The "Retro Game Reviews" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
If the recent election campaign left you feeling that you could do a better job of running the country than any of these political leaders then Tropico 5 might be the answer. Why not take control of your own island and build it up from humble beginnings to become a flourishing and thriving little nation? Show the politicians how it is really done. Or fail miserably like I tend to do.
There is no need for an election campaign here as the Crown seem quite content in giving you control over one of their islands; past experience not necessary. There has to be a catch here but seeing your tropical paradise followed by the size of your residency building instantly removes any thought of a catch. There is a nice sum of money to play with as well. It is possibly not as much as you’d expect but it is certainly more than I’ve ever seen in my bank account. Time to sit back, enjoy the weather and bask in the honour of being El Presidente. Or perhaps not, you have a nation to build and run.
Tropico 5 gives you the freedom to become exactly the kind of leader you aspire to be. You can be as good or as corrupt as you want or a little bit of both but no matter what you choose you have a nation of people to look after. These people are not shy in letting you know when you are doing a poor job and ultimately they will make or break you; unless you make or break them first. If you don’t have the support of the people then you’ll find yourself out of a job before you know it. There are various ways of getting people on side too so you don’t have to compromise your good or corrupt intentions. Your corruption can have fatal consequences for those that impose you if you like. Or perhaps you would just prefer a subtle spot of influence over the election results.
The tutorial gives you a run through of the basics and it really does only cover the basics. There is a lot to Tropico 5, a lot of options, a lot of stats, a lot of different elements to tinker with and take into account and it is easy to feel overwhelmed when you venture away from the tutorial. It doesn’t take long before you start wondering what this, that and the other means or why you would want to do this over that. The instruction manual covers even less than the tutorial and a quick look at the internet will swiftly show you numerous people asking the same questions. It might be the fifth entry in the series but since this is the first one on a Playstation platform it could very well be your first Tropico experience. The internet helps a lot but I still can’t help but feel the game itself should cover all these questions and I’ve certainly had a lot of questions.
For games that notoriously require a mouse and keyboard setup, Tropico 5 controls very well on the control pad. Naturally I can’t compare but I’ve not had any issue or ever felt it cumbersome. Graphically the game is nice and there is no sign of any slowdown when things get busy. You can zoom in to a low level and watch the people go about their day or pan out to a high level all very fluidly. There are some loading pauses from time to time that seem to come from nowhere though.
The main game modes are the campaign and the sandbox. Both play very similarly but the campaign has a defined objective to meet whereas the sandbox mode can go on for as long as you wish, or as long as your people are happy for you to continue. The sandbox mode lets you tinker with the settings and even give yourself unlimited funds. It is a good way to get to know the game and learn more about the intricacies. Tropico 5 is a challenging game with a lot of factors to consider. Even with unlimited funds I still struggled to keep the people happy and was ultimately voted out by the silly fools. In each game mode you will be given various tasks to accept or decline. These are not always in the interests of your people so you need to weigh up whether the incentive is worth it. Whilst these objectives do give you a specific aim it is easy to get inundated in them and you can end up losing a bit of direction and focus.
Tropico covers a few different eras starting at humble colonial beginnings with farming and fishing right through to the modern era with the internet and a space programme. In between you have the world wars and cold war eras.
Things naturally start off small. Your island has a dock, a few houses, a construction office and not much more. The Crown want the fruit of the island and your initial tasks are to keep the Crown happy as well as your own people. The kick in the teeth is the charge they put on the trade route for the fruit that THEY want. Suddenly the bank balance takes a hit and those funds you had set aside for housing for the homeless are looking rather bare.
You have to provide the basics for the people. They need houses but they need jobs to afford those houses. Those that can’t afford houses will live in shacks which are an eyesore on your tropical paradise. The unemployed needs jobs so some plantations are required; this will satisfy the Crown, provide jobs and also provide food for the people. A winner all round. There are a variety of crops and the coloured grid shows the suitability of the land. You need to wait for the plantation to be built which is where the construction office comes in handy, provided it has employees.
Once your plantations are built then the people have jobs and can afford houses. You can also provide for the Crown. Everyone is happy. Or are they? A quick check of the stats page will show you the overall happiness of the people. There are still some homeless people, unemployed people and still some jobs to be filled. A quick look at the jobs shows that they require educated workers but your island is missing a school or a college. The bank balance takes another hit and these don’t instantly solve the employment issues as residents are not educated instantly and of course, you don’t have the skills among your population to teach them in the first place. You can bring in foreign workers which comes at a cost and of course, they need housing too. As things progress then more people arrive to the island meaning more housing to provide and more jobs to create. It’s never ending and the problems needing addressed just grow and grow.
With unemployment and homeless levels low and an even lower bank balance, it is time to look at the other things people want. There isn’t enough food variety or enough entertainment and there is too much crime and no religion. The demands never stop and you have a job on your hands balancing the books whilst providing for the people and not forgetting, keeping the Crown happy. The Crown have given you a set time in which to rule over the island so a secondary objective is independence which will allow you to carry on in your position. In order to get independence you need to reach at least 50% support which brings you right back to the various aspects the people are unhappy about.
And then come the natural disasters to wreck your paradise. There can be blistering heat waves which cause havoc with the farms. The tornados tend to flatten the buildings. Earthquakes like to shake things up a bit and the tidal waves like to give the place a good drenching.
And just as that has settled down you find your island being invaded by the army of another nation just for the fun of it. They turn up in their tanks, laugh at your complete lack of defences and head on back to their own country after they get the destructive urges out of their system. The plans that you had for the current bank balance? Shelf it, you’ve got an army to build now. In one of the campaign missions the aim is to survive until the ceasefire. The initial attack devastated my defences so I spent all my time preparing for the next attack and building up my army. I completely neglected the other needs of the people and got voted out before the next attack anyway. There are a lot of factors to consider all at once, focussing on one, as I proved, is not always the best way. Even with unlimited fund you have your work cut out keeping everything in balance; life on the island is anything but relaxing.
There is an absolute abundance of content in the game. You’ll be dealing with the road network, housing, industry, education, entertainment, tourism, defence, power supply, trading, international relations and anything else you can think of. Not everything is available from the start and some only come into play when you reach the relevant era. Other aspects need to be researched and you need a library to do so. This will open up the constitution and various edicts which really allow you to impose your rule on the island. Like everything else, there is a lot in these aspects too and consequences to consider.
An online component covering both cooperative and competitive play is availoable. I’ve not sampled either and probably won’t do although I possibly could learn from either mode.
Tropico 5 can be very overwhelming which is not helped by a lack of information but it does offer endless control over every aspect, small and large. At times your popularity will plummet and it won’t be totally obvious why. You do get prompted at times but a full time advisor (not that I could ever afford one with my money management) would be useful to point out where you are going wrong. Even on the easiest settings, there is still a challenge in there and it can be baffling for the newcomer. It will require a lot of time investment to get the most out of it but there is something satisfying about seeing your little island turn into a thriving city and quite insulting when you are promptly voted out.
7
There is no need for an election campaign here as the Crown seem quite content in giving you control over one of their islands; past experience not necessary. There has to be a catch here but seeing your tropical paradise followed by the size of your residency building instantly removes any thought of a catch. There is a nice sum of money to play with as well. It is possibly not as much as you’d expect but it is certainly more than I’ve ever seen in my bank account. Time to sit back, enjoy the weather and bask in the honour of being El Presidente. Or perhaps not, you have a nation to build and run.
Tropico 5 gives you the freedom to become exactly the kind of leader you aspire to be. You can be as good or as corrupt as you want or a little bit of both but no matter what you choose you have a nation of people to look after. These people are not shy in letting you know when you are doing a poor job and ultimately they will make or break you; unless you make or break them first. If you don’t have the support of the people then you’ll find yourself out of a job before you know it. There are various ways of getting people on side too so you don’t have to compromise your good or corrupt intentions. Your corruption can have fatal consequences for those that impose you if you like. Or perhaps you would just prefer a subtle spot of influence over the election results.
The tutorial gives you a run through of the basics and it really does only cover the basics. There is a lot to Tropico 5, a lot of options, a lot of stats, a lot of different elements to tinker with and take into account and it is easy to feel overwhelmed when you venture away from the tutorial. It doesn’t take long before you start wondering what this, that and the other means or why you would want to do this over that. The instruction manual covers even less than the tutorial and a quick look at the internet will swiftly show you numerous people asking the same questions. It might be the fifth entry in the series but since this is the first one on a Playstation platform it could very well be your first Tropico experience. The internet helps a lot but I still can’t help but feel the game itself should cover all these questions and I’ve certainly had a lot of questions.
For games that notoriously require a mouse and keyboard setup, Tropico 5 controls very well on the control pad. Naturally I can’t compare but I’ve not had any issue or ever felt it cumbersome. Graphically the game is nice and there is no sign of any slowdown when things get busy. You can zoom in to a low level and watch the people go about their day or pan out to a high level all very fluidly. There are some loading pauses from time to time that seem to come from nowhere though.
The main game modes are the campaign and the sandbox. Both play very similarly but the campaign has a defined objective to meet whereas the sandbox mode can go on for as long as you wish, or as long as your people are happy for you to continue. The sandbox mode lets you tinker with the settings and even give yourself unlimited funds. It is a good way to get to know the game and learn more about the intricacies. Tropico 5 is a challenging game with a lot of factors to consider. Even with unlimited funds I still struggled to keep the people happy and was ultimately voted out by the silly fools. In each game mode you will be given various tasks to accept or decline. These are not always in the interests of your people so you need to weigh up whether the incentive is worth it. Whilst these objectives do give you a specific aim it is easy to get inundated in them and you can end up losing a bit of direction and focus.
Tropico covers a few different eras starting at humble colonial beginnings with farming and fishing right through to the modern era with the internet and a space programme. In between you have the world wars and cold war eras.
Things naturally start off small. Your island has a dock, a few houses, a construction office and not much more. The Crown want the fruit of the island and your initial tasks are to keep the Crown happy as well as your own people. The kick in the teeth is the charge they put on the trade route for the fruit that THEY want. Suddenly the bank balance takes a hit and those funds you had set aside for housing for the homeless are looking rather bare.
You have to provide the basics for the people. They need houses but they need jobs to afford those houses. Those that can’t afford houses will live in shacks which are an eyesore on your tropical paradise. The unemployed needs jobs so some plantations are required; this will satisfy the Crown, provide jobs and also provide food for the people. A winner all round. There are a variety of crops and the coloured grid shows the suitability of the land. You need to wait for the plantation to be built which is where the construction office comes in handy, provided it has employees.
Once your plantations are built then the people have jobs and can afford houses. You can also provide for the Crown. Everyone is happy. Or are they? A quick check of the stats page will show you the overall happiness of the people. There are still some homeless people, unemployed people and still some jobs to be filled. A quick look at the jobs shows that they require educated workers but your island is missing a school or a college. The bank balance takes another hit and these don’t instantly solve the employment issues as residents are not educated instantly and of course, you don’t have the skills among your population to teach them in the first place. You can bring in foreign workers which comes at a cost and of course, they need housing too. As things progress then more people arrive to the island meaning more housing to provide and more jobs to create. It’s never ending and the problems needing addressed just grow and grow.
With unemployment and homeless levels low and an even lower bank balance, it is time to look at the other things people want. There isn’t enough food variety or enough entertainment and there is too much crime and no religion. The demands never stop and you have a job on your hands balancing the books whilst providing for the people and not forgetting, keeping the Crown happy. The Crown have given you a set time in which to rule over the island so a secondary objective is independence which will allow you to carry on in your position. In order to get independence you need to reach at least 50% support which brings you right back to the various aspects the people are unhappy about.
And then come the natural disasters to wreck your paradise. There can be blistering heat waves which cause havoc with the farms. The tornados tend to flatten the buildings. Earthquakes like to shake things up a bit and the tidal waves like to give the place a good drenching.
And just as that has settled down you find your island being invaded by the army of another nation just for the fun of it. They turn up in their tanks, laugh at your complete lack of defences and head on back to their own country after they get the destructive urges out of their system. The plans that you had for the current bank balance? Shelf it, you’ve got an army to build now. In one of the campaign missions the aim is to survive until the ceasefire. The initial attack devastated my defences so I spent all my time preparing for the next attack and building up my army. I completely neglected the other needs of the people and got voted out before the next attack anyway. There are a lot of factors to consider all at once, focussing on one, as I proved, is not always the best way. Even with unlimited fund you have your work cut out keeping everything in balance; life on the island is anything but relaxing.
There is an absolute abundance of content in the game. You’ll be dealing with the road network, housing, industry, education, entertainment, tourism, defence, power supply, trading, international relations and anything else you can think of. Not everything is available from the start and some only come into play when you reach the relevant era. Other aspects need to be researched and you need a library to do so. This will open up the constitution and various edicts which really allow you to impose your rule on the island. Like everything else, there is a lot in these aspects too and consequences to consider.
An online component covering both cooperative and competitive play is availoable. I’ve not sampled either and probably won’t do although I possibly could learn from either mode.
Tropico 5 can be very overwhelming which is not helped by a lack of information but it does offer endless control over every aspect, small and large. At times your popularity will plummet and it won’t be totally obvious why. You do get prompted at times but a full time advisor (not that I could ever afford one with my money management) would be useful to point out where you are going wrong. Even on the easiest settings, there is still a challenge in there and it can be baffling for the newcomer. It will require a lot of time investment to get the most out of it but there is something satisfying about seeing your little island turn into a thriving city and quite insulting when you are promptly voted out.
7
There have been no replies to this thread yet.
If the recent election campaign left you feeling that you could do a better job of running the country than any of these political leaders then Tropico 5 might be the answer. Why not take control of your own island and build it up from humble beginnings to become a flourishing and thriving little nation? Show the politicians how it is really done. Or fail miserably like I tend to do.
There is no need for an election campaign here as the Crown seem quite content in giving you control over one of their islands; past experience not necessary. There has to be a catch here but seeing your tropical paradise followed by the size of your residency building instantly removes any thought of a catch. There is a nice sum of money to play with as well. It is possibly not as much as you’d expect but it is certainly more than I’ve ever seen in my bank account. Time to sit back, enjoy the weather and bask in the honour of being El Presidente. Or perhaps not, you have a nation to build and run.
Tropico 5 gives you the freedom to become exactly the kind of leader you aspire to be. You can be as good or as corrupt as you want or a little bit of both but no matter what you choose you have a nation of people to look after. These people are not shy in letting you know when you are doing a poor job and ultimately they will make or break you; unless you make or break them first. If you don’t have the support of the people then you’ll find yourself out of a job before you know it. There are various ways of getting people on side too so you don’t have to compromise your good or corrupt intentions. Your corruption can have fatal consequences for those that impose you if you like. Or perhaps you would just prefer a subtle spot of influence over the election results.
The tutorial gives you a run through of the basics and it really does only cover the basics. There is a lot to Tropico 5, a lot of options, a lot of stats, a lot of different elements to tinker with and take into account and it is easy to feel overwhelmed when you venture away from the tutorial. It doesn’t take long before you start wondering what this, that and the other means or why you would want to do this over that. The instruction manual covers even less than the tutorial and a quick look at the internet will swiftly show you numerous people asking the same questions. It might be the fifth entry in the series but since this is the first one on a Playstation platform it could very well be your first Tropico experience. The internet helps a lot but I still can’t help but feel the game itself should cover all these questions and I’ve certainly had a lot of questions.
For games that notoriously require a mouse and keyboard setup, Tropico 5 controls very well on the control pad. Naturally I can’t compare but I’ve not had any issue or ever felt it cumbersome. Graphically the game is nice and there is no sign of any slowdown when things get busy. You can zoom in to a low level and watch the people go about their day or pan out to a high level all very fluidly. There are some loading pauses from time to time that seem to come from nowhere though.
The main game modes are the campaign and the sandbox. Both play very similarly but the campaign has a defined objective to meet whereas the sandbox mode can go on for as long as you wish, or as long as your people are happy for you to continue. The sandbox mode lets you tinker with the settings and even give yourself unlimited funds. It is a good way to get to know the game and learn more about the intricacies. Tropico 5 is a challenging game with a lot of factors to consider. Even with unlimited funds I still struggled to keep the people happy and was ultimately voted out by the silly fools. In each game mode you will be given various tasks to accept or decline. These are not always in the interests of your people so you need to weigh up whether the incentive is worth it. Whilst these objectives do give you a specific aim it is easy to get inundated in them and you can end up losing a bit of direction and focus.
Tropico covers a few different eras starting at humble colonial beginnings with farming and fishing right through to the modern era with the internet and a space programme. In between you have the world wars and cold war eras.
Things naturally start off small. Your island has a dock, a few houses, a construction office and not much more. The Crown want the fruit of the island and your initial tasks are to keep the Crown happy as well as your own people. The kick in the teeth is the charge they put on the trade route for the fruit that THEY want. Suddenly the bank balance takes a hit and those funds you had set aside for housing for the homeless are looking rather bare.
You have to provide the basics for the people. They need houses but they need jobs to afford those houses. Those that can’t afford houses will live in shacks which are an eyesore on your tropical paradise. The unemployed needs jobs so some plantations are required; this will satisfy the Crown, provide jobs and also provide food for the people. A winner all round. There are a variety of crops and the coloured grid shows the suitability of the land. You need to wait for the plantation to be built which is where the construction office comes in handy, provided it has employees.
Once your plantations are built then the people have jobs and can afford houses. You can also provide for the Crown. Everyone is happy. Or are they? A quick check of the stats page will show you the overall happiness of the people. There are still some homeless people, unemployed people and still some jobs to be filled. A quick look at the jobs shows that they require educated workers but your island is missing a school or a college. The bank balance takes another hit and these don’t instantly solve the employment issues as residents are not educated instantly and of course, you don’t have the skills among your population to teach them in the first place. You can bring in foreign workers which comes at a cost and of course, they need housing too. As things progress then more people arrive to the island meaning more housing to provide and more jobs to create. It’s never ending and the problems needing addressed just grow and grow.
With unemployment and homeless levels low and an even lower bank balance, it is time to look at the other things people want. There isn’t enough food variety or enough entertainment and there is too much crime and no religion. The demands never stop and you have a job on your hands balancing the books whilst providing for the people and not forgetting, keeping the Crown happy. The Crown have given you a set time in which to rule over the island so a secondary objective is independence which will allow you to carry on in your position. In order to get independence you need to reach at least 50% support which brings you right back to the various aspects the people are unhappy about.
And then come the natural disasters to wreck your paradise. There can be blistering heat waves which cause havoc with the farms. The tornados tend to flatten the buildings. Earthquakes like to shake things up a bit and the tidal waves like to give the place a good drenching.
And just as that has settled down you find your island being invaded by the army of another nation just for the fun of it. They turn up in their tanks, laugh at your complete lack of defences and head on back to their own country after they get the destructive urges out of their system. The plans that you had for the current bank balance? Shelf it, you’ve got an army to build now. In one of the campaign missions the aim is to survive until the ceasefire. The initial attack devastated my defences so I spent all my time preparing for the next attack and building up my army. I completely neglected the other needs of the people and got voted out before the next attack anyway. There are a lot of factors to consider all at once, focussing on one, as I proved, is not always the best way. Even with unlimited fund you have your work cut out keeping everything in balance; life on the island is anything but relaxing.
There is an absolute abundance of content in the game. You’ll be dealing with the road network, housing, industry, education, entertainment, tourism, defence, power supply, trading, international relations and anything else you can think of. Not everything is available from the start and some only come into play when you reach the relevant era. Other aspects need to be researched and you need a library to do so. This will open up the constitution and various edicts which really allow you to impose your rule on the island. Like everything else, there is a lot in these aspects too and consequences to consider.
An online component covering both cooperative and competitive play is availoable. I’ve not sampled either and probably won’t do although I possibly could learn from either mode.
Tropico 5 can be very overwhelming which is not helped by a lack of information but it does offer endless control over every aspect, small and large. At times your popularity will plummet and it won’t be totally obvious why. You do get prompted at times but a full time advisor (not that I could ever afford one with my money management) would be useful to point out where you are going wrong. Even on the easiest settings, there is still a challenge in there and it can be baffling for the newcomer. It will require a lot of time investment to get the most out of it but there is something satisfying about seeing your little island turn into a thriving city and quite insulting when you are promptly voted out.
7
There is no need for an election campaign here as the Crown seem quite content in giving you control over one of their islands; past experience not necessary. There has to be a catch here but seeing your tropical paradise followed by the size of your residency building instantly removes any thought of a catch. There is a nice sum of money to play with as well. It is possibly not as much as you’d expect but it is certainly more than I’ve ever seen in my bank account. Time to sit back, enjoy the weather and bask in the honour of being El Presidente. Or perhaps not, you have a nation to build and run.
Tropico 5 gives you the freedom to become exactly the kind of leader you aspire to be. You can be as good or as corrupt as you want or a little bit of both but no matter what you choose you have a nation of people to look after. These people are not shy in letting you know when you are doing a poor job and ultimately they will make or break you; unless you make or break them first. If you don’t have the support of the people then you’ll find yourself out of a job before you know it. There are various ways of getting people on side too so you don’t have to compromise your good or corrupt intentions. Your corruption can have fatal consequences for those that impose you if you like. Or perhaps you would just prefer a subtle spot of influence over the election results.
The tutorial gives you a run through of the basics and it really does only cover the basics. There is a lot to Tropico 5, a lot of options, a lot of stats, a lot of different elements to tinker with and take into account and it is easy to feel overwhelmed when you venture away from the tutorial. It doesn’t take long before you start wondering what this, that and the other means or why you would want to do this over that. The instruction manual covers even less than the tutorial and a quick look at the internet will swiftly show you numerous people asking the same questions. It might be the fifth entry in the series but since this is the first one on a Playstation platform it could very well be your first Tropico experience. The internet helps a lot but I still can’t help but feel the game itself should cover all these questions and I’ve certainly had a lot of questions.
For games that notoriously require a mouse and keyboard setup, Tropico 5 controls very well on the control pad. Naturally I can’t compare but I’ve not had any issue or ever felt it cumbersome. Graphically the game is nice and there is no sign of any slowdown when things get busy. You can zoom in to a low level and watch the people go about their day or pan out to a high level all very fluidly. There are some loading pauses from time to time that seem to come from nowhere though.
The main game modes are the campaign and the sandbox. Both play very similarly but the campaign has a defined objective to meet whereas the sandbox mode can go on for as long as you wish, or as long as your people are happy for you to continue. The sandbox mode lets you tinker with the settings and even give yourself unlimited funds. It is a good way to get to know the game and learn more about the intricacies. Tropico 5 is a challenging game with a lot of factors to consider. Even with unlimited funds I still struggled to keep the people happy and was ultimately voted out by the silly fools. In each game mode you will be given various tasks to accept or decline. These are not always in the interests of your people so you need to weigh up whether the incentive is worth it. Whilst these objectives do give you a specific aim it is easy to get inundated in them and you can end up losing a bit of direction and focus.
Tropico covers a few different eras starting at humble colonial beginnings with farming and fishing right through to the modern era with the internet and a space programme. In between you have the world wars and cold war eras.
Things naturally start off small. Your island has a dock, a few houses, a construction office and not much more. The Crown want the fruit of the island and your initial tasks are to keep the Crown happy as well as your own people. The kick in the teeth is the charge they put on the trade route for the fruit that THEY want. Suddenly the bank balance takes a hit and those funds you had set aside for housing for the homeless are looking rather bare.
You have to provide the basics for the people. They need houses but they need jobs to afford those houses. Those that can’t afford houses will live in shacks which are an eyesore on your tropical paradise. The unemployed needs jobs so some plantations are required; this will satisfy the Crown, provide jobs and also provide food for the people. A winner all round. There are a variety of crops and the coloured grid shows the suitability of the land. You need to wait for the plantation to be built which is where the construction office comes in handy, provided it has employees.
Once your plantations are built then the people have jobs and can afford houses. You can also provide for the Crown. Everyone is happy. Or are they? A quick check of the stats page will show you the overall happiness of the people. There are still some homeless people, unemployed people and still some jobs to be filled. A quick look at the jobs shows that they require educated workers but your island is missing a school or a college. The bank balance takes another hit and these don’t instantly solve the employment issues as residents are not educated instantly and of course, you don’t have the skills among your population to teach them in the first place. You can bring in foreign workers which comes at a cost and of course, they need housing too. As things progress then more people arrive to the island meaning more housing to provide and more jobs to create. It’s never ending and the problems needing addressed just grow and grow.
With unemployment and homeless levels low and an even lower bank balance, it is time to look at the other things people want. There isn’t enough food variety or enough entertainment and there is too much crime and no religion. The demands never stop and you have a job on your hands balancing the books whilst providing for the people and not forgetting, keeping the Crown happy. The Crown have given you a set time in which to rule over the island so a secondary objective is independence which will allow you to carry on in your position. In order to get independence you need to reach at least 50% support which brings you right back to the various aspects the people are unhappy about.
And then come the natural disasters to wreck your paradise. There can be blistering heat waves which cause havoc with the farms. The tornados tend to flatten the buildings. Earthquakes like to shake things up a bit and the tidal waves like to give the place a good drenching.
And just as that has settled down you find your island being invaded by the army of another nation just for the fun of it. They turn up in their tanks, laugh at your complete lack of defences and head on back to their own country after they get the destructive urges out of their system. The plans that you had for the current bank balance? Shelf it, you’ve got an army to build now. In one of the campaign missions the aim is to survive until the ceasefire. The initial attack devastated my defences so I spent all my time preparing for the next attack and building up my army. I completely neglected the other needs of the people and got voted out before the next attack anyway. There are a lot of factors to consider all at once, focussing on one, as I proved, is not always the best way. Even with unlimited fund you have your work cut out keeping everything in balance; life on the island is anything but relaxing.
There is an absolute abundance of content in the game. You’ll be dealing with the road network, housing, industry, education, entertainment, tourism, defence, power supply, trading, international relations and anything else you can think of. Not everything is available from the start and some only come into play when you reach the relevant era. Other aspects need to be researched and you need a library to do so. This will open up the constitution and various edicts which really allow you to impose your rule on the island. Like everything else, there is a lot in these aspects too and consequences to consider.
An online component covering both cooperative and competitive play is availoable. I’ve not sampled either and probably won’t do although I possibly could learn from either mode.
Tropico 5 can be very overwhelming which is not helped by a lack of information but it does offer endless control over every aspect, small and large. At times your popularity will plummet and it won’t be totally obvious why. You do get prompted at times but a full time advisor (not that I could ever afford one with my money management) would be useful to point out where you are going wrong. Even on the easiest settings, there is still a challenge in there and it can be baffling for the newcomer. It will require a lot of time investment to get the most out of it but there is something satisfying about seeing your little island turn into a thriving city and quite insulting when you are promptly voted out.
7