Tropico

Discount Price: $13.95

Features:

• Start out small, building a few cities, planting sugar cane, and building support amongst the people
• Create factories, mines, and add to your bank account as the people improve their lot
• Build what you need to attract tourists
• Use your position to bribe and trick the leaderrs, to keep yourself in power & add money to your pockets
• Keep the people happy, or risk a rebellion or uprising

Accessories:
PC Gamer (1-year)	Games for Windows: The Official Magazine

Customer Reviews:

The Tropico Demo [Posted on 2003-10-22]
I have not seen much of tropico, only played the demo, but it seems that the demo does not exclude much. There are only a few things you can't build (i.e cattle ranches, cathedrals, sports complexes and airports(therefore disabling some of the more interesting edicts)).
The demo is set at 100% normal level, so it's not hard but not easy. One thing I find really exciting about Tropico is the high effect of your actions on the the political views of America, Russia, tourists and the islands inhabitants. The threat I faced was not high (that may have something to do with giving the people what they want) although the aspect of keeping competion down was very enthralling.
The international factor of the game needs some polishing. For example, if you make an alliance with Russia, but you find American prospects better, you cannot expel the Russians, or get the Americans to come and help.
One of my favourite things about the games I can't play, i.e. random maps, is that you can choose your own character. So you can choose Fidel Castro (current dictator of Cuba) and reflect your personal views of him or make him the absolute opposite of what he is. So Fidel Castro can become a religious zealot(which he isn't because he doesn't let anyone preach on cuba and other outlying island under control of Cuba) or a womanizer. This personallization makes the game easier or harder i.e. more interesting.

So how can I summarize? You are the Governor of Tropico during the Cold war and are in the middle of the Carribean, too close to Russian forward bases and the American back line. The only people you have to satisfy are foreingers and the people. No pesky advisors. As soon as one group of foreigners is dissatisfied, they will attack, unless the other group is protecting you, and if the people are discontent, they'll run of and do battle with your soldiers (unless your soldiers are revolting!) 9 and 1/2 out of ten! That's good for a first release!

ALL I HAVE TO SAY ABOUT TROPICO [Posted on 2003-10-28]
All I have to say about Tropico is:

What a fun game! What fallen human being hasn't wanted to be a tin-pot dictator? If W can get himself appointed President of the United States, then surely each of us should get at least one tiny Caribbean Island.

This game features wonderful replay value, an awesome sound track and the best narrator around. Presidente...this is truly a fun game! From poor rural beginnings to your hopeful retirement with a massive Swiss bank account, Tropico is a blast.

I highly recommend Tropico. There is almost no learning curve involved. Instead there are hours and hours of guaranteed fun.

Just Like Home... [Posted on 2003-11-21]
I love it. As a native of Puerto Rico, I saw many places and Individuals from my childhood in this game. The man who did the graphics most be a Hispanic or spends most of the time in the tropics. The male farmer looks like my grandfather! Even the Denim shirt that he always used! There are papaya and banana trees on my mother's house that are just like the ones in the game. So I play it all the time. It's is worth the money.

Telemundo buys SimCity3000 engine, but renders sims better [Posted on 2004-02-02]
Not listed above, it does run on winXP. People pointing rifles at your capital building is kinda wrong. Hot keys do a virus like take over of the machine after you are done, forcing a reboot (i.e., 'r' brings up the run menu). Otherwise this spanish sim is more fun that the first SimCity. Earth grid and weather look exactly like SimCity3000. When you start there are no easly levels, but there is one Moderate so it is kind'a a pain to figure out who needs what. And eventually you grow to hate your people, so I'm giving it a 3 for that. But it is a good step forward in Sim graphics and humor.

avoid this [Posted on 2005-01-30]
I feel I should post how much I hated this piece of junk here, since the other reviews seem to give the impression that it's a fantastic game and everybody will love it. I couldn't stand it and took it back a couple of days later. All the positive reviews below positively puzzle me, since engaged in a conversation about this game in the local EB, everybody else declared they had hated it too. So who's writing those reviews?

The thing is too slow! It takes about 50 years to build a school. And the economics of the game don't make sense either -- you charge nothing for rent and pay everybody beaucoup bucks, and still everybody moves off your island and the birth rate decreases.

Also, this game is not as funny as the programmers obviously believe. I agree with the reviewer below who said that the manual is much funnier than the actual game.

Lastly, the graphics of the game are overcomplex, meaning that the game will be extremely fussy on most setups. This wouldn't be such a problem, but Tropico either has no tech support line, or they don't answer what they say is the support line, or they've done a fantastic job with hiding the contact information of the real tech support line. In other words, after a couple of days of trying, I couldn't get any help.

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