![]() ![]() It’s interesting to move from the colonial period where the issues of the day are revolution and loyalty to the crown, through the world wars where there is serious military danger, into the cold war and finally to our multi-polar present. It’s not all bad news, however the different time periods actually feel distinct from one another, which was a feature T4 didn’t quite live up to. Also, basing the effect of many buildings on their altitude without giving us an altitude overlay is just silly. This made it so that I had no real idea how to increase my approval and spent a lot of time reloading saves after losing elections and then taking a bunch of random actions in the hope that it might have some effect. In fact, faced with no idea what to do other than constructing lots of schools and colleges, I was never able to get my job satisfaction over 50%. The game seems to think what it should tell you is the unemployment numbers, which is pretty frustrating when the 12 unemployed people on your island of 1000 are dragging your job satisfaction below 50. Tropico 5, by contrast, has nothing of the sort. ![]() For example, in T4 you can put up an overlay that shows job satisfaction building by building across the island and take steps to improve the situation. In T4, the sheer number of overlays and graphs one has access to made city management not easy, but straightforward. Unfortunately, it lacks the depth of its predecessor in more ways than just the number of buildings. The sandbox mode got old very quickly, lacking the sort of depth in city building/management that a game like SimCity would have. The campaign is rather long and even replayable a few times as you can try out the missions on two different islands. It is these characters that truly give the game its signature flavor, and in this area doesn’t feel neglected. The game’s signature tongue-in-cheek humor is stronger than ever with the return of fan favorites like Penultimo and the introduction of a new round of colorful characters. ![]() The missions are diverse and you get to maintain your cities from one mission to the next. Tropico 5 has three modes: Campaign, Sandbox and Multiplayer. At first I wasn’t quite sure of the best way to manage this, but eventually did find a system of sorts in the “People” screen. This can be very useful though a little time consuming later in the game. Far more interesting is the introduction of building “managers” who have some effect on the building to which you assign them, such as increasing production or job satisfaction. Tropico now features “Dynasties” where you have five leaders with one attribute instead of the old single leader with three attributes. Just a little bit of collision detection/prevention would do this game a world of good. There are actually numerous illusion-breaking moments in the game, especially seeing passenger planes constantly flying through apartment buildings. However, the veneer of this actually being a new game rather than a stripped down T4 immediately ceases when a Tsunami occurs and an oil tanker from 60 years in the future (the oil tanker from T4) gets washed ashore. The game does have a nice interface, but it’s hard to say that it’s any better than T4’s, just different. Rather than starting with the same depth T4 eventually attained, they’ve opted to go with the absolute bare minimum, presumably so that they can portion out all the other T4 buildings in $5 DLC packs (Penultimo would be proud). The sheer number of structures that a fully DLCed T4 had at its disposal was truly grand. All of these challenges and any cut scenes and dialogue are all done for comedic effect and usually give me a chuckle… at least the first couple times I hear it. Some of these challenges are mandatory for advancement through the game, and some of these are optional, giving benefits for completing goals that the player may find convenient or completely disastrous. Throughout the game challenges are issued to the player. Over the years you’ll meet the challenges of rebellion, unrest, elections, housing, pollution, trade, education, imperialism, warfare, global politics, growth and city management, mostly by building the right mix of buildings in the right locations, micromanaging them and issuing edicts that come with some trade off. Tropico 5 opts completely for the latter.įor those unfamiliar with the series, Tropico thrusts you into the role of ruler of leader of a Caribbean banana republic and challenges you to grow both your nation and the balance of your Swiss bank account. It’s hard to find the right compromise between satisfying fans of the series by expanding the amount of content in interesting ways and making the game accessible to new players. It’s difficult being the 5th installment of a game like Tropico. ![]()
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