Viva El Presidente!
Good evening once again, fellow Gamers and Gamerettes! Your’s truly, Mike checking in, and I have a review on a really cool PC game you might wanna check out. It’s called Tropico 3.
For those of you that are fans of city building experiences, as I am, Tropico 3 is nothing short of pure fun. First of all, I must say the graphics are absolutely astonishing with everything beautifully rendered in high definition detail. Kalypso entertainment gave their graphics engine a MAJOR overhaul. So much so that it won’t even run on my PC! I have to play it whenever I go to Jonathan’s house since his computer is the only machine that can run it.
But Tropico 3 not only has it’s astonishing, crisp graphics to boast about, but the added realism that comes with a city building game is there too. For instance, when you construct a building, you will see it start out as planks and scaffolding. A truck from your construction office will then bring builders to the site, and they will build your building for you.
At first glance, the “Island” and it’s style of buildings, will bear a striking resemblance to Cuba. In fact, this is what the game is based on. In Sandbox mode, you can choose to play as Fidel Castro, Che Guevarra, or create your own avatar that wanders the island and supervises everything that you, El Presidente, are “watching”. Another thing I find to be a really cool feature of the game is how you not only manage tourist attractions, but also the native people within your own country. Have a rebel that is conspiring against the government, and you’re trying to avoid being overthrown? NO PROBLEM! simply arrange for your secret service agents to take him out. Got a riot going on? Call in the army to eliminate and disperse the rioters. In addition, for newer players, the people at Kalypso have also taken the liberty of starting off every island you play with essential buildings – e.g. construction office, Teamsters office to move product to the docks for shipping, and a dock, seeing as how this is the only way for your island to make money.
When you first start playing the islands, I would strongly recommend you place at least one or two tobacco farms right off the start. Tobacco usually gets a good export price to get you going, then you can build a cigar factory later and really amp up your income. The same applies with sugar cane farms and rum distilleries. You can also make a lot of money by building the right tourist attractions. once your island starts attracting more affluent tourists, they usually are extremely hefty spenders, and you’ll make a substantial profit. On the training side of it, the tutorial is extremely user-friendly and thorough, and it’s quite easy to get the hang of the way the game runs.
Overall, Kalypso has come a long way from the Tropico 1 and 2 days back in 1998 and 1999. I would strongly recommend this as a can’t miss edition to every gaming library. a solid 10 of city-building genius