But still pretty sunny
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| bundlestars.com |
Tropico
is a strategy nation building game in which you play El Presidente, “elected”
leader of the titular vaguely Caribbean island of Tropico. You grow your island
any way you want, responding to various nagging concerns of your citizens (they
always want things like “food” and “housing” and ‘healthcare”), putting down
violent rebellion, making insane amounts of money (and funneling it to your
Swiss bank account).
How you run your island is largely up to you. Tropico can be a vicious dictatorship, a socialist worker’s paradise or a capitalist haven of massive wealth. It is up to you how your island grows. Will your reign will end with an honored retirement at the age of 200 or so, a lost election, or a hurried dash off the island while perused by an angry mob?
And that’s just the sandbox mode. The campaign and scenarios let you go through a truly bizarre series of events involving time travels, llamas, the Illuminati, pirates and a truly distressing amount of Uranium in your quest to not screw up the world any more than it already is.
How you run your island is largely up to you. Tropico can be a vicious dictatorship, a socialist worker’s paradise or a capitalist haven of massive wealth. It is up to you how your island grows. Will your reign will end with an honored retirement at the age of 200 or so, a lost election, or a hurried dash off the island while perused by an angry mob?
And that’s just the sandbox mode. The campaign and scenarios let you go through a truly bizarre series of events involving time travels, llamas, the Illuminati, pirates and a truly distressing amount of Uranium in your quest to not screw up the world any more than it already is.
The game’s tone is (as it has always been) darkly
humorous. Your adviser is a raging jackass. Actually, all the characters are
raging jackasses as well as being obvious stand-ins for various historical
figures.
As the scenarios develop, your president will gain the opportunity to increase his or her skill levels, as well as creating “heirs” with different appearances and abilities. Only one can be president at a time (obviously), but the others provide small global bonuses and can manage buildings to provide specifically limited ones. You don’t actually age in this game and your avatar doesn’t die (Tropican leaders are apparently ridiculously long-lived). But it’s nice to be able to swap out characters for a specific mission.
In Tropico 5 (unlike the previous games) you start in an undisclosed year in the colonial era, where you are a Crown representative of the King. You don’t have to worry about revolutions; however you are under a crown mandate, and if your time runs out before you declare independence; the game ends. You can extend your time in this period (and I recommend you do so) by doing little missions for the king or using the East India Company to import or export goods. Of course, you are strictly limited in options at the start of the game since it’s the 19th century.
As the scenarios develop, your president will gain the opportunity to increase his or her skill levels, as well as creating “heirs” with different appearances and abilities. Only one can be president at a time (obviously), but the others provide small global bonuses and can manage buildings to provide specifically limited ones. You don’t actually age in this game and your avatar doesn’t die (Tropican leaders are apparently ridiculously long-lived). But it’s nice to be able to swap out characters for a specific mission.
In Tropico 5 (unlike the previous games) you start in an undisclosed year in the colonial era, where you are a Crown representative of the King. You don’t have to worry about revolutions; however you are under a crown mandate, and if your time runs out before you declare independence; the game ends. You can extend your time in this period (and I recommend you do so) by doing little missions for the king or using the East India Company to import or export goods. Of course, you are strictly limited in options at the start of the game since it’s the 19th century.
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In fact, at the very start, you can’t even mine; your researchers haven’t even
discovered shovels. Some sciency buildings in Tropico 5 provide research points that work toward technologies,
which include new buildings, upgrades, edicts or constitutional changes. You
are limited to technologies that make sense for the era – for example, you
can’t develop nuclear technology until the cold war (since it wouldn’t make
much sense for Tropico to develop
nukes before the US)
When your population is ready, and you’ve researched a constitution, you can declare independence from the crown, either by paying cash or fighting an invasion. Once that’s done, you pick what rules your constitution will follow (I like Theocracies where only the Wealthy vote and all citizens are conscripted, myself) and the game advances to 1911, the World Wars era.
At this point, the game feels more like your regular Tropico. You have to get elected every few years, which requires the popular support of most people on the island. Unless you cheat. Of course, you can always declare martial law and cancel elections, but you’d better have the complete support of the military to deal with the inevitable revolt.
When your population is ready, and you’ve researched a constitution, you can declare independence from the crown, either by paying cash or fighting an invasion. Once that’s done, you pick what rules your constitution will follow (I like Theocracies where only the Wealthy vote and all citizens are conscripted, myself) and the game advances to 1911, the World Wars era.
At this point, the game feels more like your regular Tropico. You have to get elected every few years, which requires the popular support of most people on the island. Unless you cheat. Of course, you can always declare martial law and cancel elections, but you’d better have the complete support of the military to deal with the inevitable revolt.
And of course, you have to make sure you don’t piss
off foreign powers and have to continue to deal with an increasingly complex
infrastructure. Managing a crown colony in the 19th century is easy;
trying to keep an island with a population of 1500+ inhabitants running is a
nightmare.
And of course, to keep it interesting, there are specific missions and even an entire campaign which provides its own unique challenges. One mission may have you gathering resources to pay off a royal ransom. Another may involve you gathering a huge military force to fight off invaders. Another may involve you accumulating a truly ridiculous pile of money. Each mission can be won by completing specific goals in the missions that regularly appear, which keeps the game fresher than just letting the player control a single island.
The new campaign is, for the most part, pretty good, doing a good job of introducing you to new content and upping the difficulty over time, except maybe for the final mission, which I felt was quite a letdown (it was almost comically easy). One of the interesting changes about the new campaign is that you can be asked to take over previous islands. The practical effect of this is that if you manage to barely stumble into success, it’s possible to take over an island that’s falling apart, starts you with very little cash, and comes with a whole bunch of challenges you have to complete. Alternatively, it is also possible to spend extra time on an island and then have the next mission just sail by.
The problem I had with Tropico 4 was that it didn’t sufficiently change the series to justify a new purchase. It was essentially a prettier version of Tropico 3. Tropico 5, unlike 4, represents a change in the formulae, not making the same mistakes of the previous game, and I support the sentiment.
For one, the game isn’t as easy. Virtually every mission in Tropico 4 could be won with the same optimal strategies (my usual was nuclear test, humanitarian aid, set your farms to cash crops and build a rum factory, importing sugar if you need it). It also introduced experience, which even further reinforced the idea that you should keep doing the same thing.
Tropico 5, however, has the missions take place in different time periods with very strictly limited technology. The earlier the era, the less you have to use, but the less complicated things get. It’s a whole different set of problems to deal with, and that really extends the life of the game. It isn’t particularly hard if you’ve finished played a lot of the Tropico games, but it’s a nice change of pace.
The game isn’t without its problems. You no longer have nearly as much fine control over your docks, making importing all but the cheapest goods a nightmare. You might want sugar to go to the dock by your rum factories, but you can’t control that. I can understand WHY they didn’t want importing to be easy, but it feels like a step back in terms of control and design.
And of course, to keep it interesting, there are specific missions and even an entire campaign which provides its own unique challenges. One mission may have you gathering resources to pay off a royal ransom. Another may involve you gathering a huge military force to fight off invaders. Another may involve you accumulating a truly ridiculous pile of money. Each mission can be won by completing specific goals in the missions that regularly appear, which keeps the game fresher than just letting the player control a single island.
The new campaign is, for the most part, pretty good, doing a good job of introducing you to new content and upping the difficulty over time, except maybe for the final mission, which I felt was quite a letdown (it was almost comically easy). One of the interesting changes about the new campaign is that you can be asked to take over previous islands. The practical effect of this is that if you manage to barely stumble into success, it’s possible to take over an island that’s falling apart, starts you with very little cash, and comes with a whole bunch of challenges you have to complete. Alternatively, it is also possible to spend extra time on an island and then have the next mission just sail by.
The problem I had with Tropico 4 was that it didn’t sufficiently change the series to justify a new purchase. It was essentially a prettier version of Tropico 3. Tropico 5, unlike 4, represents a change in the formulae, not making the same mistakes of the previous game, and I support the sentiment.
For one, the game isn’t as easy. Virtually every mission in Tropico 4 could be won with the same optimal strategies (my usual was nuclear test, humanitarian aid, set your farms to cash crops and build a rum factory, importing sugar if you need it). It also introduced experience, which even further reinforced the idea that you should keep doing the same thing.
Tropico 5, however, has the missions take place in different time periods with very strictly limited technology. The earlier the era, the less you have to use, but the less complicated things get. It’s a whole different set of problems to deal with, and that really extends the life of the game. It isn’t particularly hard if you’ve finished played a lot of the Tropico games, but it’s a nice change of pace.
The game isn’t without its problems. You no longer have nearly as much fine control over your docks, making importing all but the cheapest goods a nightmare. You might want sugar to go to the dock by your rum factories, but you can’t control that. I can understand WHY they didn’t want importing to be easy, but it feels like a step back in terms of control and design.
There is also a lack of NPC personality and thus
faction personality. There’s only a few NPC’s in this one, and they speak less
frequently. Also, Tropican citizens are a bit less one dimensional and don’t
just pick one faction to follow blindly anymore. This provides far more
realistic approval numbers and models support of your faction better, but you
lose a lot of witty banter, and the factions don’t have as much importance. I
used to hate the notice, for example that I had been branded heretic by the
church. If I pissed off the environmentalists, one of them would come on the
radio and complain about me, or might protest my mines. I’d know I’d pissed
them off, and that’s missing here.
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| static_trueachievements.com |
Summary
If you thought Tropico sucks, 5 probably
won’t change your mind. If you like the series though or want to give a new
strategy game at try, this is worth picking up, at least at discount. It’s not
fantastic, and the DLC is horribly overpriced at full cost (seriously.. $5 for
a new building and a single mission you’ll do in under an hour?)Call it a C+. Tropico 5 is an above average strategy game (at least for 2014). It’s not bad, but it’s not great, with a bunch of old problems still not accounted for and new ones introduced by the new features.
A
Few Tips
Tropico 5
If you want to start with a better dynasty, try playing the first campaign mission a few times. Accept Kane’s reward as a Swiss Bank contribution, and pop new heirs till you get the ones you like. Finish the mission, save and load. You’ll have a bunch of level 3-4’s in no time!
The best initial skill is probably Cheapskate – getting huge rebates on EVERY building you put together is a huge advantage. Tycoon and Supervisor are both phenomenal. Inventor Environmentalist and Agent are all really useful. Financier, Celebrity, and General are very lackluster.
First thing I like to do on any mission, is build a second construction firm, just to speed things up. For colonial missions, concentrate on getting money and nothing else. Mines, logging camps and pig farms generate quick profits. Sugar farms, tobacco and cotton all translate into free money once you hit world wars with the right factory.
I prefer to pick mandate extension to any other reward. You can do an awful lot of building and population growth in a year.
As you expand, keep an eye on your docks and teamsters. It’s quite possible to wreck your economy by not having enough of these.
My favorite constitutional item, by far, is conscription. You have to use your high school workers to man the factories if you want to make money. The start of the world war era will stretch your educated population as you simultaneously develop factories, a military, and a basic social safety net.
If you get an inventor manager, put it on a farm for easy free early research.
Environmentalists and landlords, deployed on a church or cathedral running a community aid program, can even make shack housing quality acceptable for your first election or two.
Mines dry up, and sometimes even the most stable of economic sources will stagnate due to some labor shortage, traffic jam or whatever. Diversify your economy into different areas, and try and translate to money making that requires minimal traffic later on (offices, pharmaceuticals, tourism).
Have fun ruling your own little slice of paradise!
If you want to start with a better dynasty, try playing the first campaign mission a few times. Accept Kane’s reward as a Swiss Bank contribution, and pop new heirs till you get the ones you like. Finish the mission, save and load. You’ll have a bunch of level 3-4’s in no time!
The best initial skill is probably Cheapskate – getting huge rebates on EVERY building you put together is a huge advantage. Tycoon and Supervisor are both phenomenal. Inventor Environmentalist and Agent are all really useful. Financier, Celebrity, and General are very lackluster.
First thing I like to do on any mission, is build a second construction firm, just to speed things up. For colonial missions, concentrate on getting money and nothing else. Mines, logging camps and pig farms generate quick profits. Sugar farms, tobacco and cotton all translate into free money once you hit world wars with the right factory.
I prefer to pick mandate extension to any other reward. You can do an awful lot of building and population growth in a year.
As you expand, keep an eye on your docks and teamsters. It’s quite possible to wreck your economy by not having enough of these.
My favorite constitutional item, by far, is conscription. You have to use your high school workers to man the factories if you want to make money. The start of the world war era will stretch your educated population as you simultaneously develop factories, a military, and a basic social safety net.
If you get an inventor manager, put it on a farm for easy free early research.
Environmentalists and landlords, deployed on a church or cathedral running a community aid program, can even make shack housing quality acceptable for your first election or two.
Mines dry up, and sometimes even the most stable of economic sources will stagnate due to some labor shortage, traffic jam or whatever. Diversify your economy into different areas, and try and translate to money making that requires minimal traffic later on (offices, pharmaceuticals, tourism).
Have fun ruling your own little slice of paradise!
#keepitnerdy
Written by: Marc Thompson
Written by: Marc Thompson
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