its totally up to you and any way you pick is challenging and fun. Roads aren't very important in this game but housing is. All of your citizens have needs, desires, jobs, houses, and you can even see them walking about the island. They go to work, eat, go to church, etc. If you have a problem you can actually see how and and why the problem is occuring. Nobody wants to work miles away from where they live, so build housing near places of importance, that way your sure to have both customers and workers. Make sure to keep your people happy as well.. you do have elections on the island and if people don't like you then you'll lose control of your island.

Story:
There isn't much story but instead a bunch of scenarios that vary in difficulty. Each sets up a different type of story, but its just an objective after that. For example, you need to build an island that is a big tourist spot. Thats the story.. have fun!

Sound:
The music and sounds are very pleasant and not annoying. It really sets the atmosphere for the game and its just an all around feel good game. Nothing is dark, depressing and scary in this game. Everything is clear waters, tropical vacation shirts, sandy beaches and gorilla rebels hiding in the woods. I really like the advisor to you. His voice really fits the game well. He'll tell you whats going on and you'll actually listen... maybe even start smoking a cigar as you play the game.

Graphics:
The graphics aren't amazing but look great. As I said before, the clear waters, tropical trees and bushes. It just has a great feel to the game. The game itself isn't jaw dropping graphics, but it looks pretty enough to feel like a tropical island.

Flaws:
The artificial intelligence isn't amazing in this game. Some people just refuse to do their job and wander around the island aimlessly. Well, they are doing it for a reason, but sometimes its just tough to get them on task. Sometimes you'll start building a building and it won't get finished until YEARS later. Another problem I had with the game is the tough scenarios. Easy means hard and everything else is really freaking hard.

Replayability:
You'll be playing this game for a while. There is a lot to see and do. You can be capitalists or communists, reign with military might, or make your people happy with soccer games and gambling. Its all up to you.

Conclusion:
Its a nice break from games that revolve around the American society. All the games out now involve building cities with tall skyscrapers or giant rollercoasters that rip people off everytime they ride it. If you want a neat game that is a bit different from the rest, this game is worth a try.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/01/05