Tropico

Rating:
Summary: Hey, Mon!
Review: Tropico is an incredibly intriguing, all-around great game. I pre-ordered Tropico at the same time as I got the Diablo II expansion pack. When Tropico finally came, I installed it and haven't gone back to Diablo II yet.

You start the game by taking control of an island in the Caribbean Sea as "El Presidente" in 1950. Either starting from scratch or choosing a pre-built scenario like in Sim City, you build it up with apartments and tenements, farms and mines, and about 50 other buildings. At the same time, you have to try and appease the communist and capitalist factions on the island, as well as 4 others. If you don't, protesters and rebels might pop up, and U.S. gunboats could even threaten an invasion. Or, you could simply lose the next election, unless, of course, you "re-interpret the ballots".

Tropico has a fairly large learning curve, but there's a good tutorial, the first one in a game I've liked, and an advisor will give you tips as the game progresses. You can just go in and mess around, or look at incredibly detailed charts and check out each individual named character with specific traits and feelings as you become more comfortable with the game. Also, there is no instant gratification for getting money; if you build a farm, for example, you don't get paid until the planted crops grow, are harvested, and carried to the dock. This involves a lot of strategy, and you might spend a year or two in the hole until the tobacco gets sold, and you pop up to $30,000 immediately. The music is also perfect, a great island mix that really sets the mood.

Unfortunately, I can only give it 4 stars, because there are some fairly important things that need to be fixed in a patch. Buildings can't be rotated, bulldozing things isn't instantaneous, I haven't found a way to delete saved games in the program, and a couple other aspects detract from the game. However, they don't cause any major problems, and Tropico remains one of my favorite games that will probably keep me occupied all the way until Civ 3 comes out. Definitely pick this game up, it's well worth your time and money.

Rating:
Summary: I would give it ten stars if I could.
Review: Until I owned Tropico, I was a big fan of Ages of Empires. I played it every weekend. I have not played Ages of Empires once since buying Tropico several months ago. The graphics are amazing, and so is the music. I haven't experienced any of the technical problems that others have mentioned, (perhaps they have insufficient graphics cards, or memory). Of course, now my boyfriend loves Tropico too, so I have to get up really early on the weekends to beat him to the computer. I highly recommend this game to anyone who likes simulation games.

Rating:
Summary: Tropico Tops... Nearly
Review: When I first bought this game I thought, 'Well, you control an island... it can't be that good.' How wrong I was. It goes so much deeper that you will be surprised by the sheer amount of detail! You could call it a mix between Simcity and Constructor in that you build on a large scale and are unable to control them directly. It's only real drawback is its occasional difficulty. The bickering citizens with all sorts of beliefs may start to get on your nerves. Apart from that this really is a GREAT game but with 'Simsville' coming out soon, how will it fair? Buy it Today... or wait for Simsville, me? I'm getting both!

Rating:
Summary: Mucho Bien
Review: I'll start this off with the simple statement, "Buy it." Nothing else, just a whole lot of "Go buy this game." For some reason, there seem to be a lot of people who liken it to SimCity, and while it seems to be the same, Tropico is leagues ahead in complexity, graphics, and generally fun. This is a game that can be learned in a day, but takes a lifetime to master. You can get up and running with a random map, unlimited money, mess around, and learn just about everything you need to know to tackle the hardest scenarios. In SimCity, I found it relatively hard to start a small city with all the necessities without going bankrupt. This most certainly does not take place in Tropico. Ah well, enough with the ease of play and use. I'll start with the graphics. Don't feel that you need to have a state-of-the-a video card to play this game in its full glory. I have an old VooDoo 3 3000, and the graphic detail blew me away. You can zoom into your palace and actually SEE the detail on the columns. The sheer time put into every single object in the game is absolutely staggering. It sure is great to see that level of detail and precision built into a game. Second, the general gameplay. You'll die (your character, that is) before you exhaust all of your options, construct every building, and build your complete empire. There are just SO many things to do, launder money from the banks, eliminate rebel faction leaders, manufacture prime Tropican cigars, the list goes on and on. The fun factor is absolutely incredible. Nothing seems to beat putting together lavish tourist towns and watching the money roll in, managing a plethora of industries from coffee canning to lumber milling to rum distilling... It just doesn't get any better than this. Lets all hope that strategy game designers all take a hint from PopTop and start making their games with the flavor, detail, and general greatness that we all find in Tropico. Get it.

Rating:
Summary: Topico not so heavenly
Review: If your thinking about purchasing 'Tropico' then you should think about playing the demo first. I played the demo to begin with and was quite pleased with the playability of the game since it runs fast with any 3D Accelerator card. To me it's just another 'Sim Game' where you would build up a tropical island and manage it in many areas such as entertainment, political and of course...financial.

The game is very appealing at first when you start to play it especially in the demo version but of course, like all demos your restricted on certain options which entices you to buy the full version. You don't so much as interact with any of the people within Tropico but you do have to keep them happy in the areas stated at the end of the first paragraph. Given a island, your on your way as you start building residence, entertainment centres, police stations etc keeping track is easy but does prove to be a challenge once you get into the game.

Conclusion The game is a very nice game to play but can get a bit too repetitive. Play the game for some time then put it away in the back of the drawer and play it again when your bored...some people though like this type of game and I do not wish to put you off it...just make sure you play the demo and if you love the game...I'm glad but it's just not me.

Rating:
Summary: Tropico is good, but there are better
Review: If you have played the demo you might have noticed the game's lush environment, friendly gameplay and a soundtrack that makes you practically feel the sunny carribean breeze and the sound of the palm trees swaying and so on. However The full game is not at all better than the demo, the only real differences are more music, random map generator, additional buildings and some scenarios. The music is nice, yet the random map generator is only good for what ifs(like what if i get good relations with usa and let them build a base on my island and then do the same to soviets?) which can practically all be done in the tutorial and the additional buildings don't add much. So in the end, go and play the demo for about a week, if you still think it's worth it by the end of thaat week, then you can safely buy it.

Rating:
Summary: Tropico
Review: Tropico is a great game. For everyone who says it gets boring after a week, it is totally not true. The graphics are great, and so is the music. When i bought this game i wasnt expecting it to be like sim city, and it isnt at all, although you do build a lot of things. It is a great game if you like strategy and building. Most of all, the best part is building the city and focusing on what the citizens want. Just by looking at the box, you can tell if you like it or not, and for me, i looked at it and wanted it right away.

Rating:
Summary: Great game
Review: I must admit, this is a great game. If you are looking for a game that is fairly recent and you liked the sims, or any sim for that matter this game is for you. It has great graphics, an okay interface, and a lot of entrigue. This game is wonderful, and if you've ever wanted to play castro, here's your chance. On a quick note, the only cons of the game is that its tutorial isn't sufficient and that it's very hard to figure out how to please all of the political factions.

Rating:
Summary: I just like being called "El Presidente".
Review: This is a great game that is sure to be a way too addicting use of your time. The game play isn't very technical, so if you love games like Alpha Centauri, keep in mind that this game lacks some of that kind of depth. Nonetheless, I found Tropico to be incredibly fun. But while it's an easy game to get started on, it's more difficult to get high scores, so don't think that Tropico isn't challenging.

As "El Presidente" you build the island's economy, develop diplomatic relations with Russia and China, and all the while attempt to keep your people and the factions they form happy. You can build up your own personal Swiss Bank account by either padding the cost of your development, or by using bankers to siphen money from the treasury. You must decide whether to allow your people liberty, or force your will upon them with a large military presence. Another bonus - the latin music in the background is awesome; it definately sets the mood. All in all, I think this is a great game that I would highly recommend checking out.

Rating:
Summary: Personally, I loved it.
Review: I'm glad I bought this game. The graphics are awesome. You can zoom in very far. Every Tropico citzen is different, making them seem more real. My dad is Colombian, so he found the game very amusing. Growing up in the States around his music, the soundtrack for this game was great. Well, even if you aren't familar with Spanish music, the soundtrack was VERY welldone. Balancing your dictatorship out takes strategy. I like that you can make tv stations, radio stations, newspapers, and control what they watch, read, and listen to. You have to balance between favoring the United States or Russia. You have to make sure your people have food and the industry is going well. Graphics and music and strategies will only entertain you so far, though, if you get bored easily. There's not much variety in building. It's not like Sim City or The Sims in that you can build masterpieces of cities or houses. The more cities you build, every thing just seems to be repeating itself. But if you buy the game, you have to remember that it isn't about building so much, it's more about dictatorship. "You rule." 5 stars for graphics, music, strategy. And maybe I should give it 4 stars for lack of building variety, but I didn't buy the game for that. It met my expectations. Personally, I loved it.