Tropico 6 – PC Review

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I love myself a good construction builder game. Games such as Sim City, Cities Skylines and Rollercoaster Tycoon. When I was first introduced to the first Tropico back in 2004 while I worked at GAME, there was something that appealed to me that I could build a tropical paradise in the sun while being a Dictator.

I mean, who doesn’t want to have a crack of being a dictator right?

Being The Best Dictator In The World!

Many moons have passed since I first played it and now Tropico 6 is out. Developed by Limbic Entertainment and published by Kalypso Media, Tropico has come very far since the early days of the franchise.

Troipico 6
Ready to create my Paradise

Lets jet off to my tropical Island, Assume the role of El Presidente and let’s see If I can create a truly great country…

Gameplay

With a game like these, I like a good sandbox mode. Not because I want unlimited money at the start (though you don’t have to) but the fact you are left alone to do whatever you please when creating your paradise just feels more appealing. However, Tropico offers not only a Sandbox mode but a tutorial for those who are new or people like me that have been away from the franchise for a while but also Missions.

Tropico 6
Trying to be me as El Presidente

Missions

There are a good few missions to do and you will have to progress through each one in order to unlock the next. This can also be a good place to start just to get the feel for it before you start going into sandbox mode. It has a mix of what is to come when playing sandbox as task appears during the time being El Presidente but missions also have a set period too.

Sandbox

This is my favourite mode and after the tutorial and I played the first mission, I started to create my own island. You start off in The Colonial era and your progress towards the World Wars, Cold War and then the modern era.

Though unlike the previous version of Tropico, Tropico 6 allows players to build on smaller islands which allow for the building of bridges to link all the smaller island together. This is a great feature as sometimes a massive Island can get crowded and I know, with multiple small islands, you can really split up the section of industry etc. if needed.

I started off with the smaller islands and as with most builder games, you get yourself into a mess as not only you are trying to run a country but, your learning at the same time. I played a good 3 hours on my first island before I gave up and decided to start again. This time, however, I was fueled with knowledge of how the game works and, to hit the ground running on my next go.

Tropico 6
Different options for Tropico 6

As I chose a smaller island first, I went for a classic big island to see if I could really run a great country. Starting off with houses for the people and slowly expanding to jobs for them too. I kept an eye on the homeless and jobless as for me, this was key to keep the country going. Though sometimes you get an influx of people coming and you need to start building like crazy just to get them in.

What I like about Tropico 6 is the complexity it right in the middle. it’s not too simple where it will get boring but it’s not too over complicated where you will lose what you are trying to achieve which is perfect for a game like this as some builders can get a little out of hand.

Graphics

Build on the Unreal 4 engine, the graphics and gameplay are super smooth and very high detailed. With my Nvidia 1070, I put all the graphics on Ultra and the game didn’t miss a beat. When zooming into the building and people, you can still see a high level of detail.

However, the one thing this game is missing: No Colourblind mode. Not going to lie I had to use the error sound to distinguish if I could place a building on the location as both grass and boxes around an area which can and cannot be placed looked brown to me.

Tropico 6
Setting up my second attempt at a peaceful paradise

Slightly annoying but not a massive issue as I could still play the game. A straight forward fix would be to allow users to choose good and bad colours when placing buildings. This will help so many people who play the game.

Audio

The soundtrack is absolutely perfect for the game. A Latina Carribean styled soundtrack really sets the scene for the game as it truly feels you are in paradise. Also playing the game while the sun is out added a great benefit too.

Sound effects have actually helped me to distinguish where to place buildings or not as there is a lack of colourblind options so very glad this is there.

Longevity

This has the classic syndrome of all good builders that you can sink hundreds of hours into and you don’t even realise. Its addictive and fun and all you want to do is progress to the next era. Sandbox alone is more than enough but with a tutorial to get you started and missions this game can last for a long time.

Tropico 6
An artist impression of a perfect paradise

It’s also a perfect game that if you are cooking but don’t need to be at the kitchen all the time, you can easily go back and forth, tweak your town then stir your pot as you can play Tropico as fast or as slow as you like.

Conclusion

If you like constructer builder games, Tropico is perfect as you will soon rack up hundreds of funfilled hours before you even know it. Just trying to get a beautiful piece of paradise seems so far away but after a few hours, your dreams will become a reality and become the greatest El Presidente ever or, there will be a revolution and you will get overthrown.

Either way, new or old to this genre and franchise, Tropico 6 is absolutely fantastic and well deserved the prestigious Thumb Culture Platinum Award and can’t wait to carry on with my island of paradise.

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