- A Latin music soundtrack, as well as a variety of online-functions such as high scores or visiting islands belonging to other players.
- Comprehensive campaign with 15 different missions, and mission generator for random map creation.
- A variety of business sectors to dabble in, including: Tourism, petroleum, mining, agriculture, etc.
- A timeline editor allowing you to create your own fictive historical events or enter real ones and avatar functionality allowing players to wander the island as El Presidente and change the course of play.
- Interactive functionality including, political speeches, edicts and “other” means of influence, as well as a wide range of editing and modification functions.
Product Description
No matter whether you turn Tropico into a vacation paradise, a police state or a modern industrial nation. you will always have to defend your actions before your people! Wander through Tropico as El Presidente in order to intimidate political opponents, hold populist speeches or just to enjoy your country’s own Caribbean flair. Don’t forget to keep a sharp eye on the dangers and side-effects of your absolute power! Danger lurks on every corner, be it militant revolutionaries bent on installing a communist junta, or the machinations of the superpowers USA and the Soviet Union, both of whom would like to see a more amenable ruler in strategically important Tropico!Amazon.com Product Description
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This is one of the most fun city-builder type games I’ve played in a long time. I’ve been a fan of this genre since the original Age of Empires and have played all of the Sim City series since 2000, as well as many of the “OG” titles in the genre. I played the original Tropico as well, of course.
The gameplay is absolutely fantastic. This game is nothing short of spectacular in every aspect that really matters to the genre. The micromanagement is intense, but not so in depth that you’re flooded with data.
Graphically the game is gorgeous (though the PC version is MUCH more beautiful. Xbox lacks in the anti-aliasing). Many times I’ve found myself sitting back on low game speed to admire the view!
The soundtrack is, as you may expect from a Tropico title, perfect.
Unfortunately, the leaderboard system is horrifically bad, allowing only a single top score; with no record of previous scores on campaign islands or challenges. This leaves no room from improving your game, unless you track your score history yourself.
Also, of all of the online features you hear about Tropico 3; none are done well on the 360 yet. As of late February, you’re completely unable to make challenges to share with other players. There are a total of only four challenges uploaded by Kalypso. And the feature I’m most upset to see missing; you can’t share your island or visit other players’ islands at all!
If you have a PC that will play this game, I highly recommend buying the Windows version.
If you don’t have a PC that will play this game, get the Xbox version and try not to get too excited about online play.
This is a game you don’t want to miss!
Pros: A true simulation with NPCs that have needs and desires that they actively attempt to fulfill.
Complexity is offset by a still daunting but nevertheless accessible tutorial.
Plenty of variety and options for players to experiment with and customize their governing/building style.
Excellent graphics for this kind of game.
Memorable, unobtrusive, appropriate music sets the mood.
Sandbox mode.
Retains the spirit, basic gameplay, and premise of the Tropico of old, while introducing plenty of new features and tweaks to the game mechanics that today’s gamers no doubt expect and demand.
A next gen update to a beloved classic done well.
Great for both brief and lengthy play sessions.
A lot of fun once you overcome the learning curve.
Cons: May be too complex for those who lack patience.
More online functionality would be nice.
The camera at times makes positioning some buildings on certain terrain cumbersome (this is not frequent and it isn’t that big of a deal when it does occur. Just a slight source of frustration.)
Otherwise lush graphics are marred by noticeable jaggies (though these are still by far the best graphics you’ll see in a game of this sort.)
The duration of the game – while you can save and resume at your leisure – may be too great for some players’ tastes (though if you enjoy the game itself I can’t see why this should be a real issue.)
Other Thoughts: It is a crying shame that because retailers see Tropico 3, as its publisher Kalypso media put it, as a game that “would not be profitable for them,” retail availability for this gem is unacceptably low unless you order it online. If you played the original Tropicos and loved them, or if you love Tropico 3, you owe it to yourself and to the hobby of gaming to let your local retailers know you want them to stock this game. It deserves your support, and unlike many AAA titles, really needs it.
What a great game! Loads of fun, great controls despite a moderate learning curve. Doesn’t get boring, great replay value!
I loved the original Tropico way back in 2001 and with each revision the game play gets better. The random happenings, customization, and world just keep getting better.
You start off as El Presidente of Tropico, with several different campaigns to play though as well as many different business ventures to play with and build your empire upon. You can rule with an iron fist (OH YEAH!) or be more lenient and be a soft and fluffy ruler or a nice combination of both. I can tell you it takes a fine balance to get everyone and everything working to your advantage.
One HUGE step for the series is the customization of your character. This had been lacking for some time and I’m glad to finally see this implemented.
There is always something to do or get done in this game, it keeps you busy. Dealing with the different factions, peoples complaints, whatever, it keeps you busy! However it does have a tendency to feel like it’s dragging, not to the point that you’re board, but enough for me to notice.
Graphically it’s pretty good. It’s no Mass Effect 2, but it’s good.
Tropico 3 has a great combination of city building, politics, and sand box open world goodness with lots of re-playability because of the random events and the leader traits system.
A sim game that hits just the right spot!
Good news for those of you who have harbored dreams of becoming a Latin American Dictator! If you haven’t had a chance to play the earlier games in the series, (or even if you did), you should give Tropico 3 a try.
In a nutshell, the game is a combination of Sim City-esque city management, coupled with elements of political maneuvering. You begin by choosing your avatar. What kind of leader do you want to be? There are pre-created options, and you can choose some *cough* fondly remembered leaders like Fidel Castro, etc. Or you can opt to create your own dictator … right down to their personality traits (strengths and weaknesses) that could have a big ripple effect on the duration and success of your “presidency.” You can also customize the look, right down to the style of moustache you want to don.
When the game gets going, you will find it isn’t easy to be a ruler of a fledgling island nation. There will be a lot of political, social, economic and military forces that will conflict – and immediately you’re going to realize there is a very delicate balancing act required to get things on track. Right off the bat you’re going to realize the importance of keeping a balanced workforce, the need to build infrastructure, keeping folks in decent housing, building crops that feed your nation but also helps maintain a steady flow of exports to fill your coffers. And that’s just the beginning of the game.
Later on as your island grows – you will need to build even more services to keep your residents happy. You will need to also (if you choose) upgrade your tourist infrastructure to get folks coming in to spend their hard earned dollars in your island paradise. All that – while keeping folks happy, preventing a rebellion, avoiding a foreign invasion, rigging elections, etc. You will have a lot to keep you busy. And don’t forget you can micromanage everything – from presidential edicts, to immigration policy, to what kind of crops you want to grow, to individual wages … to even firing specific people from their jobs. If you like detail, this game is for you.
I’ve touched on the gameplay above. Now for some other aspects of the game …
The graphics are very detailed. As your island gets bigger, you can see it buzzing with life. The environment is very detailed and you can even zoom in closely to see how your people are living their daily lives. You can even click on individuals to see what they are happy/unhappy about to get an idea of what you might want to improve on your island. I do have a slight issue with the camera though, as it sometimes can be cumbersome to navigate. Also at times when you are building structures, it might be very hard to see where the entrance of the buildings are … and could impact how and where you place them.
The music is hilarious. You get pretty much your token latin music selection and often it really feels like you’re in the middle of Cuba or some other exciting South American locale. The radio announcer who does faux reports also is amusing, and provides very good info on what’s happening in your island paradise. The sound effects in the game definitely adds to the nice atmosphere of the game.
All in all Tropico 3 is a very solid sim game on the Xbox 360. It is very well executed and as long as you enjoy games like these, I’m sure you will consider it a great buy. The somewhat steep difficulty and learning curve might put off casual gamers, but I honestly believe that as long as you put some work into learning the nuances of being a dictator, it will definitely be a rewarding experience with lots of great replay value (after all, you can be different types of dictators … which is great ha ha)
**IMPORTANT EDIT**
After spending a substantial amount of time playing this game, I came across a major glitch that apparently is affecting all console owners of this game. I have seen many complaints on the developers website about this issue and as of now it appears it has not been addressed.
Apparently if you own the console version and if you try to save the game at a certain point, the game will not load when you attempt to pull up that save at a later time. It will lock up your Xbox and you will have to reboot. This apparently impacts folks who build a city that either has a high population (some folks say they had the issue when their population reached 500+, but I ran into this issue when my population was around 375) .. or too many buildings. I will continue to monitor this and update. But at the moment no patch for the console version has been issued.
Buyer beware! What this means is if you play an extended game (like for me when I’m playing on the sandbox aspect of the game) and your island gets big and successful (which is what you want) and you want to save it, there is a high likelihood you will not be able to reload your game when you try to pull it up later, which kind of defeats the purpose of the game!
**EDIT NUMBER 2**
As of today people are still reporting bugs. However there is word that the developer is preparing a patch. No idea when this will be released. Once can only hope or assume it will be soon. Will continue to update. Meantime, if you can stomach playing the game only in short intervals (it would be hard, as this game is quite good and addictive), you may consider buying now. Otherwise, if you like long games, might wanna wait until this issue is completely resolved.
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