Tropico 5

It all blends into a winning mix that sees Tropico going from strength to strength delivering a fresh take on a concept that has captivated city-builder fans since the turn of the century. More than a decade after its inception, Tropico is still getting better and has me hooked all over again.

Tropico 5 cuts out the fat of previous entries and builds upon its strongest features. While the new dynasty system is disappointing, the narrative context provided by eras and world events is outstanding.

Tropico 5 isn't just the best of the series, but simply one of the best games of its kind. The Settlers and Anno series should take note.

As a total package, it's a great starting point for new players. Gameplay mechanics like diplomacy have been simplified, so it's pretty easy to understand for newcomers.

Even with these negatives, Tropico 5 is still a blast to play. The thrill of walking the line between the superpowers as you try to make your island (and yourself) as rich as possible hasn’t gone anywhere, and it’s still fun. It’s also nice that the internal strife never ends in Tropico.

Tropico 5 is a polished sim game, the only downside being that city development begins to lose its luster because so many of the game modes feel so similar. But if you’re looking for an accessible, fun, and fresh city builder, Tropico 5 is an excellent choice.

Solid, despotic fun. Tropico 5 isn’t revolutionary in any of its changes. But with deeper gameplay and some smart tweaks to the formula, it is deserving of at least another term in office.

Being the best entry in the city-building strategy game series, Tropico 5 excites with a humorous campaign and a relaxed atmosphere, while the endless mode keeps motivated. Experienced players will miss a little depth and challenge, but its forgiving gameplay is especially attractive for newcomers.

Light-hearted parody belies a deep simulation. Familiarity aside, oppressing the masses is rarely such fun. [Aug 2014, p.65]

Solid, engaging campaign is full of humor and shines especially during the Cold War era, but unfortunately fades in the modern period. [08/2014, p.75]

Tropico 5 has room for improvement, but even in its current state it brings sheer joy.

Tropico 5 is a good title, almost essential if you are a regular to the series. It's perfect for those who want to enter this humorous environment for the first time.

Haemimont's third Tropico game brings welcome changes while not diverging too much from the well worn path. [July 2014, p.60]

A better game overall than its predecessors, but not quite the revolution we were hoping for. [Issue#250, p.66]

Do you want to ru(i)n an island? As supreme ruler on Tropico you can suppress your population, or see your country prosper. Every inhabitant is doing a job, thus it is far more practical if they work for you rather than against you. This small micro perspective combined with the macro management of foreign powers makes Tropico unique. Annoying features of past games in the series are gone. This should be a great game for old as well as new aspiring dictators.

A follow-up to the construction and management simulation game series brings the same gameplay and atmosphere that are flawless like in the previous installments, but on top of that it throws in several interesting novelties and improvements. The game could not avoid tiny flaws, but even with them it is an excellent experience.

Tropico 5 is an incredibly fun strategy and management game, but this is mainly due to the core values ​​that the series has always had. Developing your own tropical paradise and suppress your people in the most politically incorrect ways makes twisted fun and is challenging. The newly added eras definitely contribute something to the fun and challenge, but dynasty members, managers and the entire online mode can not count on our support. Tropico 5 is not a revolution; but what did you expect with a dictatorial game like this?

A solid, accessible city builder, Tropico 5 gets out of the way and lets you have the fun you came for without pissing around in fiddly details.

Tropico 5 is the best way to play a city simulator nowdays. If you have been disappointed by Sim City, this is the game to buy.

Don't expect a revolution in the gameplay of Tropico 5, since it may feel like more of an expansion at times. However, it's a very impressive one at that. The new era system is absolutely wonderful and the management system is more complex than ever. This, and the inclusion of a new multiplayer mode should be more than enough to pull all of you dictators back to the wonderful island of Tropico.

Fives games in and the Tropico series has really found its feet, creating a cheery and relaxing ambience that sets it quite apart from other city-builders out there.

Dated graphics and a hopeless multiplayer section damage its overall appeal, but fans of the Tropico series and its competitors won’t be disappointed by the newest offering.

When the moment comes and you find the solution to a problem that's been bugging you all these hours, you can get awfully narcissistic and self congratulatory. You know, just like any old island dictator probably would.

There is a lot to enjoy on the sandy beaches of Tropico 5. Whether you're playing alone or with up to three others online, the game strikes a good balance between style and substance that is easy to digest for all types of strategy fans.

Not a dramatic reinvention, but still an enjoyable game of construction, economics and election fraud.

If you have played the other Tropico games, and if the similarities haven’t bothered you yet, then there isn’t any reason not to give Tropico 5 a whirl as well.

There’s little evolution in this edition, even though it still works and it’s really fun, so if you enjoyed the series before is a great option.

For those who already own Tropico 4 maybe there aren't many reasons to buy this new iteration of the series.

The loopy dictator is only as loopy as the world that made him; his brand of insanity merely combats the surrounding insanity. Tropico is an open invitation to either revel in it or understand it.

Overall, Tropico 5 makes a solid entry into a genre already populated by great games. It has some drawbacks, but it gives you a good construction game while offering enough variety of play to offer many hours of fun games and great replay value.

Politically speaking, Tropico V is as conservative as they come: it seems committed to reforms, but in the end just supports the status quo.

It will probably hold my interest far longer than Tropico 4 did. But at the same time, it's rough edges are a continual annoyance. The larger issue is that while Tropico 5 definitely introduces some new challenges and ideas, it's still a dangerously simple city-builder.

In technical respects Tropico 5 feels more like an expansion rather than a successor in the series. Many parts of the gameplay feel similar to past titles, but the inclusion of the era system, an overall campaign that is brimming with choices and consequences, as well as a plausible maiden attempt at multiplayer gives long time fans something new to try out.

Outside of the campaign, playing the sandbox mode, which also provides players with periodic goals ranging from export targets to constructing certain types of buildings, proves to be a more well-rounded experience - even if it lacks the amusing overarching story elements of the campaign.

It is unfortunate that, with exception of the constitution and the present ages, the other innovations seem to bother Tropico 5. The dynasty mechanism is useless and is devoid of any personality. The multiplayer works when players work together peacefully, but falls apart once the game is approached as a competitive strategy game. Despite these setbacks, Tropico 5 does convince us. The core of the game was already strong and eras form a logical and organic progression in complexity. It is not the revolution that was promised, but Haemimont Games also get our vote of approval with part five of the series.

Tropico 5 is a nice city builder. It is not as deep as fans would like, but is still enjoyable to play, fun and quite nice graphically.

At number 5, we’re still seeing iteration rather than revolution. Everything that’s great about Tropico 5 is built on the same foundation that all the previous games have built on. That’s a solid foundation, of course, but it’s become a bit too familiar.

A stop-gap measure, another coat of paint on a series designed for a specific audience that’s looking for a specific experience. The freshly streamlined interface may court some new blood, but a lackluster campaign and a failure to branch out from the micromanagement-heavy core sim experience makes this a tough sell for outsiders to the genre.

It works well for now, then, but Tropico 5 is clearly more concerned with introducing new concepts atop the old than it is with overhauling its base mechanics. Looking ahead to the future, this long-running series would benefit from having the fires of revolution lit beneath it.

The game definitely a lot going for it. Its new graphics and revitalize the look of the series, and some of the updated building make better use of the limited island space available. Additionally, the eras help take away the sense that Tropico is stuck in a time stasis bubble. Mid to late game empire management can get crazy, but that's nothing new. Still, it's hard to shake off the feeling that there's a lot missing, especially after putting in so many hours into the predecessor

There's an undeniable tension between the player, in the role of The Dictator, and the citizens. Tropico 5 fails to reconcile that conflict in a mature way, missing its shot at changing the series from a thoughtless getaway to a memorable, meaningful trip.

Tropico 5 is a good niche game, well into the series but without any revolution. The small evolutions are enough to justify the buy from a fan of the IP, but most gamers that want to discover a dictator's life will be better off with Tropico 4 which you can find with all DLC for less money. On the other hand, if you do want to try ruling the island with friends, there should be no hesitation: you need to get the last game of the Tropican dynasty.

Dictator sim Tropico 5 offers a good strategy experience that is fairly easy to get into, compared with many of its competitors. The colorful graphics and music sets a nice tropical island tone and occasional laughs can be had due to the funny dialogue. However, compared with the best in the genre, Tropico 5 feels a bit monotonous at times, in particular towards the end of a round.

If the price was halved and the humour less forced, then the game would be worth it. This is just a rehash, albeit a good one.

Tropico 5 is a noticeable, if subtle, revision on the Tropico formula. The new Eras and the Dynasty system create additional gameplay layers without disrupting the balance of the experience. The multiplayer, while fun when it works, mostly doesn’t.

The new Tropico can be recommended only to those who aren't familiar with the series. For everyone else (especially for fans of this tropical dictatorship) buying Tropico 5 will be a missed investment - the developers are offering the same bottle of rum with a different label. It's still the same good, old Tropico - without significant changes in gameplay, flawed merchant routes system, technical issues and the addition of a multiplayer mode.

It's passable and functional, but doesn't elevate the franchise or add the magic that'll bring El Presidente to a wider audience. It is what it is: Another evolution in a franchise that needs a revolution.

While the great entries to the Sim City series, the Civilizations of the world, even Ubisoft’s Anno series and Galactic Civilizations II all give more back the more you put into it, Tropico 5 is unable to do that. And a lack of longevity in a game that should last so very long is just, ultimately, disappointing.

Tropico 5 managed to disappoint more than it excited.