Short version: OMFG!!! Sweet frigging game! This forum needs a "TWO THUMBS AND A BIG TOE WAY UP" smiley it's that good! Not short version: I'll start with a disclaimer, I started this game not too long ago, basically when I started seriously considering hunting down the guys who made [ame="http://www.trinigamers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8731"]Cogs[/ame] and beating them over the head with steampunk inspired lead pipes for filling my nightmares with ticking clocks and pipes that hissed evil blue yellow and red steam. So I've not tried all aspects of Tropico 3, but I've played my way through to a point where I believe I have a grasp of what I don't yet have a grasp of, if that makes sense. Gameplay and Story: Very similar to the SimCity games, especially perhaps Societies. In fact I had a few moments when the radio popped up news of llamas when I sat there squinting at the monitor wondering what sort of strange stuff was going on and if my splines needed reticulating again. T_T Basically you are the decision maker for a country made up of an island somewhere in the Caribbean where most people have bad Spanish accents. You decide what goes where and how much of it. Housing, industry, agriculture, government, infrastructure and tourism in all their varied glory. Each building having it's own benefits and pitfalls. The reason you have to decide and build these things is the population. They have needs, wants and the power to kick you out of office if you suck at governing..... a lesson some local politicians have had the displeasure of learning first hand. Of course you have limited funds with which to do this, and depending on the island, very limited resources to extract for the purpose of earning more. Sadly on a side note, the economy does NOT appear to have the potential for self-sustainability, with the exception of tourism based economies. In this aspect, art has chosen to mimic life perhaps a little too well. In quite a few scenarios, I found myself saved by the timeline ending the scenario while spiralling into debt with the total collapse of the economy an inevitable outcome. This is one of my deepest fears for our future in T&T- oil money done, all them yankee dollars gone and is all our asses to catch. You can choose to be a kind and benevolent ruler, a tyrannical despot, you can side with the two warring Superpowers, or maintain your individuality. At the start of each scenario, you're given the option of selecting personality traits for your character with some very recognisable names given as quick options. These grant various perks to players attempting to meet the level objectives. Keeping the various factions happy while trying to expand the economy and balance the needs of the many and the few can be very taxing. One of the things that I keep (re)learning is that I try to do too much to please everyone and going broke. You just can't please all of the people all of the time.... so sometimes it's best just to arrange for them to have an "accident". Read full article...
