People say Tropico 4 is better, and while I agree to an extent, Tropico 5 was a better sequel to 4 than 4 was a sequel to 3. If you played and love Tropico 4, you'll probably enjoy Tropcio 5 IF you don't go in expecting that its Tropico 4 but with more features and stuff. Tropico 5 is a different game, and knows its a different game, forcing the player to approach things from a different perspective. You have some concern with researching things and moving onto the next era, building a sense of progression, and causing old tactics to create less profit, but allowing for new tactics to reek in even more cash. It should be noted that there could be more content building wise, but if you buy the game with all the DLC in a sale it would kind of remedy that. As far as the content in the game itself, it works, but there isn't really anything too interesting except for maybe a few exceptions, but the DLC adds some fun stuff like the Ministry of Truth, which is actually a fairly intersting building to use, and the water pack adds some interesting stuff. By themselves however, the DLC isn't really worth it except for like two of them, so I would recommend getting the bundle on a sale. Online with a friend can also be fun, though it does crash sometimes. The concept of racing to resources and being a thorn in your friend's side is fun.

tl;dr: It's not the same as Tropico 4, but it isn't trying to be and benefits from that. It's differences give it an identity, but you might be better buying the game with the dlc bundled on a sale if you need more content. Either way, it's a decent game. Online is decent with friends.

Awful informative UI!!!

The game isnt really specific certain times.

This needs to be fixed...

Apart from that its really fun.

Gets hella laggy after a while playing multiplayer when you've expanded on a big map.

Alot of things are just unclear objective wize, also this game really needs workshop support in order to change them.

It doesnt feel like a complete game to me.

The Tropico series has always played it safe, never pushing too hard to renovate making sure people know what to expect each time. Tropico 5 is no exception, with the same infrastructure and demands those familiar with the series will know exactly what to expect. With that said, significant changes have been made to the economy, development and elections systems that Tropico 5 holds its own unique identity within the series.

One new feature is a redesign of the campaign, while in previous games each mission would start on a new island beginning with the basic building blocks each time. Now players are given the choice between two islands, once the player completes a mission on the choose island the player must then complete the next mission on the second island. Levels are not reset and any development on the islands remains throughout the campaign. This change allows players to watch an island flourish over time, crawling up from its colonial roots to its own independent metropolis. Each choice becomes a much greater decision as it will not only effect the player for that level but for later missions that follow. While it provides a much greater sense of accomplishment it's a system with many drawbacks. The greatest of this being put into an automatic lose situation.

After completing a mission I returned to a previously developed island which had a population of 900 before leaving. Once I came back I found my population had been almost cut in half to 500 however my foundations remained and continued to cost upkeep which left me with a drastically understaffed island. There was little I could do as I would almost immediately jump into negative finances and could never pull it back out. Restarting the mission left to the exact same situation every single time, an issue that needs attention. With some missions giving little time for a player to complete objectives, those starting in a bad situation can soon find themselves in impossible to win situations. With the current save system this could take you back numerous missions to repair.

While the infrastructure behind the game remains the same the countless economy changes significantly effect how you would approach missions. A major flaw with all previous games was that most players would soon find their own approach that would work in every environment. With your own approach that was guaranteed to succeed there was little reason to break that mold. In tropico 5 however a much greater dependency on varied trade breaks that mold. Forcing players to constantly adapt to a ever changing economy and political struggles. Finance isn't the only major overhaul, as elections now become significantly more difficult. Factions will be tougher to please, often forcing the player to juggle edicts and votes between each election to keep the majority on his or her side. With most actions having an equally negative response as positive players need to keep a keen eye, balancing the books of finance with the cries of the population.

Sadly, with what Tropico 5 makes up in polish it loses in humor, failing to come even close to the witty comments, quality voice acting and wacky scenarios we were given in 4. It's still remains funny at times but fails to reach that unique charm that gives it such a unique identity we remember it by.
Pro:
+Well balanced economy
+Improved Visuals
+Increased Difficulty
+Islands continue to develop after completed missions
+Improved design of elections
+New well designed edicts

Cons:
-Less humor then previous game
-Generic voice acting replaced funnier voice acting from earlier games
-Some balance issues with builds, some produce little profit compared to others
-Campaign design can cause some missions harder then intended or even impossible
-Missing features, presume coming in as DLC for new buildings

Tropico 5 is a drastic improvement to early games but comes with many drawbacks of its own. With this in mind it's difficult to recommend or bash this title. Those who come for the gameplay and love a challenge will be happy with the changes. Those looking for a relaxed campaign with a humorous story may be left disappointed. While i'm left with mixed feelings i'll still have to recommend it. It's well polished, well designed and exactly what most people asked for in this sequal it's just missing that cherry on the top to make it a memorable game.

This is only a short review, the full review will be completed at a later time.

Now let me say that I fell in love with Tropico 3 when I first played it. It was an amazing city builder with great humor and an amazing salsa soundtrack. But Tropico 3 wasn't without its flaws: Most notable in Tropico 3 I saw that it seemed near impossible to lose the game, which made my experience less enjoyable than I would've liked. Even when I turned the difficulty settings to the absolute max and played on very poor islands - there was little risk of me losing the game in the 3rd game.

When Tropico 4 came out, I saw that Tropico 4 had some new buildings and expanded quite a bit on Tropico 3, but it was essentially the same game and had the same issues as the 3rd game, namely the overall easy difficulty.

Now that Tropico 5 has been released I must say that they finally fixed this single issue that I had with the game, in addition they added a very nice mechanic that you go through eras now. Mostly to ease players into playing a session. Having the island being under colonial rule is essentially exactly what I wished for in the early game in Tropico 3 where diplomacy and economy was difficult to manage. The citizens in this era never become rebels to your regime, instead either supporting or denying your independence from "The Crown".

Going through the eras you are met with new challenges more reminiscent to the actual state of affairs of the earlier titles, with you taking a stance in the world wars, cold wars and finally the modern era and the road there is actually very difficult because you'll be faced with choices like; should this island really be a democracy? Should I stabilize the island with social policies that sway voting into my favor and repress the population or should I go for a riskier approach; where I run a popular island, but less stable?

These are done through a "Constitution" system, where you're able to rewrite it every couple of years or so, a very welcome new addition to the game along with the earlier civil policies. And if you get invaded you don't automatically lose; instead you get to fight a battle with your island's military.

I've seen other reviewers complain about the road networks, but I never felt it was about that. Tropico was never meant to be cities in motion. It's more like Ceasar 2 or Children of the Nile than SimCity, and I think that's what people need to understand when they buy this game: No you're not going to have a lot of control over your roads or buildings, and that's because the game isn't about that. You got a problem with rebels in certain areas of the island and your military can't mobilize fast enough? Spread them barracks out in the problem areas. The game is far from unfair - I think the issue is that these reviewers just don't understand the game and that the reviewers have unfair expectations.

There are so many new features that make the game still engaging, humorous and pleasant to play and at the same time very challenging and that's why I definetely recommend this game.

I liked Tropico 3, bought Tropico 4 and LOVE it. I didn't think Kalypso/Haemimont could screw Tropico 5 up. They did. The game has far less content than Tropico 4 did on release day. This is so you can buy content later as DLC!

The economy controls are dumbed down. Rent, wages, and all other economic factors are frustratingly simplified and broad.

Shipping was a bit of an annoyance in Tropico 4, goods could stack at docks faster than it could be shipped. In Tropico 5, that has been remedied (sort of) but the new way of shipping goods is an annoying, island clogging, minutiae-filled chore that makes me long for T4's flawed but ultimately less annoying shipping system.

T4's troops worked automatically and you had no control over them. In T5, you do have control. A good thing, right? Wrong. The troops controls are clunky and unresponsive. Another chore, not fun.

Rebels in Tropico 4 would appear if you were doing things wrong or didn't have enough jobs. There was a reason (and cure) to having rebels on your island. In Tropico 5, you have rebels for no reason. Your island could be a perfect paradise, but huge rebel attacks will still occur. The Developers have admitted the rebels are arbitrary and for no reason other than some lame excuse about it being an upstart island with political turmoil; it just (and does, often) happens.

In Tropico 4, you could be a benevolent ruler, or a brutal Tyrant, which is what Tropico was all about. In Tropico 5, you are an impotent and weak governor that can only survive by doing your best in hopes of pleasing the fickle masses to desperately stay in power.

Then there is DLC. Tropico 4, when it came out, was quickly buried in DLC. BUT! The first several DLC were handy, useful DLC. The DLC had VERY useful buildings, cool decorator pieces, a mission, and outfit. Over time though, the Tropico 4 DLC became cheap, useless cash grabs. This crappy DLC content continued on into Tropico 5. All the DLC in Tropico 5 is pointless and adds nothing interesting. Not only that, but a few skilled gamers actually found large chunks and entirely complete, usuable DLC in the RELEASE DAY game files. Which the Devs tried to patch out and B.S. away.

In Hindsight, you could offer me Tropico 5 for free, and i'd decline the offer. Tropico 4 is superior in nearly every way. With Tropico 4 being available on Steam, there is absolutely no point, reason, or need to buy Tropico 5.

This really, for me, is a bummer. This isn't some game I saw, tried, and didn't like. I LOVE Tropico 4. I WANTED to see this game succeed. Kalypso/Haemimont are the little guys in the gaming industry. But when they got greedy and released a content-weak game and put that content (that isn't that great to begin with) in DLC, they sold their integrity to nickel-and-dime their customers.

I was dissapointed when Kalypso started rushing out several shoddy DLC at the end of Tropico 4's run. Now, with Tropico 5, Kalypso/Haemimont are no longer on my radar, I don't care about their games.

That's okay. I still have Tropico 4.


EDIT: Some people have posted below with some very good arguments about where my review may be wrong. I still feel my review stands, but if you are truly looking into whether you should spend your money on this game or not, it wouldn't hurt in reading the comments below for some very valid responses that may change your mind.

The Tropico franchise distinguishes itself by its tongue-in-cheek presentation, and by making the player balance the desires and needs of the populace with pleasing the off-map superpowers. Ignore a faction for too long, and you could have a rebel uprising. Displease a superpower too much and you may find yourself in your own Bay of Pigs. Tropico 5 puts this balancing act front and center. You won’t be ruling a banana republic as much as you’ll be answering requests from a constant stream of quest-givers.

Although many of the gameplay mechanics may seem familiar, Tropico 5 nevertheless manages to distinguish itself from the rest of the genre. There are four different eras for you to play through, moving from Colonial Times through the World Wars, Cold War, and into the Modern Day; each has unique buildings you can construct and different technologies available. The political landscape changes with each era, too. In Colonial Times you have to bow to foreign rulers until you can declare independence, and during the Wars you can either pick a side – and risk facing the wrath of the other – or try to strike a balance between the two.

Tropico 4 was criticized for being too easy. Once you played the game a couple of times, it was simple to have a build order that you could follow every time. As long as you stuck to the plan, you’d hardly get into any trouble. Tropico 5 is easy, but for a different reason. Haemimont Games took the criticism of Tropico 4 to heart and revamped the gameplay to direct attention away from the simplified city-planning and more towards the politics. Tropico 5 has a dark sense of humour that keeps it from taking itself too seriously. Your incompetent advisors will pop up from time to time – to give you special tasks, for example, which you complete for bonus rewards – and their witty dialogue is more than capable of providing a few laughs.

The basic formula is still solid. Building a tropical city, placating superpowers, and suppressing rebellion offers enough challenge to remain engaging. Tropico 5 manages to turn its dubious subject matter into something enjoyable.

THE GOOD
- Political and economic evolutions
- Great campaign
- Tropical island graphics

THE BAD
- Research isn't engaging
- Information can be hard to find


DISASTER | BAD | MEDIOCRE | OKAY | GOOD | GREAT | AMAZING | MASTERPIECE

If you like this review, then please consider giving it a thumbs up. I've also reviewed other games that you might find interesting. If so then please click here.

The roads have terrible design. We can't have a city managing game where the roads won't cooperate!

You may see a lot of reviews slamming this game for being "dumbed down" or overly simplified compared to previous titles, and to be honest they may not be entirely incorrect. However, what these people don't seem to grasp is that sometimes less is more. I will admit that Tropico 5 is certainly not a perfect game, nor is it even the best game in the series, but it still holds it own and should be considered by anybody who is a fan of the series or the genre.

I will start with the good, which there is plenty of. Tropico 5 has the most robust campaign of any Tropico game to date, with persistent islands that carry over from mission to mission and a new dynasty system that allows you to pass your legacy on to your offspring if you choose to. While the dynasty aspect could have been fleshed out a little more, it is still fun and finally gives you something to actually do with your off-shore account money (which is used to upgrade dynasty memebers). As usual the story to the campaign is wacky and goofy, and completely unbelievable, but that is all just part of the charm to Tropico. Tropico 5 also introduces a new era system where instead of always starting during the Cold War, you can now start as early as colonial times and work your way up through 4 eras to modern times. While not game-changing per say, this does add a nice touch to the game and a fresh way to play it. The voice acting throughout is solid and charming, the music is catchy as always, and the visual are superb. The color pallete is bright and cheerful, and the level of detail on some of the buildings is rather impressive when you zoom in. It should also be noted that as with most Kalypso games technically the game is great, it runs wonderfully and I have had zero crashes.

As I mentioned though, the game is not perfect I'm afraid. There are a couple of aspects of the game that have been simplified compared to old titles. For example, when setting the salary for a building instead of a slider that allowed you to set whatever dollar amount you wanted, there are just 5 pre-set payrates to choose from. Furthermore, while you can still set the pay from every building of that kind, you can't set it for all workers of that education. A slight annoyance, but still something that may detract from some and it also points to the larger issue with this game I think many have. This game is not City:Skylines, it is not Banished, nor is it even SimCity in terms of complexity. Tropico 5 is a largely streamlined experience that is intended to let you focus on the big picture without getting too caught up in micro-managing. Some people like this, some don't, which I get, but it should be noted Tropico games have always been like this so it really shouldn't be a shock that Tropico 5 continues the pattern. Another annoyance is the lack of content in this game. While the campaign is robust and plenty of maps are included for sandbox mode, it is frustrating to see buildings and concepts introduced in previous games either omitted or held out so that they can be introduced through over-priced DLC. That said, the base game as is still provides plenty to do and can be enjoyed without spending a penny on DLC. It should be noted though that the exact same argument could be made about the last game, as without the Modern Times expansion Tropico 4 was a little lacking in endgame content, so again this really is nothing new for the series.

All-in-all Tropico 5 is a really solid game. Not great, but also really not bad, and very much worth the only $40 it costs. I will admit that you may want to start with Tropico 4 (skip 3, 4 is just an upgraded version of it), and if you want a really good game that is completely different from the rest of the series play 2, but if you already have played these and are hungry for more or you just want to play the newest game, you will not regret this purchase. Also please note while my Steam account doesn't reflect it I have played every game in the series extensively, in particular 4 on the XBox 360, and while 2 actually remains my favorite 5 is right up there as well.

bra mocket nbra

I'm a pretty big fan of games of this kind. I grew up playing the different versions of Sim City.

I'm also a big fan of Tropico 3 and 4, and bought this game on sale. Even on sale, I can't really recommend it and here's why:

They haven't fixed the most important problem.

If you've played Tropico extensively, like I have, you've run into the problem with road congestion. It has not been fixed. You must plan out very meticulously your road network from the VERY beginning of the game. Each subsequent story mission builds upon the progress you've made in previous missions. You use the same Island and city as before (there's 2 different islands, and thus two different cities). If you're not very careful, you'll end up like I did, 6 or 7 missions in without the means to really go in and rework everything, and it's not until that far in that the problem becomes very large and difficult to solve.

If you have a diverse economy, which is actually very easy to achieve in Tropico 5, it's not difficult to make quite a lot of money that can be invested into infrastructure, but the problem for me doesn't lie in having to rework infrastructure, it's that I'm working to circumvent poor coding (the road system I mentioned earlier) that has been in every Tropico game I've ever played.

Road management is a part of the game, I'm fully aware, but there is no management options. Tropicans will take the shortest route available. There are no one way street, or high volume highway like options. I can't do anything but build a singular type of road which nearly every building needs to be attached to. The only way to be completely efficient is to have EXTREMELY ugly circle roads that never connect to each other except by adjacent garages. Someone actually developed a circumvention system for Tropico 3 (which has persisted into 4 and 5 out of necessity). If you google "road congestion tropico", I'm sure you can find more information (if interested).

This Tropico is a little bit more challenging than the last ones in terms of Rebels and their threats. They attack much more often, and your army cannot be controlled beyond telling them which buildings you value the most. Rebels will attack from multiple points and your army sallies out of wherever you built your buildings. Since all you have is men on foot and eventually very slow tanks, the rebels will usually destroy several buildings before your army can even respond.

Rebels are also able to target your army squads while you are unable to control and choose targets for your own. What this means is that your army will be running to defend a certain building, and the rebels will follow along and continually fire at them while your army DOES NOT RETURN FIRE, and simply dies. It's EXTREMELY frustrating.

There's also a huge problem that persists with housing.

As you might remember, people get old and retire and their income falls. There are children, unemployed and students as well. In Tropico 5, Houses now have budgets like employment buildings do. It is essentially the rent charge.

NO MATTER WHAT JOB PEOPLE HAVE, most of them will not live in a house because it is too expensive. Even if you've maximized the budget (and thus their pay) at their place of employment. You must lower the rent to a single point (out of a maximum of 5) in order to allow people to live there. YOU MUST turn on social security. Otherwise you will CONSTANTLY be attacked by rebels. YOU MUST do this for every housing building.

People will also not live in a building that is too far from where they work. Couples make a decision based upon both their work locations. If not satisfied with how close they live to work, they toss up a shack!

It is not uncommon to see shacks right beside housing units that are completely empty.

For some ungodly reason, Tenements lose housing value over time. There is no option to remedy this. This only way to circumvent is to completely destroy the building and replace it. It would have taken a few lines of code to add a renovate option, but no, they didn't do that. I wouldn't be surprised if it was in a DLC.

The graphics are improved, a lot of the mechanics of the game have been streamlined, but not fixed. There are improvements here, although the dynasty system is tacked on, stupid, and useless.

It feels like it's still Tropico. I don't know what it is that provides that feeling, the enjoyment of the game, and the music (I've always really enjoyed it) or the same bloody bugs that have persisted forever without attention.