Tropico was a series that was completely alien to me before now. I had heard of the games, and they popped up in Steam sales sometimes, but I never actually played one. Now, I was never great at city building/political sims, so I was both excited and hesitant to dive into Tropico 6. Some of my reservations came to light. For the most part, however, I was pleasantly surprised.
Currently, Tropico 6 is its beta phase, which you can participate in if you pre-order the game. If you would like to access the beta, you can do so either on their Steam page or on the Kalypso website. The beta allows players to play through the tutorial, as well as some missions and sandbox maps. At the moment, most missions and sandbox maps are unavailable, as is the multiplayer feature.
Welcome (Back) to Tropico!
When you open Tropico 6, you are greeted with some fun, tropical island styled music and standard menu options. When beginning a new game, you are given the choice of the Tutorial, a Mission, or a Sandbox map. If you are new to the Tropico franchise then playing the tutorial is a must. But more on that in a bit.
Tropico 6 brings players back into the shoes of El Presidente, the autocratic leader of the country of Tropico. The game begins with the player designing their Presidente to better fit how they believe the sole governmental body of a country should appear to the public. There are options to dress El Presidente up in militaristic garb, but, to be honest, who wouldn’t want to see their leader dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and shorts all the time? This, of course, is how I dressed El Presidente.
After making sure that El Presidente looks as you think he should, it is time to dress up the palace to match. There are so many options for designing the home and office of El Presidente. Do you want a flamingo pond? You’ve got it. Modern, artistic pond? Absolutely. Would you like to make sure that the people of Tropico know you are wealthy and well-off while they may very well be starving? You’ve got the options.
The Gameplay
Tropico 6 has so many mechanics, that it would be nearly impossible to play without first going through the tutorial. And the tutorial is a commitment all in itself. The tutorial takes quite a while to get through, but it is as thorough as a tutorial for this type of game should be. Your number two, Penultimo, guides you through learning how to run the country.
Through the tutorial, you will learn how to build, check the various statuses of your country, bribe/fire/kill people, and much, much more. As you run through the tutorial, it is apparent which choices help make you a benevolent dictator and which may invoke a revolution from the Tropicans. Even though the tutorial is guided, there is some room to practice your skills on your own as you wait for a task to finish. One section of the tutorial asks you to wait until the next era comes around. After waiting a few seconds, the game will ask if you would like to save time by jumping ahead. You can opt out of this time save, which might be good if you want to practice some of the skills you learned.
As time moves on in Tropico 6, so does the country through different eras. The eras start with the Colonial, then move into the World Wars, the Cold War, and then finally end with the Modern era. As you move through time, new edicts and upgrades become available. These can be used to help your economy, benefit your people, or benefit El Presidente. What the player does is up to them, but everything will have a repercussion.
The missions and sandbox are fun ways to put what you learned in the extensive tutorial to the test. The first mission shows how El Presidente went from being a governor of Tropico while it was still under The Crown to an autocratic leader. It is up to the player to help the rebellion form, but they have to be mindful of their contract. If they do not help the Crown and extend their contract, they will lose what power they have, and the governor won’t become El Presidente.
It’s fun to have some story elements is a game such as this. While the player can get lost in the actual gameplay, it is nice to see more characters crop up, and cutscenes where the camera shows off your glorious country.
The Style
Tropico 6 is a very pretty game. It opens with a cutscene of El Presidente deciding to get back into the game and it is absolutely gorgeous. The game, while not as pretty as the cutscene, is still beautiful. The water effects are stunning, and, if you zoom in onto your country, the buildings and watching the people work is fascinating. Even though you will spend most of your playthrough zoomed out some, I would recommend taking some time every now and again to zoom in and take a close look at your country.
The music is fun, and lighthearted, making ruling a country feel more enjoyable. When you click on a building, it will also make appropriate sounds which is a nice touch. As you play the game more, you will associate those sounds with the particular structure, and be able to identify when you accidentally select the wrong building. Having these sounds is a nice touch as well, as they help break up the music, which can become repetitive.
The game is humorous and absolutely full of satire. It is also quite self-aware. This humor most often comes from Penultimo. However, there are times when El Presidente gives campaign speeches, and they are quite humorous as well. The game makes quite a bit of commentary about both dictators of the past and leaders today.
What’s New?
Below is a list of new features in Tropico 6:
• Play on large archipelagos for the first time in the series. Manage multiple islands at the same time and adapt to various new challenges.
• Send your agents on raids to foreign lands to steal world wonders and monuments, to add them to your collection.
• Build bridges, construct tunnels and transport your citizens and tourists in taxis, buses and aerial cable cars. Tropico 6 offers completely new transportation and infrastructure possibilities.
• Customize the looks of your palace at will and choose from various extras.
• Tropico 6 features a revised research system focusing on the political aspects of being the world’s greatest dictator.
• Election speeches are back! Address the people and make promises that you can’t possibly keep.
