Tropico 3

Tropico 3 is a video game developed by Haemimont Games and published by Kalypso Media. Like the previous games in the series, Tropico 3 is a construction and management simulation game with heavy emphasis on city building, and as a sequel to Tropico, the game attempts to return to the roots of the series, which puts the player into the shoes of "El Presidente" - a dictator governing over an island banana republic.

Gameplay


Players begin having seized power of the Caribbean island country of Tropico, where they rule as "El Presidente". The game offers: a comprehensive campaign with 15 different missions, a variety of business sectors, a time line editor that allows you to create your own fictitious historical events or enter real ones, custom avatar, political speeches, wide range of editing and modification functions, mission generator for random map creation, variety of online-functions such as high scores or visiting islands belonging to other players and a Latin soundtrack.

The game combines city management with a wide variety of residential, economic, civic, and military structures and transportation and resourcing management, with political gameplay including a variety of factions with needs and demands, elections, coups and revolutions when needs are not met, and the ability to follow each Tropican including key faction leaders individually, determining individual needs and orientations, and apply a variety of means of persuasion from improvement of conditions or bribes to firing, imprisonment, and assassination.

The game has a variety of humor elements including running satirical commentary by fictional radio station Tropico News Today, and subtle touches such as liaisons between priests and cabaret girls.

Additions not in the original

 * Numerous random world events.
 * A transport system allowing citizens to travel by cars.
 * Avatar customization and control.
 * Election speeches.
 * Oil production is available as an industry for educated workers.
 * Same-sex marriages and nuclear testing are available as edicts, with different results and requirements.
 * New faction: Nationalists, who hate immigration and prefer a dominant Tropican workforce.
 * A "vintage mode" for non-rotational 3D visuals.
 * Gravel roads (roads with a low speed for countryside of the island)
 * Ability to construct a giant sculpture of El Presidente (the player's avatar) on the island, by an edict.

Development
Tropico 3 was developed by Haemimont Games for both Xbox 360 and PC. Features include a new 3D game engine and a customizable avatar which you can travel across the island, interacting with the environment and population and the use of cars, trucks and limos. Like the original Tropico, the developers preserved the tongue-in-cheek humor of the game, as well as the basic game-play. In Tropico 3, the issues and problems of the island are explained by Juanito the DJ in humorous ways.

Expansions
In March 2010, the expansion pack "Absolute Power" was announced, slated for release in Europe in 2010. The expansion got an 8/10 on GameZone.com, closing with "Absolute Power isn’t a revolution, instead taking the framework laid out by the original game and building on it with new features and a wacky new campaign. The core mechanics are still the same, and the new campaign might be a turn off to sim fans looking for something more grounded and traditional. However, if you were a fan of Tropico 3 and want another reason to step into the role of El Presidente once more, then this is your chance."

Steam Special Edition
The "Steam Special Edition" of Tropico 3 offers two additional maps for the sandbox mode and two additional costumes for the El Presidente avatar editor. The "Steam Special Edition" is only available through Steam. It was released on October 21, 2009, in North America but was originally listed to be released on the later date of October 25, 2009. The international release was on November 14, 2009.

Collector Edition
The Collector Edition, for which the content has never been revealed, was available to pre-order only on Amazon sites worldwide. However, on September 30, 2009, Amazon announced this collector edition had been canceled.

Reception
Tropico 3 received generally favourable reviews at Metacritic, with an average of 79% on the PC, and 76% on the Xbox 360.

Play magazine called it "a well-designed sim with just the right balance of complexity and micromanagement. It looks good, it sounds good and playing it just might teach you something. How many games can you say that about?"

IT Reviews called the game "a welcome return to the roots with plenty of new features, deep and absorbing levels of gameplay and a healthy dose of humour as you strut your dictatorial stuff."

GameSpot commented that "playing a banana republic dictator in Tropico 3 might not be easy, but it certainly is rewarding."

GameZone's Dakota Grabowski gave the game a 7 out of 10, saying "Containing a 15-mission campaign, short tutorial, sandbox mode and special challenges, Tropico 3 has enough replay value to keep players at bay for more than a month. If that doesn’t satisfy the hunger, players are eligible to jump online and download user-created challenges to overcome. With dictators such as Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, Tropico 3 is an educational and entertainment piece that is well-deserving of a few playthroughs by all gamers."

D Critic gave the game an 8.9 out of 10, saying that it was a "great game [with a] great choice of buildings, great strategy, [and] great campaign".