Tropico 3

The first few hours into Tropico 3 were difficult for me as a Tropico 2 veteran. Because in Tropico 2 the for this game tailor made pirate scenario was a great purpose giving and (building up economy) motivating part as ships need to be prepared and raids need to be organized. I felt a bit lost after the start into the new Tropico universe as I did not know what goal to go for and in what direction to develop my island.

A bit into the game I realized that this game has a good branching system according to different development opportunities on different island. Like farming and farm good development on big fertile islands, mining in the resource full islands, fishing and oil industry on island with a long shoreline. Moreover a good interconnection between different game mechanic like military, education and foreign relation is present.

The 3rd part of the series is still faithful to the Tropico charm where all your citizens have different names, backgrounds, needs, views and wishes. That makes the new electing system that more fun and makes it a good diplomatic addition to the game. Moreover the citizen happiness needs are again solved very well but I have to say that I feel the micro balancing was done better in Tropico 2.

Moreover I am still convinced that the pirate setting is the best option for any Tropico game but I have to admit that the great humor and nearly all other assets of the game also work in the El Commandante setting. Especially the radio sequences are made great and even after the 5 the same announcement I still think that they are in place and well made. And the scenario in Tropico 3 is way better than the one in Tropico 2. That was necessary to be pointed out.

The road building system is a joke really, because it takes away the game fun and also the opportunity to layout the city like I imagen it. A square based system (which is used in many other games and is also partly used in this game) would have made the difference. Because two problems accrue related with this sloppy road system, firstly the placing of buildings gets more difficult and hard work and secondly the normally more than big enough island gets too small and crowded.

This problem is also intensified by the unnecessary high amount of parking houses needed to be built all around the island. And while we are on the point, even after 25 hours of playing the game and intense research and observation of the citizens movements i could not understand the movement system in Tropico. First of all the citizens are already quiet fast on foot, then they make their way longer by checking into an parking house and when they are on destination the vehicle they used just disappears and they have to walk home after all.

All to gather the game is a worthy successor of Tropico 2. When you had fun playing tropico2 you will have fun while playing Tropico 3 and that is also due to the fact that many new things can be discovered in the reestablished EL Commandante setting. My personal preference is still Tropic 2 due to the great scenario.