5 people found this review helpful
Recommended
25.9 hrs last two weeks / 867.9 hrs on record (1.6 hrs at review time)
Posted: 29 Mar, 2019 @ 9:20pm
Updated: 6 Jul, 2021 @ 11:53am

I've finally completed the Tropico 6 campaign. At the moment that puts me in the 2% margin for players that have done so. This series has always been brutal and forces you to truly understand the mechanics to reach completion. Anyone can pick this up and play but they aren't going to get far without trial and failure.

Wrapped in cartoonish graphics this Dark Souls of city builders is waiting to crush you. The game has never looked this sharp or run so smooth. Bridges are a wonderful edition and effortless to create. I can't think of another sim that handles roads, tunnels, and bridges anywhere near as effectively. As always they deliver on the Latin music. There are many reasons why this is a superior game to its predecessors. If I had to choose only one I'd say that in 5 you couldn't become a true dictator until later in the game as you unlocked the necessities. I found that backwards and it was not designed that way this time.

The game has its pitfalls but most of it is related to story mode being absolutely punishing. Faction requests are non stop and serve more to create anxiety than to serve any purpose. You can ignore most of them the entire time that you play, and their objectives often distract from your goal. I haven't played too much in Sandbox yet but during the story I had a population of around 4k by the final mission. I have a fairly strong gaming rig and had to drop the graphics to low for it hang around 60fps by that time as it began to dip. I felt the mission goals were incredibly difficult and unlikely to be achieved by casual players.

As always Tropico delivers a game that appeals to everyone as a light hearted city builder. Beneath the hood waits a die hard political nightmare and the slickest interface you will find in a sim. If you had the impression this was a child's game or just another sandbox you haven't been paying attention. More likely you were paying attention and you ran away, because it's not for the faint of heart. It has an appeal in the packaging that sells to the masses, people will claim it's easy to make money, and then hardly anyone will actually complete it.

I stumbled onto Tropico way back when Civ V released. I had never heard of it, didn't take it seriously, but kept coming back to it. As I dug into the series I couldn't believe how well thought out everything was. It has very deep mechanics lying beneath the surface and once you understand those you truly command the game as a dictator. Tropico games are from that special ether games like Roller Coaster Tycoon are pulled from.

There is a new company creating Tropico now and they chose not to hold back. Rather, they have double downed on the mission objectives. It is a master piece, for those of us that dare. The final map was a really nice touch. To get there and complete it requires dedication. They chose not to water this down and if you don't believe me, try it. Enjoy.
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