Video Game Review: Tropico 3

From the onset, Tropico 3 looks just like it is. This is a sim(ulation) game. It's pretty straightforward on that as well. The concept of the game is what might catch the attention of those who love games like SimCity and other games in that genre. If you like The Sims, this is not for you.

The scenario of this game is pretty unique. Like in the other versions (which I have not played) you are the leader of a small tropical island (Cuba). You have control over what is built, and what resources are gathered. The goal is to accumulate people, and personal wealth via a Swiss bank account. The latter is for your retirement. You come to power in 1949 and the game goes until 1970.

The main campaign, which is single player, has a limited timeframe. This makes the campaign mode rather short, taking maybe a dozen hours on standard speed. You can speed up the game, which is recommended, but that will cut down the play time dramatically though you will not miss any major events.

The other problem with the campaign mode is that the events in the game are the same each time. So after a run through or 2, you can get a solid plan to take advantage of the events to come. Also the layout of the island remains the same in campaign mode, so ideal placement of businesses, farms, and other items can be worked out.

In terms of the look of the game, it is quite nice. Zooming in to individual characters is easy. They look crisp and detailed. The buildings have a 50's look and feel. The vegetation sways to the breeze, and all the native characters look tropical (ie Hispanic).

Obviously the imagery is a play on Cuba. Including the voice of the leader (for male characters). But the look of the character does not have to be a mimicry of Fidel Castro. The character creation is simple, but allows for a moderate selection. There are clothing choices and hair options plus a few other items that allow for a character that is not completely a cartoonish caricature of people in the tropics.

The character can be models in mannerism after a dozen famous, and not so famous leaders of small 3rd world leaders. Like Che of course. Or you can create a custom leader with a couple of good points, and of course flaws as well.

The play itself is pretty much old hat to anyone who has played SimCity before. There is not a lot of challenge at the default setting. Farming is the main export, but the city can be nation can be built up to be a tourist mecca if you choose. There is also the option to be a very Fidel-like leader in that you can create secret police, remove (kill) rebels or others that disagree with your leadership, or you can build churches and higher education facilities. You can also allow for immigration at several different levels from open to anyone to no one can leave.

The sound of the game is cute at first but it will quickly become grating. It is a pseudo tropical radio station with a decent but limited selection of quasi-instrumental songs. Occasionally this will be interrupted by a radio announcer declaring various events on the island, or the mood of the people, or international events. This too is limited and will often repeat. But at times it can be comical to hear about the "18th attack against our leader's hat". And occasionally it will provide information that is important like a coup attempt.

So visually the game is decent. The sound is good, if not repetitive. The gameplay operation is smooth and direct. The tutorial is simple but enough to give you most every option you need to know, and the rest can be figured out from there with ease.

But for me, in a sim game, the replay value is critical. This is where Tropico 3 fails. It's just not different each time. Yes the population will grow or act somewhat differently each time through, but they are a minor factor. A tweak or 2 and they are basically not an issue. And by the 3rd time through, the key elements of the game are figured out. So unless you want a challenge by doing something drastically different, you can be pretty assured of the results.

Tropico 3 is meant to be a light-hearted sim targeting Cuba and leaders of "banana" nations. It has a strong effect of making fun of people from the tropics, more laughing at than with. It is limited in replay value and is short on scope. It has decent looks, good but eventually annoying sounds, and a simple to figure out set of control maps.

I would not purchase Tropico 3 at the current price of roughly $40. I might buy the game at $10 in a bargain bin, or on clearance sale. And I might be more interested in the game if I were new to simulation games than if I were an old pro at SimCity.

Overall, avoid this game.

Reviewing the Witcher and SimCities Societies - 12.12.2007.2

Now that it’s the prime selling season, and every nice mom and dad is running around looking for goodies to buy the kids, I wanted to add my 2 cents on 2 recent video games. They are both for the computer, and one I like, the other not so much. Let’s see if you can tell which is which.

The first game I want to mention is SimCity Societies. As the name implies this is based on the award-winning mid-1980’s game concept, SimCity. The concept for those that have never played this is simple. You start with a map of land, and on it you can build an assortment of buildings, streets, bridges, subways and so on. You start with limited money to start off your megopolis-to-be, and as you attract people and employ them your revenues increase. There are of course natural disasters, fires, floods and other events that can cause massive chaos. You can even create them if you are bored or love anarchy.

Those are the good points, and they are holdovers from the original game concept. But this new title takes the original game and waters it down. I presume that the game designers felt that the original game was too difficult, or required too much thought, for the youth of today and thus dumbed-down the game. It’s a shame.

Whereas previous versions made you have to plan each step of your grand design, little thought is needed here. You have multiple options for power generation that includes nuclear, hydrogen, and renewable sources. You can put them down ANYWHERE on the game map and you have power for all your buildings. No need to connect anything with power lines. The same goes for the subway system. Just put down a station and you have an instant metro system. And bus routes too. No planning needed. The trade off there is that you can’t modify the terrain (not a single control for that that I’ve seen). So you have to build around slopes and high grades.

And it gets worse. Societies has several ‘themes’ that you need to balance. This supposedly is to keep your Sims happy. It’s virtually impossible not to. Any value that might be low requires just another building and instantly you move that value up. It doesn’t matter if you drop it in the middle of a business district or residential. And if you keep the values relatively even, the money pours in so fast you will wonder what else to build.

While this might sound nice, it’s boring. The biggest question is where to put new buildings. In a matter of game days your surplus will be overflowing with tens of thousands of dollars. Zero challenge. Not even close to the thrill or intensity of the original game.

This might be a nice game for someone with a lot of time to kill, low expectations, and limited mental abilities, but I think even 5 year olds will bore with this in a day. It’s almost a decent tutorial for learning the original game, except that involves careful planning. At $50 it’s a waste of money, and reminds me of the failure that was SimTower.

On the other hand there is a game that is more interesting and involved. It’s called The Witcher. Now this is an engaging game. But definitely not for kids. It’s an adults RPG.

What you get in the Witcher is moral complexity or ambiguity if you prefer. The world is hardly idyllic, but firmly in the fantasy realm. Magic exists, not that you really use any. You do get potions instead, though your choices are severely limited in what you can make. Weapon options are similarly limited and generally useless beyond the main 2 weapons you start with.

The game is rendered quite well, looking very nice. Sadly you can’t really explore most of it. Don’t be confused, while there are side missions there is no comparison to NeverWinter or Morrowind. This is NOT open-ended.

But as I mentioned there is a level of complexity. No one is without some guilt or wrong-doing. You let one group get supplies, you enable an assassination. Need information, give a junkie his fix. Do someone a favor, you help a criminal. And it keeps going. Nothing is ever just a one way street. And your choices help one side or another more often than not.

And then there is the sex life. Your character is not above paying or saying whatever it takes to bed most every lass in the game. And you get cards to keep track of the notches you get. There are no sex scenes or nudity on the cards though (at least in the U.S. version).

Still don’t think this is a horrible place to have your character stroll through. He is far from a Paladin While not evil, he is up for hire for most any action. You can always say no, but where is the fun in that?

Expect a lot of foul language, adult situations, and immoral characters – minor and major. But the game is fun. It’s definitely a nice change for the morally high-handed hero most games in this genre take. And it’s interesting to see the outcomes of the choices you make.

So if you are not attached to taking the high road, can live with coarse language, and wonder what you can get away with as an infertile, infection-immune, ambivalent monster hunter with a grudge, this can be a fun game. Just don’t get to upset you can’t wander off the beaten path.