Tropico 5

 PC
User Score
6.9

Mixed or average reviews- based on 421 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 220 out of 421
  2. Mixed: 126 out of 421
  3. Negative: 75 out of 421
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  1. hapklaar
    May 29, 2014
    3
    If you ask me this game is a dumbed down version of all the previous installments of which I am a big fan.

    Already boring after a couple of hours play and a big disappointment...
  2. Trevanion
    May 24, 2014
    4
    A few dollops of new paint has refreshed the series! Or has it...

    To me as a fan of Tropico since #1, Tropico 5 has seemed to have thrown out all the old stuff that has been in the series since the Original Tropico. The Traits are now gone, a lot of buildings from previous games have seemed to disappear, hardly any of the buildings look different from each other (Even Shacks look the    A few dollops of new paint has refreshed the series! Or has it...

    To me as a fan of Tropico since #1, Tropico 5 has seemed to have thrown out all the old stuff that has been in the series since the Original Tropico. The Traits are now gone, a lot of buildings from previous games have seemed to disappear, hardly any of the buildings look different from each other (Even Shacks look the same).

    The concept of the time periods seems like an interesting idea at first but it is really poorly executed, around 80% of the buildings are locked in Colonial times, which is fair enough... Where are you going to get a Space Program in the Colonies? But what annoys me is the fact that they didn't execute it like they did in the Modern Times DLC where you upgrade the buildings with the time. You can't even get a Medical building in Colonial times, or hardly any Entertainment buildings. And I'm pretty sure they were making Cigars and Rum before "The Great Wars"

    The Gameplay can feel very dull and a bit of a drag at times. You feel like you've listened to the same song over and over and over, Done the same objective over and over and over. And you've gotten nowhere.

    Also the customisation of the characters is appalling comparing to Tropico 4, which had limited options to say the least. The only costumes you can use in Tropico 5 limited to literally 5. And some of those don't even make sense, You can dress as an Astronaut in Colonial Times. This makes me face palm very much so. They also slimmed down the traits to around 8. Considering Tropico's Useful and Humorous Traits from the past, these really aren't traits. Did I mention you can't have your own name? Nope, You got to have a name from this list. And going through the list is a gruelling task as you have to go through each name INDUVIDUALLY by scrolling to the side.

    The new characters also seem a bit... Bland and characterful comparing to previous games. Even the Caricatures seem a bit lifeless. Also not having the faction figureheads stating what's going on really lets the game down.

    It also is quite tough on the hardware, I would suggest using a beefy computer. But this could just be the early stages of the game.

    On the bright side, It's pretty I guess. And Trading is a nice touch. But not much else has changed and had only really taken a step backwards.

    I think Haemimont and Kalypso really need to get their act together, After that tremendous flop that was Omerta and now this. I don't understand why I thought this may have been better, seeing that Kalypso is in a bit of a slump at the moment.    … Expand
  3. dima-mov
    May 23, 2014
    10
    Real interesting game. I engoy it so much. not better then tropico 3, but real good.Presedente is so funny.
    There are alot of interesting things and funny videos
  4. GowenGeter
    Sep 2, 2014
    0
    There are no new features to justify the price. Tropico 5 leaves so much to be desired and it's a dumbed down version of Tropico 4. Absolutely not recommended.
  5. jimmynoshoes
    Oct 18, 2014
    2
    I joined the Tropico franchise at number 4. Thoroughly enjoyed it, found it very funny and a nice change from the average city builder where you micro everything.

    Moving on to Tropico 5 and its clear to see at first play that there is A LOT missing from it. Overlays for a start are minimal. Area of affect radius is now gone, so you have no idea what area that building is going to    I joined the Tropico franchise at number 4. Thoroughly enjoyed it, found it very funny and a nice change from the average city builder where you micro everything.

    Moving on to Tropico 5 and its clear to see at first play that there is A LOT missing from it. Overlays for a start are minimal. Area of affect radius is now gone, so you have no idea what area that building is going to affect. You will have no idea how 'beatiful' an area is before you dump down that house which relies on beauty to score higher. You have no idea on that office catchment area so won't know how much money it will make until you leave it a few months after building it.

    And then there are rebels. It is a tragic shame, people have cried out on the forums since day 1 release about the above problems and NOTHING has been done about it. They have patched some of the problems but even then the problems still prevail, just less often. Teamsters for example, despite being patched, still aren't very effective and do still get stuck.

    Kalypso's answers to things is often mediocre at best, thats if you get a reply.

    For what this game offers (or doesn't offer), I can't score it well at all unfortunately. It has massive potential, but I think at this stage it is just too late for it, the damage is already done to the community who purchased it on release and found a semi broken botched together product with many features they have come to love stripped out of it.

    Lastly, it's no longer a dictatorship, the game dictates to you what it wants. If you don't give it, you get rebels who more often than not, give an instant game over.

    Game is more frustrating than it is fun.    … Expand
  6. Dannybeatzmusic
    Jul 16, 2015
    0
    This game falls far short of Tropico 4, i mean it's utterly ridiculous! The game came bare bones and it felt like a Cash Grab. I thought sequels were meant to build off the previous game, not re-sell it to you all over again in the "sequel". The business tactics of today's gaming industry is ridiculous, I'm surprised that a same company would pull such **** moves. Even with DLC this gameThis game falls far short of Tropico 4, i mean it's utterly ridiculous! The game came bare bones and it felt like a Cash Grab. I thought sequels were meant to build off the previous game, not re-sell it to you all over again in the "sequel". The business tactics of today's gaming industry is ridiculous, I'm surprised that a same company would pull such **** moves. Even with DLC this game has no where near as much as 4. What cash grab this was.… Expand
  7. heime2003
    Nov 16, 2014
    3
    not only no improvement over previous tropico games, but it was also steps back from tropico 3 or 4
    follow up mode was removed which i enjoyed greatly from previous tropicos and something feels missing after playing 3+ hours.
    graphic is not that great and no decent tutorial whatsoever to new players huge let down of this year pros: - a little improved graphics - multiplay if u enjoy    not only no improvement over previous tropico games, but it was also steps back from tropico 3 or 4
    follow up mode was removed which i enjoyed greatly from previous tropicos and something feels missing after playing 3+ hours.
    graphic is not that great and no decent tutorial whatsoever to new players
    huge let down of this year
    pros:
    - a little improved graphics
    - multiplay if u enjoy playing vs other players
    cons:
    - general vibe of the game is it is steps back from t3 or t4
    - no significant changes in gameplay. all too familiar to seasoned tropico players. gets boring too fast
    - no follow mode
    in a word , the series needs to push for major changes and new formulars    … Expand
  8. Stromozek
    Jun 5, 2014
    7
    Overall Tropico 5 feels like a more accessible and polished Tropico 3. Everything we loved about the series since the beginning is still present but the recycling is getting it's toll and the series starts to feel a bit stale.
  9. smilzoboboz
    Mar 25, 2015
    7
    Tropico 5 made things easier and more straightforward. You don't have to worry about things as much as you had to do in Tropico 3/4. While Tropico die-hard fans may find this unpleasant, I (as mostly a casual player) found Tropico 5 more enjoyable than Tropico 3/4.

    That aside, campaign was really nice (more or less Cuba throughout history) and as already said, overall gameplay is    Tropico 5 made things easier and more straightforward. You don't have to worry about things as much as you had to do in Tropico 3/4. While Tropico die-hard fans may find this unpleasant, I (as mostly a casual player) found Tropico 5 more enjoyable than Tropico 3/4.

    That aside, campaign was really nice (more or less Cuba throughout history) and as already said, overall gameplay is relaxing.
    Graphics are nice but I have to say I'd like to have multiple models for (for example) houses and such, having every single house looking the same kills a bit realism.
    On sound compartment I have to say that things are not as good as graphics. Effects are often not good, not as much as unpleasant, but still not good enough; music feels repetitive after really a short time.

    Recommended for casual players, die-hard fans may get disappointed, wait for discounts (graphic is still better than Tropico 3/4).    … Expand
  10. Salgi
    Sep 12, 2014
    6
    Tropico 5 isn't a bad game. But I think that in some things it has gone back if we compare with Tropico 4. There are few buildings, and it seems that will be lots and lots of DLCs to balance this. It's like an unfinished game, and I can't understand why there's no prisons.

    The eras are a good idea, but the incorporation could have been better. The historical messages don't match with    Tropico 5 isn't a bad game. But I think that in some things it has gone back if we compare with Tropico 4. There are few buildings, and it seems that will be lots and lots of DLCs to balance this. It's like an unfinished game, and I can't understand why there's no prisons.

    The eras are a good idea, but the incorporation could have been better. The historical messages don't match with the correct years, and it's annoying. Other innovations, like the Constitution, are well implemented and work fine, and some others, like tanks, might work better.

    Another con is the humor characteristic of the franchise. The characters are not as funny and charismatic as they were in previous games. In conclusion, now is better to buy Tropico 4 with the DLCs. Tropico 5 can be a great game with all the DLCs released, and this is really sad.    … Expand
  11. Voyou
    Aug 29, 2016
    7
    First Tropico I ever played, so don't expect comparisons here.

    I have not been engrossed and entertained that much by a full campaign since Stronghold (I'll save you the effort: that was in 2001.) Reminiscent of the excellent board game Junta from the 80s, Tropico 5 doesn't reach the same level in either mechanics or satire, but still provides for a good time. It's colourful, looks    First Tropico I ever played, so don't expect comparisons here.

    I have not been engrossed and entertained that much by a full campaign since Stronghold (I'll save you the effort: that was in 2001.) Reminiscent of the excellent board game Junta from the 80s, Tropico 5 doesn't reach the same level in either mechanics or satire, but still provides for a good time.

    It's colourful, looks great, sounds great, blah blah blah... Actually the hook is in the variety and ease. You have a large building menu, several NPC aides, various resources, trade routes, policies and whatnot. You play on small islands for short scenarios and come back to them in different eras, when things are unlocked. That system feeds your sense of progression and discovery, and is cleverly and comically integrated into the story line. Said story line provides the best jokes, and managed to make me laugh at loud several times (not such an easy task, I confess.)

    Warning ! Combat is autonomous. Even as a general, you can't affect it manually. To me it's a plus, but to some of you it will be a limitation. I treat it like a natural disaster: plan to avoid, repair after.

    Now, a few things and flaws that do not affect the overall quality, mostly because I categorise them as fluff rather than failures:

    - I tired long ago of the abuse of American pop culture references, not because they can't be funny, but because they are everywhere and always the same. Surprise ! The game actually comes from Bulgaria. Does that mean there is no Bulgarian humor ? Even old communist jokes would feel right in the context, and might feel fresh to Americans (I do understand aiming at that particular market.) More importantly, you don't reach greatness by quoting others but by creating your own memorable universe, which others will quote.

    - While it's nice that the interface lets me use a gamepad, it took me a while to realise that not everything is accessible and that sometimes a mouse click is required.

    - Clearly, some strategies are much better than others once mechanics are grasped. For instance, why spend money on depletable, polluting or demanding resources when I can rely entirely on a few plantations ? Well, I suppose I can pollute on purpose; at least I've got the options.

    - I've never had to import goods, never needed an embassy, a prison... I discovered the factions at the very end, by accident; an interesting read, but still unneeded as all there is to winning elections is to watch the happiness ratings. The Swiss account is pretty useless also. Nice to have variety, although it would be better if it felt important.

    Finally, a few reasons why it's a good game but not a great game:

    - Terrible overlays don't let me see clearly where I build, as the vegetation obstructs my vision. Also, road junctions suffer from odd limitations.

    - Constant interruptions by events means I have to remember to pause the game every time I want to check a building or character. Else I'm kicked out of windows. Or worse: a window pops up exactly when I'm clicking, and I end up making a general decision without ever knowing what it was about.

    - I do need a big blue library. From the start. I must research Constitution to become independent. If I don't I lose, because the Crown will stop extending my mandate anyway. Inexplicably.

    - Strangely, playing as a tyrant is not only useless but actually difficult, whereas playing a democrat is a breeze. It seems like a repeat of my comment on strategies better than others, but here I find it a major flaw considering the theme of the game. In a totalitarian regime, I spend my money fixing destroyed things while my economy crumbles. A strong army and police seem to motivate rebels instead of scaring them. As do assassinations. Which are strangely expensive by the way. Closed borders never stopped immigration. Tyranny also granted me my only US invasion attempt, proving that American banana corporations had nothing to do with the notion of banana republics.

    - And the pièce de résistance: the mechanics fit the campaign very well; they do not make for good standalone missions. The system of eras forces you to replay the colony without the excitement of discovery and with most buildings and technologies locked out. After the campaign, Tropico 5 is repetitive and I quickly lost my interest, even trying out other maps, tactics, constitutions and whatnot.

    Recommended to play the campaign. DLCs unimportant as usual.

    Now other reviews tend to indicate that I should upgrade to Tropico 4. I'll probably do that.    … Expand
  12. balvan64
    May 30, 2014
    3
    Tropico 5 is a HUGE step down in production values.
    Everything ranging from music to voice acting got a big budget cut.
    Also, capping the Population at 2000 is one of the dumbest thing I ever heard in a city building game, and I cannot find any good explanation as to why they would do something that stupid. Then again, this is a dumbed down Tropico, even the music sucks, so what did I    Tropico 5 is a HUGE step down in production values.
    Everything ranging from music to voice acting got a big budget cut.

    Also, capping the Population at 2000 is one of the dumbest thing I ever heard in a city building game, and I cannot find any good explanation as to why they would do something that stupid. Then again, this is a dumbed down Tropico, even the music sucks, so what did I expect....

    I'm seriously considering going back to Tropico 4, if both games were released simultaneously, everyone would prefer Tropico 4.

    They don't deserve your money, don't buy this game!    … Expand
  13. MTR99
    Jun 4, 2014
    0
    Another game released unfinished :( Don't try to play this game until gold edition or more... It's not only a bug problem, they miss screens and options too.
  14. cb2992
    Jun 8, 2014
    4
    You can do a lot in this game, you just cannot do any of it well. This game is bloated with too many features and as a result fails to have a strong feature that defines it as a worthwhile game. This game will prove entertaining at first as there is a lot to discover and dive into but it is impossible to sustain. What frustrates me the most is the presentation of the metrics that youYou can do a lot in this game, you just cannot do any of it well. This game is bloated with too many features and as a result fails to have a strong feature that defines it as a worthwhile game. This game will prove entertaining at first as there is a lot to discover and dive into but it is impossible to sustain. What frustrates me the most is the presentation of the metrics that you use to run your island. In a simulation game, data is everything and the data in Tropico 5 is useless. The financial data is difficult to centrally manage and one cannot really dig into the data like one can in the SimCity games. As a result, after about an hour of game play, the game becomes boring and frustrating. The revenues and expenses swing wildly and I never know why. The military battles are a joke. I would not recommend this to anyone who desires a near realistic simulation experience.… Expand
  15. arfkurniawan47
    Jun 11, 2014
    3
    ok, it's start from begin.... user has been warned that this game utilize DirectX11 so in here i will not complaint about the graphic..... but for gameplay this game has most overhyped gameplay ever:
    first: Customisation is shallow than tropico 4 where in tropico 4 you have many trait for your el presidente,
    secondly about el presidente customization is just 4 cloth or suite. Not like    ok, it's start from begin.... user has been warned that this game utilize DirectX11 so in here i will not complaint about the graphic..... but for gameplay this game has most overhyped gameplay ever:
    first: Customisation is shallow than tropico 4 where in tropico 4 you have many trait for your el presidente,
    secondly about el presidente customization is just 4 cloth or suite. Not like tropico 4 where you can customize a lot of accesories.

    For GamePlay:
    -Trade system now limited to one ship, yea its fun but on the otherhand your colony now spawning 5 dock to run your business... so on the coast now we don't have beautiful coast but now is SHIP DOCK!
    -Removing of prison and Dungeon where in tropico 4 you can throw the prisoner on it, or make it as a tourism spot.
    -There is no Fire Station, because the fire station building is in the police station building... how odd..so the police station function same as fire station building.
    -Boring Design: Every building like a Shack, Apartment, House now have same texture not like tropico 4 where you can change the texture.
    -Stupid Citizen: Because in tropico 5 your citizen don't have parameter like courage, inteligence or leader aspect.... so yep.... boring citizen everywhere.
    -Stupid Rebel mechanics: Rebel now have tendency occur at 60% happiness and it spawn in PALACE...
    -Stupid Fishing Lodge: In troico 4 you can put fishermen Lodge in the coast every where, but now in tropico 5 now fishermen lodge can be build just on fish deposit.
    -Boring Time Change: Why on earth , in colony age you can't build hospital or clinic?? and you can't build any factory at all. just plank factory???
    -Removing half of the unique tropico 4 decoraation, so your city look bland and boring because same decoration.
    -Combat is ridiculous stupid: Your soldier can walk when he under the rain of fire from rebel, and the most stupid is the tank while it's good to have it.... if enemy use or have it BAM! your game over!

    So in all i prefer Tropico 4 han this, if you like the graphic choose tropico 5 if you like Gameplay choose Tropico 4... oh BTW you can't control and speech with el presidente in tropico 5...    … Expand
  16. giskarduk
    Jun 1, 2014
    3
    I love the tropico series and I have been looking forward to Tropico 5 for a long time. At first I liked what I saw but over time I kept wondering where are these rebels coming from. I was finding it very hard to match the stats to actual events in the game. Turns out I had a rebel that had a 99% approval rating for me and all his rebel friends also loved me to bits, enough to want to overI love the tropico series and I have been looking forward to Tropico 5 for a long time. At first I liked what I saw but over time I kept wondering where are these rebels coming from. I was finding it very hard to match the stats to actual events in the game. Turns out I had a rebel that had a 99% approval rating for me and all his rebel friends also loved me to bits, enough to want to over throw the person they loved to bits. Which explained why I had unexpected rebel issues. Rebels are no longer linked to what the player does, even the best most happiest citizen can be chosen to be rebel. Then we have the 2000 population cap and disasters that if left on medium difficulty, should happen occasionally but actually happy often. The game looks great, but it does not take long to notice its pure eye candy. The heart of Tropico has been ripped out.… Expand
  17. Muskelsteffen
    Jun 6, 2014
    4
    To me Tropico 5 is a step towards a casual, browsergame-like Console game. The reduction of management options in comparison to part 4 and the VERY LOW difficulty can not be counterbalanced with the badly made character sucession and the different eras. The gameplay mechanics are way too easy to master but if you only want to plant buildings on a lovely tropical island without any stressTo me Tropico 5 is a step towards a casual, browsergame-like Console game. The reduction of management options in comparison to part 4 and the VERY LOW difficulty can not be counterbalanced with the badly made character sucession and the different eras. The gameplay mechanics are way too easy to master but if you only want to plant buildings on a lovely tropical island without any stress this may be your game. And the loss of any chance to play as a bad dictator (apart from joining the Nazis in WW2) is another decay compared to the original first part of the series.… Expand
  18. phonglk
    Jun 17, 2014
    2
    As a fan of tropico series. This is the worst ever !
    Tropico 5 lost its track which make the tropico 5 success. There is no critical agent-based simulation factor as the olds. Just lay the object and it will run by some hard rules.
  19. Cytokinesis
    May 23, 2014
    7
    I think the series is going to a good direction, in general, but there are a few things that really irritate me. Firstly, less content that Tropico 4. Get ready for another DLC infested game where you end up paying another 50-60$ just in DLC. Now I didn't really mind for Tropico 4 since I loved the game but as far as pure value goes it's pretty bad. If they make it more enticing I think itI think the series is going to a good direction, in general, but there are a few things that really irritate me. Firstly, less content that Tropico 4. Get ready for another DLC infested game where you end up paying another 50-60$ just in DLC. Now I didn't really mind for Tropico 4 since I loved the game but as far as pure value goes it's pretty bad. If they make it more enticing I think it can work. Secondly is the new UI and interface: wtf? It honestly feels as if they are prepping it for consoles. There is no reason to not be able to select things from a big menu rather than scrolls through things. Roads are way more grid based and less free flowing than in 4 and so are buildings. PC settings are truly lackluster and even worse than 4. The only way I can rationalize all this downgrades is because it is is being ported to console, otherwise it makes no sense to me because it's making it worse for the sake of making it worse. As far as everything else is concerned: if you liked previous Tropico games you'll like this one. It's not that different and the gameplay is improved. If you truly like Tropico and haven't played it to death you are honestly better off with 4, at the moment, but after a year of constant DLC (lol) 5 will reign supreme.… Expand
  20. Isuel
    May 26, 2014
    4
    Feels like a Beta to me. There are some really promising features in this game (ex. dynasty, trade ships) but not so many. Definitely wasted potential. And what irritated me the most? Boring as hell Colonial Era. Really bad music - not even close to the old series. Forget about any singers. Textures without shadows and details. Only one variant of each building and four clothes/faces forFeels like a Beta to me. There are some really promising features in this game (ex. dynasty, trade ships) but not so many. Definitely wasted potential. And what irritated me the most? Boring as hell Colonial Era. Really bad music - not even close to the old series. Forget about any singers. Textures without shadows and details. Only one variant of each building and four clothes/faces for your presidente. You just can't stop people from coming to your island (even with Constitution options!) – and there is no emigration office to help you deal with this problem. No options for restarting current missions – from main menu you can only play full campaign from the beginning. And there are 10 missions in 2 islands for the entire game! And of course they removed many cool building from Tropico 4 ex. Police stations is now also a fire brigade, only 2 types of schools, forget about zoo, tourists shops, golden statues (they give only 2 gardens size with no variations!). No options for education profiles, tv programs or kinds of films to play in your cinema. Only a few different models of peoples. As a big fan of series it seems to me like they don’t have money or time to finish the game properly so they sold what they have. Sad. Now I understand why they give you free copy of Tropico 4 and “future DLC”.… Expand
  21. bigsilverhotdog
    Jun 4, 2014
    0
    I don't have room to write about all the problems with this game. 5000 characters is the limit, and my steam review (after I removed 6 paragraphs to make it fit their limit) is far, far over that. I'm a Tropico fan since the original game, and Tropico 5 is an insult to Tropico fans, and a very, very bad computer game. I'd say strategy game, but there's very little strategy left in theI don't have room to write about all the problems with this game. 5000 characters is the limit, and my steam review (after I removed 6 paragraphs to make it fit their limit) is far, far over that. I'm a Tropico fan since the original game, and Tropico 5 is an insult to Tropico fans, and a very, very bad computer game. I'd say strategy game, but there's very little strategy left in the game. Build stuff, set the 5-way budget Win/Lose switch to "Win", and then marvel at how worthless this game is even compared to Tropico 1. I bought a 4-pack and I'd give anything for Tropico 5 to not be the horrible, worthless, empty, game that it is, because I love Tropico. Someone found 10 DLC titles already planned in the config files, which about sums up the developer focus. Multiplayer is locked on fast, can't be saved, crashes constantly, and is absolutely worthless/unplayable, as is Tropico 5 generally -- a broken, worthless game. SAD.… Expand
  22. Creardo
    May 24, 2014
    7
    I start to review Tropico 5, a franchise i love, with a 10. #No prisons, just 2 options of decoration buildings and some buildings less, -1.0; #The financial system is just confusing in usability and comprehension, considering what made the succes of salaries etc of Tropico series, -0.5; #Maybe Haemimont brings us soon a World Editor again, but without it just now, -0.5; #We cannot findI start to review Tropico 5, a franchise i love, with a 10. #No prisons, just 2 options of decoration buildings and some buildings less, -1.0; #The financial system is just confusing in usability and comprehension, considering what made the succes of salaries etc of Tropico series, -0.5; #Maybe Haemimont brings us soon a World Editor again, but without it just now, -0.5; #We cannot find the good lists of the almanac that made good points of the franchise, like if i want to know how many inhabitants are born-tropicans for example, i just cant, the almanac now seems just "lean", -1.0; Some other things just dont fit, anyway, so i think its just to give Tropico 5 a well deserved 7.0 at this release.

    Of course, there are goods things, like a Constitution, the idea of the eras, a trade system and a dinasty system, a better combat system, as many other things that we can easily add as examples of improvement on the series.

    I hope Haemimont have the free hand to act and point some of these things, and improve the game even more... i hope i can give Tropico 5 a 9 soon, a franchise i love.    … Expand
  23. SirHugo14
    Jun 7, 2014
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is another game I was excited about, but once again wasn't what I expected. Tropico 5's graphics are better than Tropico 4, a new technology tree, and historical eras. However, there are some irritating things about this game. First of all, the characters were BORING!!!! They weren't lively and charismatic like those Tropico 4, and the faction leaders seemed to be taken out. Foreign relations system in the game was not as fun and challenging as it was in Tropico 4. The eras system was not so good either. For example, I was in the World Wars era and I was using colonial infantry to fight a squad of tanks and there was modern Latin music playing in 1920. The idea of having a dynasty and building managers was a good idea and was one thing I liked. But, there wasn't much outfits or personalities to personify your dictator with. The combat system was more tactical, but I would've preferred it to be more strategic though with different types of troops. I think that Tropico 5 is not as good as I though it would be. It needs some major tweaking before it could match Tropico 4's grandness.… Expand
  24. Sondirrasta
    Nov 11, 2014
    0
    A travesty to the Tropico series Avoid where possible..

    Kalypso are on a free-fall... They care not for the legacy... or the fans... or their own decency...

    they care only.. for the almighty dollah $$$$$$
    They released a half assed game hoping to artificially inflate it with DLC... only kids like this crap because they've never played the original/
  25. Dethstar
    Jun 8, 2014
    6
    Very mixed feelings about Tropico 5. It does feel like the game has tried to take a step back to go forwards and I am not really sure its come out ahead.

    Firstly, the UI. Its a step back. Those things you would usually do to access a menu and make a selection are not and things are mapped strangely indeed and the way you select options feels like something from a console port instead    Very mixed feelings about Tropico 5. It does feel like the game has tried to take a step back to go forwards and I am not really sure its come out ahead.

    Firstly, the UI. Its a step back. Those things you would usually do to access a menu and make a selection are not and things are mapped strangely indeed and the way you select options feels like something from a console port instead of a PC based series. It makes little sense and would probably annoy console and PC gamers alike. (I dont think this is even available on consoles making this choice even more hard to undertstand). So the UI feels clunky.

    The interaction between your island and the world in general feels more involving and dynamic than it did in past games, this is as step forward.

    The reactions of your people and factions seems to be more predictable and less fussy which though many will find a "dumbing" down but I actually found quite logical.

    Graphics and sound, more of the same all up to par / good. Amusing voices on the characters etc etc

    I have to mention the character creation. You can appear like various forms of halfwit no matter the combinations you choose. This actually doesnt really matter but it inst very polished. We no longer have any traits either. Personally, I dont much care about that but it does add slightly to the feeling of a potential dumbing down in Tropico.

    Am I glad I got it...... Erm, not really.

    Its ok but it doesnt feel like a new game by any means. There is a lack of content and depth here which is a bit disappointing. On the other hand, I am enjoying it for what it is. More of the same with a few new twists and turns. I suspect the lack of depth and (unless I am wrong as I am still playing) lack of actual content will give this a relatively short life on my installed games list.

    Possibly the last Tropico for me unless the next game really brings something new to the party. I dont want multiplayer, I dont want crap achievements or anything like that, just more content and options to add longevity to the experience. Right now it doesnt look like there was enough in this to justify a new release.    … Expand
  26. RedEyedFrog
    Jun 5, 2014
    3
    Do you want me to prove that this is a half completed game for you?
    ok lets start:
    1) Tropico 4 had great variety of buildings. all of them required Modelling , Animating and programming. they told themselves why should we spend money on all these? we can replace them other ways or simply remove them. for example we don't need to go through all the process of modeling and animating    Do you want me to prove that this is a half completed game for you?
    ok lets start:

    1) Tropico 4 had great variety of buildings. all of them required Modelling , Animating and programming.
    they told themselves why should we spend money on all these? we can replace them other ways or simply remove them. for example we don't need to go through all the process of modeling and animating an Immigration office. we just right 10 lines of text in constitution and do the programming only!
    2) Also we are not going through all that process for some buildings like Prison or Grade school or garbage dump and we remove them completely (although 94% of players want them.)

    3) At the same time we are not going through the process of modeling and Animating for some buildings and let the other buildings do their job using only one upgrade which includes only 2 lines of text and 10 lines of programming and doesn't even change the look of the buildings (like fire departments)

    4) at the same time why we need the appearance of the buildings to reflect their upgrades like Tropico 4, that costs us money! so we are not going to do that too

    5) why should we make it hard for ourselves by designing a good battle system? war is war who cares? letting players to control their military units need more programming and costs us money. why we need to do that?

    6) if we want to let presidente to give speeches and be active we should do animating , programming and some more voice recording and that will cost us money! so we don't do that too

    7) also in tropico 4 most of the buildings like schools and college and even garbage dumps had had options . you could choose the building to operate the way you wanted for example you could choose to recycle , decide what should be taught in college or school, all of these required more money to for programmers , so we gonna remove them as well

    8) designing multiple appearances for some buildings are going to need some more modelling and that is going to cost us money too, so again we are not going to do that. let all of their buildings look the same we don't care

    9) But we gonna need something to attract people don't we? so lets make a multiplayer! oh wait that gonna cost us too. so we gonna release half completed multiplayer without most of default multiplayer features and let them be happy with that!

    10) EVEN WE DON'T NEED TO DESIGN SOME OF THE IMAGES, WE ARE GOING TO SIMPLY COPY PASTE THEM FROM INTERNET LIKE THIS:

    http://oi59.tinypic.com/otixrk.jpg

    http://bromley-landlord.co.uk/wp-content...706117.jpg

    LOOK CLOSELY Big Grin lol (oh Kalypso)

    11) we gonna change our voice recording studio to a terrible voice recording studio with terrible voice actors BUT it's cheaper!

    12)oh wait even on making a trailer for the game why should we make it hard for ourselves to make a good, innovative trailer and spend more money on it? we are just going to copy the Charlie Chaplain's Great Dictator idea and so we can get a cheap Trailer that doesn't reflect our game flaws and missing content

    AND ALL OF THESE ARE POSSIBLE BY ABUSING PLAYERS LOYALTY TO TROPICO. MAN WE GONNA MAKE **** LOAD OF MONEY FROM THIS CRAP.    … Expand
  27. cattyerde
    Oct 20, 2014
    0
    I just returned to Tropico from Tropico 1 and this seriously blows. To the point of being unplayable. Although you can use sandbox mode to play more islands and just ignore the basic missions, and you can also find more presidente options if you do this, the almanac is awful and the unnecessary rebels are a bore, necessitating too many military units. Who ever heard of an 85 percentI just returned to Tropico from Tropico 1 and this seriously blows. To the point of being unplayable. Although you can use sandbox mode to play more islands and just ignore the basic missions, and you can also find more presidente options if you do this, the almanac is awful and the unnecessary rebels are a bore, necessitating too many military units. Who ever heard of an 85 percent majority democracy with 7 people blowing up the palace because of a 45 point approval rating? The graphics arent better, they are just set up differently. Now going to buy Tropico 4, as it sounds more like Tropico 1… Expand
  28. Illanair
    May 23, 2014
    8
    Definitely a worthy successor and a fresh breath of air to the Tropico series. The new Era system in particular helps make the game feel like times are changing every so often. Shifts in foreign powers, local factions. The grid based building system is also a godsend to anyone who likes organized city centers.
  29. crapchunk
    May 27, 2014
    6
    I come from a long line of El Presidentes... Specifically from 1 to 4 and now 5 and I have to say this newest island blows...

    I think Tropico 5 fails in 2 of the most important motivations in a city-builiding sim game. (1) Charm, (2) Free-Will. A lot of american games suffers from point 1 over time. It is akin to visiting a quaint european village compared to an american megapolis,    I come from a long line of El Presidentes... Specifically from 1 to 4 and now 5 and I have to say this newest island blows...

    I think Tropico 5 fails in 2 of the most important motivations in a city-builiding sim game. (1) Charm, (2) Free-Will.

    A lot of american games suffers from point 1 over time. It is akin to visiting a quaint european village compared to an american megapolis, or comparing kyoto the ancient capital of Japan to Tokyo, its business skyscraper equivalent. It is giving up the quaint, charming pace in place of structured conveniences which will bring in masses but lose the charm. I think that with every iteration of Tropico, more and more charm is lost. Charm is in the small things, it is in the details. Take the walking speed of the inhabitants for example, all citizens now walks really fast, getting to places in no time. There's no more old people walking around, and you hardly see kids or babies walking without purposes. Everybody seems to run with such clear vision of where they need to be, and no one is laid back, as a banana republic should be. The teamsters in the colonial age now runs at just a tad slower than cars in the modern age, and if a battle happens on a street, the population will drive past the zone ignoring the firefight in its path. Construction had been most charming in Tropico 1 and 2, where the construction workers, distinctly male or female, would take time to level the trees, alter the terrain, then built the foundation and finally the structure. In 3 & 4, I was disappointed because they no longer alter the terrain but still, you wonder if your workers will get too tired and give up to go for a drink right before it finishes that important building that you needed built. As a manager, you then adjust your strategy to make sure things get done. In 5, omg like the new Simcity, the construction workers would tap once, twice and then go to the next part of the building, tap tap and its done. Theres no emotional investment at all. Wheres the waiting, the anticipation that they got right the last time and games like BANISH still respects. How about graphics? - Wheres the graffiti in the buildings? Where's the run down shacks? There's shacks all right but it's not really all that run down. Graphics are the least charming it has ever been with most building spotlessly clean. WTF its a banana republic not an inorganic tourist trap like SINGAPORE! The UI has also been reduced to some corporate data sheet. You no longer get to see who is using some of your services like the clinics. Instead of faces of people, you get to see number. Church? Numbers... How about elections? That was nail biting in Tropico 2. Then in 3 & 4, they took away the all important "anticipation" and "built up". It became harder to know who you were in the run against. If there's no character development and tension building, who cares about the election? That plot becomes a speed bump in the game, nothing more. In 5, it got worse because now, if it says you got 49%, you don't need for the results to be out before you know you gonna lose. Where's the swing voters? If you win, yes, the swing voters kicks in to let the numbers feel more organic. So (1) Charm is so much less in Tropico 5

    (2) Free-Will. This affects Charm as well because charm is a by product of free-will. Without organic feeling destiny, where's the charm? And Tropico is full of very predictable outcomes. Its very tightly scripted story-progression mechanics is fine when it gives you information, but Tropico 5 just makes it very linear and each dialogue has an ulterior motive to drive you in ONE direction and ONE only. There is only always ONE winning outcome for every scenario, in a city building game!!! Sure you can take a few detours to get there but then its always the same! Between the start of a stage and end objective, theres all there sub-objectives that drives up every few minutes that you have to at least fulfill most of it to progress further. This breaks the illusion that you are a governor or El Presidente, but rather you are really Penultimo, the sidekick, and the developers are the real Presidents in this game. This is the most LINEAR driven city sim ever, even more so than the debacle Simcity. How can this be? How can the developers think that a LINEAR building sim is a good idea? When all we've had for generations of City Building Sims is to play with free-will?

    Well for one thing, the developers seems to have focused on using the humour to mask the shortcomings but humour is a very subjective attraction. Some people like Monty Python wit, others prefer Conan OBrien etc. The humour is not as good as in previous Tropicos, because the characters are not flashed out. Other than Penultimo, the setup of the characters are too weak to feel Invested properly. Tropico 5 is a fun game because the apple can't fall too far from the tree, and some key mechanics from old makes it fun, but along the way it just got lost.    … Expand
  30. pazmacats
    Jun 23, 2014
    0
    I regretted buying this game after playing for more than 3 hours. Game mechanics are not documented anywhere.

    Politics: Rebels will rise based on faction standings, not based on happiness, leading to the ridiculous situation that your people love you, but you are facing rebel attacks every 3 minutes (real time) because some factions hate you because of (uninformed) decisions made by the    I regretted buying this game after playing for more than 3 hours. Game mechanics are not documented anywhere.

    Politics: Rebels will rise based on faction standings, not based on happiness, leading to the ridiculous situation that your people love you, but you are facing rebel attacks every 3 minutes (real time) because some factions hate you because of (uninformed) decisions made by the player regarding the constitution of the island.

    Economy: Um... I made MUCH more money from selling coffee than I did from selling canned coffee. Importing raw materials (sugar) to produce something else (rum) does not work at all. 80% of the trade routes are import routes. At some point I simply ignored trade altogether and simply spammed farms, mines and lumberjacks.

    Humour: No. Tropico 5 is not funny.

    Music: Music is fine, I guess.

    Final verdict: Uninspired necromantic effort.    … Expand
  31. sealjo
    May 31, 2014
    7
    Nice graphics and some improvments. Best thing is that almost every building now has a builtin garage, traffic management is still an issue but not THE most important thing.
    Played the entire game but wouldn't recommend it to a friend yet, wait a year and see if the developers updates all the small things that could have made this game a clear ten! More probable that I will replay tropico    Nice graphics and some improvments. Best thing is that almost every building now has a builtin garage, traffic management is still an issue but not THE most important thing.
    Played the entire game but wouldn't recommend it to a friend yet, wait a year and see if the developers updates all the small things that could have made this game a clear ten! More probable that I will replay tropico 4 than tropico 5.

    - Game doesn't give enough feedback, it's unclear what a certain building does, what it's range is etc. Makes it a game of chance. The same with happiness and political views, very unclear game mechanic making it hard to plan. The almanac is dumbed downed, I have no idea why they would give the player less statistical information making it harder to plan. In tropico 4 my main problem with import/export was traffic jams, here it is the severely broken teamster AI. This could have been saved if there was a way to micromanage or red flag an important building that the teamsters have forgotten. Financial system with efficiency is a joke, you just set every building to max, no way to make sure you have workers in your most important buildings. I just don't get why there isn't a decent in game manual describing what a building does in some detail, now it's mostly guesses or experience.
    Almost forgot, they have totally gimped tourism. It wasn't profitable before and now the hotel prices makes it completely useless.
    Having no option to restart an island is stupid, novice players might have to replay several missions due to some earlier mistake in planning.

    +Nice graphics. Constitution system and research system is fun. It's not all about garages where you dream about subways like in Tropico 4. The military/war part with invasions is fun. The dumbed downed infosystem probably makes it easier for newcomers. The eras are fun, political shifts etc. also fun that you get to continue what you started (bad with this is that later missions are REALLY easy if you planned well early on).    … Expand
  32. antibodee
    Jun 22, 2014
    0
    Lyubo_Haemimont Wrote:  
    You did not get Prisons in Tropico5...Boohoo.
    That's what you can expect from the devs if you ask about them finishing their game. That is an actual quote from the Kalypso forums from a Haemimont dev. They are pretty much taking this attitude to all complaints about the game being unfinished. They ruined the franchise. They released the half finished game to    Lyubo_Haemimont Wrote:  
    You did not get Prisons in Tropico5...Boohoo.

    That's what you can expect from the devs if you ask about them finishing their game. That is an actual quote from the Kalypso forums from a Haemimont dev. They are pretty much taking this attitude to all complaints about the game being unfinished. They ruined the franchise. They released the half finished game to make a buttload on preorders. It doesnt even work. They promise the dlcs they sell later will finish their half assed product. Dlcs are supposed to add more to the game, not used to extort money to get it to work right.    … Expand
  33. James009
    May 31, 2014
    7
    Tropico 5 is not quite as good of a Tropico game as it's predecessors, however, it is a better city-builder. Tropico still maintains much of it's comedy and charm but, unfortunately, something feels like it is missing since Tropico 4.

    The new interface leaves much to be desired as much of the information that El Presidente's are used to is now either buried or missing. Want to know    Tropico 5 is not quite as good of a Tropico game as it's predecessors, however, it is a better city-builder. Tropico still maintains much of it's comedy and charm but, unfortunately, something feels like it is missing since Tropico 4.

    The new interface leaves much to be desired as much of the information that El Presidente's are used to is now either buried or missing. Want to know which buildings are profitable and full? Too bad. Want to know where the oil is? Use a magnifying glass! The lack of a Tropico 4 style interface leaves much to be desired and makes it difficult to get the information you need.

    It also seems that with the addition of the new interface we've also lost the fun faction interaction that we've come to expect. They do still exist but they've essentially taken a back seat to everything and are much harder to find with much fewer missions.

    The addition of the new dynasty system is pretty cool. Your new family members offer you some nice bonuses, more benefits, and you can use them as new 'managers' which help you run buildings better. You can even send them on fun little missions and storyline quests for more bonuses. However, with the addition of these new folks you also lose direct control of El Presidente himself. You can no longer tell him where to go, who to visit, and what store to promote. I used to LOVE that feature from Tropico 4 and it helped pass the time and improve production. Now all El Presidente does is wonder around like an NPC. Furthermore, you also have a lot less options in character creation when it comes to El Presidente and can no longer pick from a vast number of backgrounds, histories, bonuses, and penalties; now you pick ONE bonus and that's it.

    As I said, Tropico 5 is likely the best city builder of the series. The addition of the new grid or city layout system makes placing and organizing structures MUCH easier. Due to the new era system you also have building that grow and change as time passes. Farms, for example, get nice upgrades and then can be transformed into Hydroponic Farms which are much smaller and more efficient.

    Overall, I have been enjoying Tropico as a good city builder but I often miss the micromanagement, humor, and the style of Tropico 4. Everyone expects at least a dozen DLCs (ten confirmed so far) and I hope that future patches improve Tropico 5 back up to Tropico 4's level.    … Expand
  34. Holyhesk
    Jun 1, 2014
    8
    Another excellent addition to the franchise. Pure eye candy when zooming right in. Excellent Dialogue of all that assist or hinder you along the way. Liking the campaign, it's a new spin on going through the years from like 1900-present.

    My only gripe is the fog of war or this would of been a 10/10. WHY do we see mining deposits under the Fog of War? Why do we see the Technologies for    Another excellent addition to the franchise. Pure eye candy when zooming right in. Excellent Dialogue of all that assist or hinder you along the way. Liking the campaign, it's a new spin on going through the years from like 1900-present.

    My only gripe is the fog of war or this would of been a 10/10. WHY do we see mining deposits under the Fog of War? Why do we see the Technologies for Modern Times right off the bat? We should start out like in CiV5 with a settler and a military unit and NOTHING MORE.I would even hide the palm trees and let the player explore the islands. Other than that a SOLID 8/10    … Expand
  35. rovaira
    May 30, 2014
    9
    If your on the fence about getting this game get it. It's after I've played all of the Tropico games (with the exception of 2 I believe which didn't come out on the PC for some reason..) What's cool about this game is: 1 Trade routes. - If you like to play sandbox the game is so much better. You run out of resources, and what's cool now is you can set up trade agreements at differentIf your on the fence about getting this game get it. It's after I've played all of the Tropico games (with the exception of 2 I believe which didn't come out on the PC for some reason..) What's cool about this game is: 1 Trade routes. - If you like to play sandbox the game is so much better. You run out of resources, and what's cool now is you can set up trade agreements at different prices to import/export. And in order to make good money and have your buildings function you will need to import. 2 Multiplayer adds a nice touch; it's not my #1 in a Tropico game, but it's a nice side thing to do when you want to goof around with other dictators. :) 3 The research trees are nice; they could be more detailed, but they are a nice addition. 4 Some of the buildings were NOT available in Tropico 4 without buying Tropico 4 modern times, yet they are in 5 such as modern apartments, offices, etc. 5 Your dynasty is just that. You eventually will have more rulers in your dynasty and you can level them up with enough $$$, and they have different skills.. 6 There are a LOT of managers with different skills. You get them via people attending colleges. You can then assign them to buildings. 7 The islands are decent size, AND random maps can be generated just like in T4. 8 This game is selling much more than Tropico 4 did. Does it mean it's better? No, it means that you will have people to play with in multiplayer mode, and the game is pretty good. I liked 4, but like 5 more. The options in sandbox with trading after you've researched everything are nice.. I used to get bored in Tropico 4 in sandbox because once you have a lot of money it seemed pointless; this is not the case in Tropico 5 with resources running out and the need for trade. Two thumbs up. :)… Expand
  36. Damaso
    May 26, 2014
    9
    Campaign a bit buggy, save games also buggy, but the game is still a lot of fun. I love this game and even named my dog Penultimo. Deserved a review, thanks for this incredible masterpiece.
  37. lightyears
    May 24, 2014
    7
    I am new to the Tropico 5 franchise. I decided to buy it because I always liked city builders and I didnt by Sim City 2013 because of the always online demands etc.
    I played it now for 2 hours and I am moderately positive. As far as I can see from now there is enough to do. The graphics are not really pretty, but still better than I expected to be honest. I expected worst. Sim City 2013    I am new to the Tropico 5 franchise. I decided to buy it because I always liked city builders and I didnt by Sim City 2013 because of the always online demands etc.
    I played it now for 2 hours and I am moderately positive. As far as I can see from now there is enough to do. The graphics are not really pretty, but still better than I expected to be honest. I expected worst. Sim City 2013 graphics are not much better, altough the graphics of Anno 2070 are clearly better. I play Tropico 5 on the maxed out (high) settings. On the low settings the graphics look a bit dated. But the maxed high are acceptable.
    This is more or less an ironic / funny version of Sim City. With some humour in it. That makes it a less serious city builder. But there is still enough to do and to build as far as I can see for so far. The gameplay feels a bit like Anno.
    What I liked are the eras, the reasearch and the declarence of independence. All in all a city builder / strategic political sim that is worth playing if you like city builders or if you are interested in strategy / politics.    … Expand
  38. thehumangerm
    May 26, 2014
    8
    Pros: Commentary has some great wtf moments that made me laugh out loud. Easy to kill hours of your time without noticing. Balancing could use some work but not a game breaker. I expect to see this improve in future updates. Overall gameplay is good but I find myself missing hotkeys common in other similar games.

    Cons: Tutorial is a little on the weak side yet it does show you the    Pros: Commentary has some great wtf moments that made me laugh out loud. Easy to kill hours of your time without noticing. Balancing could use some work but not a game breaker. I expect to see this improve in future updates. Overall gameplay is good but I find myself missing hotkeys common in other similar games.

    Cons: Tutorial is a little on the weak side yet it does show you the basics. Would benefit from a better help/faq system. I should not need to go outside of the game to find the info I need.    … Expand
  39. dprkforum
    May 23, 2014
    6
    Tropico 5 is different from 4. That's a very good thing, Considering 4 had an easy formula to follow to win rather easily, now it seems a lot more variables are added to the game to cause the tried and true formulaic routine not so cut and dried. I wanted more opportunity for things to go wrong, and feel more rewarded when my decisions become successful. So far, it seems to offer that, andTropico 5 is different from 4. That's a very good thing, Considering 4 had an easy formula to follow to win rather easily, now it seems a lot more variables are added to the game to cause the tried and true formulaic routine not so cut and dried. I wanted more opportunity for things to go wrong, and feel more rewarded when my decisions become successful. So far, it seems to offer that, and cuts away some of the fluff from 4 (which admittedly, I kind of liked). Now for the bad aspects. The game crashes for me. The graphics are very outdated and is not pretty to look at. It could have used better character customization. I do not really care for the pre-defined first names. I want to name my dictator, thank you. Conclusion? I would not buy it full price. Wait for a sale.… Expand
  40. blackbird1
    Jun 18, 2014
    3
    I dont get the hype and i dont unterstand the Medias, the all must be stupid,... cause Tropico 4 or 3 was overall a better Game with deeper Gameplay but Media for Games are useless and stupid......

    Im realy not impressed of 5 after 20 hours.... Tropico 4 was more fun has better looks and way more replay value
  41. neviem
    May 27, 2014
    7
    I was playing Tropico since the first release. My gameplay-wise favorite up to this day is T4, but i HATED the DLC approach Kalypso took with this one. Just check it on steam how many $/EUR 5 DLC adding ONE building, ONE mission and ONE costume each they released - not including the really good expansion modern times. Unfortunately, it seems that they will follow this with the T5 which I'mI was playing Tropico since the first release. My gameplay-wise favorite up to this day is T4, but i HATED the DLC approach Kalypso took with this one. Just check it on steam how many $/EUR 5 DLC adding ONE building, ONE mission and ONE costume each they released - not including the really good expansion modern times. Unfortunately, it seems that they will follow this with the T5 which I'm really not happy about.

    But let's get back to the game, they improved the graphics, but on the other hand they removed variability - you have ONE model of apartments, ONE model of tenements etc. In T4 you had several options with several color variations. They also removed a lot of building (elementary school, prison...) and really crippled the almanac which is really unfortunate, as every decent strategy needs to provide you decent statistics if you need them.
    Major additions are multiplayer, dynasties and eras. Tbh I was not playing MP mainly due to missing saving system and other various issues that you can find on web and also that I don't really miss MP in this type of games.
    Dynasties are ok, but as you can have several members of your family, your El Presidente can now have only 1,5 skill instead of 3+2 in T4. 1,5 because one is only for the building where your family member is 'manager' and the other one is global - affecting whole isle. Biggest disappointment with dynasties is that your EP (El Presidente) is immortal again (which is strange with the addition of eras) so the other members are there only to provide you with global bonuses - which i think is a pity.
    Eras - which is another new gimmick, is basically not alloving you to build better building from the scrap. You are starting in colonial era - with just few basic buildings, mainly focus on raw resources with almost no industry, then moving to world wars - there you unlock industry, moving to cold war with almost everything unlocked and finally modern times which unlocks like 2-3 buildings (I expect many new building added via DLCs). There are some more options to this - like improved army and stuff, but it's jsut minor stuff.
    Gameplay is classical Tropico, you start small, grow big. Issue is with approval - even with high approval and happy people you will have a lot of uprisings and many rebels - seems that noone can find out why and how to prevent this atm.
    They changed combat system but I can't say it's better now - your units create squads - but only per building, so instead of sending 6 soldiers from a base, base will send one squad. You can't really control them, they will just rush to the enemy and trade fire - no strategical element there, just build many guard towers that shoot at enemies that will get close and overwhelm them with numerical advantage. Missed opportunity imo.
    What they really improved is traffic system - that was the major pain in T4 from my point of view. Now a car will drive in the closest building with car entrance instead of creating major traffic jams while driving empty cars around to the closest garage. In my latest game I had over 1000 population but noticed no major jams. The building system was improved too, you don't need to wait now forever till you guys will get to the construction site and start doing something.
    Trade was reworked too, now you need a lot of docks as one dock will give you one trading ship (later 2) that you need to fulfill contracts that pay much better then default trade or if you need to import stuff. It's a bit pain later on when you run out of resources (coal, iron..) as your ships can bring only 3000 (later 4500) units of given resource, which is nothing if you run more factories.

    There are some issues of course, there was already a day 0 patch released, I'm sure about many DLCs that will come, but overall if you like this kind of games, you will like T5. I would give it more, but i HATE the DLC path kalypso choose and I know they will add some really needed buildings later, but it will be again 5 bucks per building which is a ******* ripoff.    … Expand
  42. ekim1991
    May 25, 2014
    10
    Really great game. Really love and enjoy it. A great Sequel of the older Tropico Parts with the old charm.
    A Must-Have for every Simulation and Tropico-Fan
  43. icedanielizatio
    May 26, 2014
    9
    I am not one to post reviews, but after playing one game of Tropico 5, I really felt the need to express my opinion on this game which has brought me genuine enjoyment. The game feels balanced between fun and challenging - a very hard factor to balance. Previous versions of Tropico were just a bit too easy, often I would reach a point where it became impossible to lose, but in Tropico 5 II am not one to post reviews, but after playing one game of Tropico 5, I really felt the need to express my opinion on this game which has brought me genuine enjoyment. The game feels balanced between fun and challenging - a very hard factor to balance. Previous versions of Tropico were just a bit too easy, often I would reach a point where it became impossible to lose, but in Tropico 5 I am constantly kept awake because at any moment I could lose everything. I tried the democratic route but that gave the people options over me which meant I couldn't play - I was forced into Dictatorship in order to continue playing - so now I'm a bad guy and it feels right. I also enjoy the slow progression through the ages, to see things evolve over time develops a strong sense of progress, I hope they continue this trend in future versions and even extend it further into history.

    My only nitpick as of now is the fact I can see what buildings and technologies I can uncover in the future, I would prefer that to also be in the fog, just as it should be, its always nice to get surprises. Revealing what's coming from the get go takes that surprise element away.

    Anyway, good job, great game.    … Expand
  44. Sotmaster
    May 23, 2014
    10
    Great game, dark humor as usual and with a great city building system and with a great multiplier system, in my opinion best Tropico game yet, i recommend this game
  45. NoTieZone
    May 25, 2014
    10
    Tropico 5 is definitely not like the others, for one, it's built off DirectX 11 (Which they should have used OpenGL for it since they plan on making it cross-platform), it's definitely more challenging to get in to, starting in the colonial era and keeping up with your mandate is no easy feat just starting out.

    Multiplayer for it is fun, definitely, but until they implement multiplayer    Tropico 5 is definitely not like the others, for one, it's built off DirectX 11 (Which they should have used OpenGL for it since they plan on making it cross-platform), it's definitely more challenging to get in to, starting in the colonial era and keeping up with your mandate is no easy feat just starting out.

    Multiplayer for it is fun, definitely, but until they implement multiplayer saves this is something you should avoid because unless you complete the multiplayer game (which co-op games really have no end unless you specify one) you don't get to keep any dynasty benefits or anything like that you gain.

    They updated the graphics quite a lot and using DX11 and it's heavy texture compression they were able to keep the game down to a reasonable size, doesn't eat up hard drive space.

    The one big thing I enjoy about this is the road system. It properly snaps to a grid this time around so you don't have to worry about accidentally making crooked roads which screw up your layout long-term

    The addition of managers is also really cool, being able to give buildings individual benefits, or benefits in a radius around the building the manager is assigned to depending on your specialty.

    Overall the game gets a 10 from me, I would give them lower but all the issues at present I have a problem with are being fixed. So no worries there.    … Expand
  46. Jonhuggs
    Jun 3, 2014
    9
    I find this game a lot of fun and a must buy if you're into the city building genre. The era system gives it a Civilization feel to it, unlocking more stuff as you progress. The game runs great too, no game breaking bugs or anything like that. I highly recommend it.
  47. Ceitlynn
    May 29, 2014
    9
    Tropico 4 has always been my guilty pleasure to play when I've found a moment to spare. It let's you be creative and strategic and the latin music is so addictive. My only complaint was the length of the game always seemed so short, I felt I just got going and wham done. Tropico 5 completely fixes this however, there is this mechanic where it switches you between islands randomly forTropico 4 has always been my guilty pleasure to play when I've found a moment to spare. It let's you be creative and strategic and the latin music is so addictive. My only complaint was the length of the game always seemed so short, I felt I just got going and wham done. Tropico 5 completely fixes this however, there is this mechanic where it switches you between islands randomly for different objectives. At first I was not happy when I was just starting to get into my one island to have it switch to another but eventually I learned to enjoy it as it takes you back and let's you really juggle multiple islands and objectives at once. Try turning your beautiful environment friendly island into a military compound to keep out invaders. It adds a whole new level of strategy that truly does not get old. I actually don't understand some other reviews that say the buildings look similar, I've found that the buildings are in general prettier and easier to work with to create a sprawling city center with.… Expand
  48. LiquidFrostbite
    Jul 13, 2014
    6
    More of the same. Feels like Tropico 3-4, without much change. Even the graphics look nearly the same as Tropico 4. Not a fan, just because I've grown tired of Tropico 4 after playing it so much. I was looking for a new experience, but this turned out to feel like a simple expansion.
  49. gyrate
    May 24, 2014
    10
    There is no doubt about it, and this is the best game ever created. The game is beautiful and plays excellent on every system ever made. I'm playing it on an Amiga right now. Some people are upset because they can't afford the game but if they took that time to give blood a few times they'd find out anything is possible. God bless Tropico. Long live El Presidente!
  50. Enerla
    May 24, 2014
    8
    You know, the game is about "banana republics" and dictatorships of the Caribbean... Yet you often find yourself building a stable and "ideal" democracy, where you not only care for majority of voters, but to almost all voters. As in a Democracy you don't have to deal with uprisings.

    For the first time in the series you don't start as "El Prisdente" but as "governor. You have to earn    You know, the game is about "banana republics" and dictatorships of the Caribbean... Yet you often find yourself building a stable and "ideal" democracy, where you not only care for majority of voters, but to almost all voters. As in a Democracy you don't have to deal with uprisings.

    For the first time in the series you don't start as "El Prisdente" but as "governor. You have to earn independence and for this you already need supporters, and you need real support. So no funny tricks with an election. You have to put effort to research a constitution and more.

    The game doesn't have a classic "tech tree", but advanced technologies can be only researched if you have already researched a certain number of other technologies before them. Like shovel, cowboys. As you can't have a constitution with either shovel, sickle or cowboys. Well.. At least 2 of them is needed.

    The graphics are okay, the story is silly. And it is more silly than the other Tropico games.

    Some of the new features are nice, some would need more refinement, but overall Tropico 5 is a decent game. A decent game that can keep fans entertained, where you get some fun for your money, but it won't attract much new customers, and it isn't among the best games in the year.    … Expand
  51. LD9000
    May 26, 2014
    9
    Pretty awesome for a sequel, even though the gameplay mechanics are similar to other Tropico Series.

    Most buildings now have an "efficiency" value that can be boosted by upgrades, managers, and the Presidente skills. This is especially noticeable in relation to farms, where multiple nearby farms may boost each other's productivity, while nearby cattle farms may apply additional boosts    Pretty awesome for a sequel, even though the gameplay mechanics are similar to other Tropico Series.

    Most buildings now have an "efficiency" value that can be boosted by upgrades, managers, and the Presidente skills. This is especially noticeable in relation to farms, where multiple nearby farms may boost each other's productivity, while nearby cattle farms may apply additional boosts to all nearby farms. Goat farms on other hand receive boosts from the number of nearby farms. This system seems to make agriculture a much more viable option, I had some farms working at 250% efficiency.

    A lot of game buildings got simplified, for example mines are placed in a cave in a hillside (no more free placement), farms come with a large rectangle of land defined where crops would be grown. Fishing now collects fish from distinct fish nodes located around the island.

    Probably the biggest change is the need to discover different technology during one of 4 eras - for example you cannot build mines right from the start, but need to research them after building a library. Same with different edicts - stuff like Social Security requires quite a lot of research during world war era. I feel like research adds more depth and specialization to islands in this version of Tropico.

    In terms of single player, it seems that the game is focused around two islands, one agricultural, another industrial that are taken through different eras (colonial, world war, etc). I have not completed the campaign yet, but I think it's a better alternative than starting 10 different islands from scratch - your previous decisions count in subsequent missions.

    Overall, a fun game with a lot of humor preserved.    … Expand
  52. Danthefish
    May 27, 2014
    8
    A fun, interesting city builder game that is unique from most other city builder games due to its setting; rather than being the invisible tyrant of some modern city, you are the leader of a small Caribbean island, and have to regain power through any means necessary. The soundtrack, humour and actions (most often morally ambiguous) give a great atmosphere to the game, making it a uniqueA fun, interesting city builder game that is unique from most other city builder games due to its setting; rather than being the invisible tyrant of some modern city, you are the leader of a small Caribbean island, and have to regain power through any means necessary. The soundtrack, humour and actions (most often morally ambiguous) give a great atmosphere to the game, making it a unique experience from other city builders, if not from previous instalments of tropico. Multiplayer adds new possibilities, although it isn't perfect.

    Despite new eras and new art, the game is very similar to the previous two instalments, so previous players will find it similar. It also has moments of stupidity; quests that you have already achieved, poor cost-to-effect buildings and awkward road placement all act as minor annoyances. The game also crashes in multi-player from time to time.    … Expand
  53. miyuni
    Jun 5, 2014
    7
    A city building game with strategical elements, an atmospheric setting and fresh sense of politically ironic humor. Good old Tropico. It's not revolutionary compared to its predecessor, nevertheless its polished in terms of graphics and some gameplay relevant elements. It feels smoother and more colorful. I appreciate the added multi-monitor support, preventing from scrolling the cursorA city building game with strategical elements, an atmospheric setting and fresh sense of politically ironic humor. Good old Tropico. It's not revolutionary compared to its predecessor, nevertheless its polished in terms of graphics and some gameplay relevant elements. It feels smoother and more colorful. I appreciate the added multi-monitor support, preventing from scrolling the cursor all over the other screens. The added multiplayer feature would have been amazing, if the gamespeed-lock got removed and a save feature was finally implemented. In it's current state the mp is pretty much unplayable, since Tropico loses its entire charm and essence, by being forced into a fast paced rts, rather than a laid back building game. There are some limitations, restricting the endgame possibilities, like the population softcap, which seem unnecessary and force the game to a definite end at some point, damping the sandbox building game experience. So, there is definitely room for improvement, regarding overall focus and detail and endgame design as well as optimization of some of the multiplayer functions, but overall, Tropico 5 is a nice building game with Caribbean flair, refreshingly ironic and entertaining.… Expand
  54. Huortaralom
    Jun 9, 2014
    8
    This game have serious deepness if we compare with TROPICO 4 .But I should say I only played main games not with any DLC. Campaign mod is highly satisfying (long and great). But I think there should be more complicated management and active observe system and more buildings. For ex: Health problems or food problems should see within map size. Also there could be building on sloping landThis game have serious deepness if we compare with TROPICO 4 .But I should say I only played main games not with any DLC. Campaign mod is highly satisfying (long and great). But I think there should be more complicated management and active observe system and more buildings. For ex: Health problems or food problems should see within map size. Also there could be building on sloping land for only residents maybe. But generally, It was fun to play.… Expand
  55. Armin
    May 29, 2014
    8
    Lots of improvements from Tropico 4. It is worth playing if you enjoyed the previous Tropico games. One thing that bothers me from all the Tropicos is when you loose the election or a military coup is successful, you are no longer able to build on your city, you instantly go on main menu. So all the time wasted building your city is gone. It would be better if you could stage a way to getLots of improvements from Tropico 4. It is worth playing if you enjoyed the previous Tropico games. One thing that bothers me from all the Tropicos is when you loose the election or a military coup is successful, you are no longer able to build on your city, you instantly go on main menu. So all the time wasted building your city is gone. It would be better if you could stage a way to get back into power, whether being rebels or organizing coups straight from playing in your own city.… Expand
  56. CaptainRAVE
    May 30, 2014
    10
    Another fantastic addition to the series. An improvement on all previous games. Really enjoying it. If you loved the previous titles (or just love city builders) then this is for you.
  57. JohnWitten
    Sep 29, 2014
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Overall Premise: By now your dictatorial duties haven’t evolved much but are still a last to fiddle around with as usual. Even more is open this time around.

    Graphics and Sound: Visuals are pretty much the same they were the last time around, meaning they aren’t spectacular or bad. The sound effects and the music selection keep things fresh.

    Playability and Entertainment: The controls aren’t so complex as to be unrecognizable to newcomers and veterans alike. The community building experience is definitely one of the best.

    Replay Value: Moderate.

    Overall Score: 8.0/10.0    … Expand
  58. TheKingJpiter
    May 27, 2014
    6
    i like this game of some what but the anoying thing about this game is when the power plants are full the power plant dosen's porduce the power and the most anoying thing is the voting and the relbels and dx11 and select video cards
  59. Garfoodle
    Sep 12, 2014
    8
    Not the best game in the eWorld,but it's entertaining,funny,stupid and fun.It has enough new things to make it worth the price tag,and it's a great port.If you're looking for a good city builder,after that whole Sim City thing,then look no further. Pick it up,if for no other reason than the fact that you can give yourself I finite tanks
  60. Farkran
    Jun 19, 2014
    8
    Tropico 5 is a fun game, certainly one of the best recent examples of its genre. It takes all the features of its latest predecessor and simplifies them - in a good way. The most prominent innovation is the advancement through ages of history, which I personally loved.

    A final note about the "plot" of the game: it's actually kinda cool. Pay attention to the small details!
  61. domadordepollos
    Jul 13, 2014
    8
    This game is by far the best in its series.
    +Good gameplay
    +Nice textures and graphics... but: -Campaign needs depth and something that makes a difference between it and the ¨sandbox mode¨ a part from a bunch of dialogues (which are not fun at all) -Needs further detail, more buildings, industries... -Boring after 4-5 hours -Strange ¨happiness rate¨, people start emigrating for no    This game is by far the best in its series.
    +Good gameplay
    +Nice textures and graphics... but:
    -Campaign needs depth and something that makes a difference between it and the ¨sandbox mode¨ a part from a bunch of dialogues (which are not fun at all)
    -Needs further detail, more buildings, industries...
    -Boring after 4-5 hours
    -Strange ¨happiness rate¨, people start emigrating for no good reason even though happiness is at 90-80 %!!!!!!    … Expand
  62. godking
    Aug 31, 2014
    5
    i have some issues with the tropico series, in this one they have fixed a lot of them but there is a a mayor fault, its too easy to build a raging economy. just build 5 or 6 mines, some farms and you have your own super magical economy. and in here they make some new mistakes like the custumization of the leader.
    and another mayor fault in the series, whats for the money in the swiss    i have some issues with the tropico series, in this one they have fixed a lot of them but there is a a mayor fault, its too easy to build a raging economy. just build 5 or 6 mines, some farms and you have your own super magical economy. and in here they make some new mistakes like the custumization of the leader.
    and another mayor fault in the series, whats for the money in the swiss account? besides that, its kind of refreshing and its a nice change, but for now, its not enough.

    my verdict: its a good new direction, but they fix one thing and mess up with another. and they still have to fix some mayor faults that they have been carrying over the years. its a nice game and a fun one if you dont expect much, and if you dont mind hearing over the same song all the time    … Expand
  63. Golgotai
    Dec 9, 2014
    1
    The ship in the harbor is not enough to bring the price way too quickly destroying the rebels stupid, weak his own soldiers, and even walking can be carbon. Too comlex, heavy, evil-
  64. USAsucks
    Jun 20, 2016
    1
    Oh man, the gameplay is severely dated...If I wanted to plan build orders, manage terrain and city planning and deal with population in terms of social and housing matters, there are plenty of golden titles out there (classics by now, Civ II, Sim City old titles - hell even Dungeon Keeper comes to mind) which the half assed Tropico series fail to even try to copy or resemble HorridOh man, the gameplay is severely dated...If I wanted to plan build orders, manage terrain and city planning and deal with population in terms of social and housing matters, there are plenty of golden titles out there (classics by now, Civ II, Sim City old titles - hell even Dungeon Keeper comes to mind) which the half assed Tropico series fail to even try to copy or resemble Horrid gameplay, annoying music, the menus make me feel I'm in Railroad Tycoon II - which unfortunately I wasn't, since that would have been a tenfold more enjoyable experience than this cheap mish mash of other billions of titles with it's only uniqueness being "oh it's a tropical Island - everyone likes that right?" paired with low class and stereotypical racism and normalization of the doings of the land of the free (*pardon me if I'm struggling not to laugh while calling the house of the star spangled banner that) and the old usual vilifying of the Red Star in the east. I guess this last point makes for at least *some* sales in the land of the free where being spoonfed with the false imagery of how the world is constituted is not only a well selling concept but at this stage, probably necessary to keep things up and running all in all, you now, so people don't go haywire and overthrow institutions and all.

    Oh and the number of DLCs... lol, gg devs - if the actual game being **** isn't a mockery to presumed customers this **** move is. You deserve shame and flame - or are you really just trolling Kalypso? Jesus ****

    Aaaaaaaanyway; the setting is just obnoxiously immoral by all means - I prefer mayhem and GTA style violence or the charmy evil that Dungeon Keeper was first to set out and propose and conquered a whole generation over banalizing and trivializing _real_ historic atrocities, such as the impoverished and totalitarian rules of Latin America and the Caribbean in the shadow of the so called super powers and besides the setting, the whole music/voice/imagery is burlesque, distateful, out of touch and immensely disrespectful to all my fellow latin american brothers and sisters. I spit on your project Kalypso, and I mourn that my hard drive ever saw your filth inscribed on it's disc.

    However it does, after all, revolve around a tropical island, which is nice.    … Expand
  65. Izoeros
    Apr 26, 2022
    7
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  66. marqpas
    Jan 23, 2016
    5
    Perhaps if you never played Tropico this is a nice game, but otherwise it's just very, very mediocre. They seem to be making the same game for 10 years now, with almost undetectable differences. If they stay on this path, Tropico 6 will probably be the same all over, but with Penultimo as presidente. Just imagine, folks! All that for just a mere $50 or so... Seriously, please make a newPerhaps if you never played Tropico this is a nice game, but otherwise it's just very, very mediocre. They seem to be making the same game for 10 years now, with almost undetectable differences. If they stay on this path, Tropico 6 will probably be the same all over, but with Penultimo as presidente. Just imagine, folks! All that for just a mere $50 or so... Seriously, please make a new game and I'll probably buy it.… Expand
  67. Setsudo
    Dec 27, 2020
    6
    The basics of the game are intuitive but most of it depends of your luck...

    You can build the same way and have different results.

    That's a way to simulate different games but it results to be boring...

    A game is here to develop our reflexes, understanding etc and not only our hope
  68. SL539
    Dec 26, 2015
    5
    Adds multiplayer and better graphics at the price of having fun. $10 - $15 is reasonable, past that and not so much. It's literally only but a shadow to what Tropico 4 is. I do like the Eras though, but I hate how they did it. You just complete a mission and boom automatic Colonial Era to 1920s to Cold War to Modern Times. The way they talked about the whole Eras was that it was going toAdds multiplayer and better graphics at the price of having fun. $10 - $15 is reasonable, past that and not so much. It's literally only but a shadow to what Tropico 4 is. I do like the Eras though, but I hate how they did it. You just complete a mission and boom automatic Colonial Era to 1920s to Cold War to Modern Times. The way they talked about the whole Eras was that it was going to be amazing and interesting, but what we got was nothing of the sorts. I do like the Tropico series but as always, it's now at the point of anything new is just going to be crap. Hopefully this is the end of series and they go on to something new or else make Tropico 6 over the top - I kind of personally hope for Tropico in Space or something, something a little different. Oh, and avoid the DLCs, they're stupid. You get a building an outfit and maybe a very stupid and short mission. Not even worth $2, at the quality they are it should be a free update - or just simply already in the game.

    Not recommended. Get Tropico 4.

    EDIT: I take back what I said about "not recommended" I do kind of recommend it. It isn't horrible, it's just a bit disappointing if you've played previous Tropico games. But, like they did with the other games was they added in what should've already been in-game via DLC. Grab it with all DLC around $20-$30 (or lower) is a good price. No DLC isn't bad but you'll understand what I mean in my review, it's very lacking in buildings. I won't even go into explaining how dumbed down the rest of the gameplay, just read some of the top reviews as they explain it a little better.    … Expand
  69. lancedance2
    Nov 26, 2017
    0
    This game becomes broken and unwinnable once you hit the cold war. Huge disappointment, later eras were clearly not play tested. Population becomes broken so you cannot fill your labor, and immigrants only come 20 at a time, so you can't grow. Give this game a skip.
  70. maniac1982
    Jun 10, 2014
    7
    While not much different then 4 it still is an upgrade to better graphics and a little more in depth of a game play. Overall its a good challenge and city build type game. The changes from 4 to 5 I like and are things I wished 4 had so a step in the right direction just wish for a little more.
  71. Lokhaman
    Aug 22, 2014
    8
    Really funny city simulator.

    The campaign is solid and its objectives are really nice. There are several different (and all valid) options to get fast cash, from farms to factories, from tourism to offices. In this game you are the people manager, for real - not only the buildings positioner -, you need to understand how many educated citizen you have (high school and university),    Really funny city simulator.

    The campaign is solid and its objectives are really nice.

    There are several different (and all valid) options to get fast cash, from farms to factories, from tourism to offices.

    In this game you are the people manager, for real - not only the buildings positioner -, you need to understand how many educated citizen you have (high school and university), how many not educated, and how your economic development choices will impact on the high school / not educated ratio - for example a farm based economy just needs not educated ppl / a offices based economy needs all ppl from university.

    Besides the education the population is sorted by age, wealth and preferences, since the population is divided in factions, often asking the opposites, like nationalists vs globalists.

    During my almost 40 hours play-through I experimented several different economies and I had fun with them all, which is the most important thing to me.

    To succeed you have to find the right balances between multiple contemporary conditions, all spiced up by random disasters and the various rebellions / invasions.

    Suggesting the game, my personal score is 8/10    … Expand
  72. shatti
    Apr 20, 2019
    8
    tropico 5 is a great game.
    it's political more than a city builder wicj makes it perfect for me,
    you can roleplay as president and chose how to run ur little island
  73. herbertbracke
    Nov 6, 2014
    1
    A big disappointment compared to the previous games. Only the new era system looks like an improvement, but after a couple of hours of playing you will have the feeling like you're being a beta tester for a game in development.

    Don't buy it. It's a waste of money and a shame for the developers
  74. Weltall_of_Id
    Feb 21, 2016
    10
    For tl;dr people: The game is great for newcomers to the franchise and people that can accept changes along with any unbalances new changes can bring. Kalypso did not randomly decide to change the game so much, but more like fans were complaining how 4 was the same game as 3 and acted as if Kalypso was trying to get money without changing anything. The 10 I give is NOT by evaluating allFor tl;dr people: The game is great for newcomers to the franchise and people that can accept changes along with any unbalances new changes can bring. Kalypso did not randomly decide to change the game so much, but more like fans were complaining how 4 was the same game as 3 and acted as if Kalypso was trying to get money without changing anything. The 10 I give is NOT by evaluating all its points ad polish, but because like 3 and 4 gave me a really nice enjoyable gaming time.

    Now with my thoughts:
    I am not giving this a 10 because I feel it is perfect. I am because I do not agree with all the people giving it negative points for the wrong reasons. Tropico 4 was my favorite Tropico, but that is because I played it before Tropico 3. Because I loved that game so much, I remember being really active in their forums. People would always criticize how Tropico 4 was carbon copy of 3, that was much easier and not as fun. Be it because Tropico 4 was my first, all I felt with 3 when I played it was, that it has smaller maps and was indeed a bit harder.

    With that said, I just want to say I did enjoy both 3 and 4, but 3 felt like a lesser version to 4 and I was one of the rare people to say that, since I was one of the smaller group that played 4 before 3.

    This is what I see on here. People that have played the previous versions are all attached to how 3 and 4 played and now that the game changed finally, they seem unhappy. I find Tropico to still be fun, even not as much fun as 4, but the game play is NOT my problem. Amusingly enough it is just the voiceactors, which is obviously quite unimportant.

    Afar from the game feels different and plays different, which happened because the fans kept asking for the game to change, because they felt Kalypso were lazy and just were reusing the same game, trying to get more money from it's fans. Now that the change finally came, probably some of the people asking it and of course other people that did not want it, complain. Changes obviously bring unhappiness, since people that were used to something feel weird about it and because the new changes are unbalanced, even some newer players find them flawed.

    Kalypso in my eyes, as a fan of many Kalypso's games, is NOT a perfect company. I do not know what's their budget, or how they run things, but the games from it, feel like they have less polish than other companies. That makes people either hate their games or love their games, since a lot seek for perfect games, nitpicking to details a common gamer would not care about or pay attention to. But thankfully when it comes to bugs, they do try to fix them and kill them, even if at times it takes a bit too long. But in 2016, I can say safely that bugs is the norm of games, be it because there are so many different hardware hardware setups and OS and unknown factors.

    Even if to me it will never be the same game, I still enjoyed it. Have fun be it you choose to get it or not!    … Expand
  75. CritialMass
    Apr 26, 2015
    1
    First: I love the Tropico series. That's what kept this from getting a 0. It's still Tropico. More or less. Kinda. Sorta. Well... not really. But at least it feels a little bit like it.

    Yet the key elements of Tropico are missing. I mean, let's be honest here. Tropico neither invented the tinpot dictator genre nor did it define it. What made Tropico Tropico was the atmosphere. That    First: I love the Tropico series. That's what kept this from getting a 0. It's still Tropico. More or less. Kinda. Sorta. Well... not really. But at least it feels a little bit like it.

    Yet the key elements of Tropico are missing. I mean, let's be honest here. Tropico neither invented the tinpot dictator genre nor did it define it. What made Tropico Tropico was the atmosphere. That music mix of Salsa and Mambo that made the whole thing feel like you're in some Caribbean Island. The advisers and radio announcers that are ... well, somewhere between dumb and hilarious, while being absolutely sincere and serious about their outlandish ideas.

    And of course the variety. Tropico 4 set a new level of insanity when it came to building variety. There was simply so much to do, so much to explore, so much to try, and every path you could decide for somehow worked out. Some better, some worse, depending on the island you were on, but no matter whether you wanted to lead a true banana republic, an industrial powerhouse or a tourist trap, any of those worked out, and for all of them there was more than plenty of buildings you could choose from.

    T5 scrapped it all. The music was replaced by boring elevator music, the voice acting feels like they simply had their staff put on fake accents and read some lines without any kind of enthusiasm or even just simply reading it to get done with it. But the main beef remains with the buildings. Yes, you now have various epochs with different buildings, more or less, but in total the number of buildings has been reduced to ridiculous numbers. Firefighters are now housed with the police, the various "supplemental" buildings that augment those that actually produce something have been axed, in a nutshell, the game has been dumbed down considerably. As if that was necessary.

    As usual, when I notice a game of a series being dumbed down beyond recognition, I check whether it is now available on a console as well, and as usual, I don't get disappointed. Of course, we have the usual culprit for harebrained interface, dumbed down gameplay and mediocre graphics. The game is now available on X360 and PS4 too. Who in their sane mind plays a game like this on a console? With a controller?

    But it seems the lure of the consoles market was stronger than the effort to not ruin the name of a franchise.    … Expand
  76. mitana
    May 29, 2015
    10
    What I especially liked in the campaign was the fact that player had to develop more isles over a period of time, which requires more planning and strategy, because consequences of past decisions lead to success or failure in present. Definitve a fun factor for me.
    As for multiplayer, the players compete to accomplish various goals and whoever has the more points in the end, wins. Players    What I especially liked in the campaign was the fact that player had to develop more isles over a period of time, which requires more planning and strategy, because consequences of past decisions lead to success or failure in present. Definitve a fun factor for me.
    As for multiplayer, the players compete to accomplish various goals and whoever has the more points in the end, wins. Players can use armies to attack each other to slow down their progress, but main focus is building and economy. There are more multiplayer modes, but the one mentioned is the best fun. Game speed is swift enough to finish the match in reasonable time.
    Mini-DLCs are nice - if a slightly expensive - addition and come usually with a new map, costume, building, random events and a challenging scenario.
    Oh, and you can finally produce something (cars, electronics) from the bauxite!    … Expand
  77. chumpwithnoname
    Apr 21, 2021
    4
    1. Absolutely idiotic citizens Ai.
    2. Worse MIDI-like music.
    3. Less variety.
    4. Random rebel attacks even when happiness is high.
  78. TheCornflex
    Feb 1, 2018
    7
    Cool game for a short while. But to compete against other Building-Games you really need to offer more content in my opinion.
  79. nickderpderp
    Jun 24, 2018
    8
    It's reskin of tropico 4, I know. But I've enjoyed it. It's goo experience. If you liked tropico 4, you can buy tropico 5. For me 8/10, for normal people, it's probably 5/10. I had fun, and you will have fun too. But the price is a little bit too much, and as I said, it's the same game again. But it's still a good game after all. There are no buds or glitches, at least I didn't see any.It's reskin of tropico 4, I know. But I've enjoyed it. It's goo experience. If you liked tropico 4, you can buy tropico 5. For me 8/10, for normal people, it's probably 5/10. I had fun, and you will have fun too. But the price is a little bit too much, and as I said, it's the same game again. But it's still a good game after all. There are no buds or glitches, at least I didn't see any. Graphics are nice, the story is awesome like always, gameplay is again, like tropico 4. What else should you know? Wait for summer sale on steam or something and it will be a great experience.… Expand
  80. nw2010
    Apr 19, 2020
    7
    Enjoyable version of the game. Espionage and Waterborne DLC is worth it if you get if you can get it for a couple of quid each.
  81. Trey82
    Dec 7, 2019
    0
    Short sum: After playing 1-4, you either think yourself a hardcore tropican or a casual player who wants to see what 5 (or 6, now. Highly recommend you skip 5 and get into 6... but if you play 5, think of it as a tutorial for 6. Learn what not to do, but dont take 5 seriously ~ no, really. It plays out like a huge, hours-long tutorial where you have no freedom, but in a 'legal' way.Short sum: After playing 1-4, you either think yourself a hardcore tropican or a casual player who wants to see what 5 (or 6, now. Highly recommend you skip 5 and get into 6... but if you play 5, think of it as a tutorial for 6. Learn what not to do, but dont take 5 seriously ~ no, really. It plays out like a huge, hours-long tutorial where you have no freedom, but in a 'legal' way.

    That might not make sense, so think of the 'legal' way as a police officer serving a warrant or a summons. You dont actually HAVE to submit to your arrest, or show up in court. You have the option not to.
    But you dont. But you do.

    That is tropico 5. You can build a city. You can play it for fun. But if you arent playing STRICTLY within the missions, you wont even get another hour into it. You have objectives and they are.. EXTREMELY time sensitive.

    Example: So you arent making enough money to support your society. Cool, easy. Make some cheap farms/ranches, make a few trade deals, wait for the money to trickle in. Keyword trickle.
    Trickle is fine, trickle is comfortable. When I make a city.. in ANY GAME... I, you, ANYONE... shouldnt be in a rush. You are planning the entire thing. You are painting your picture (of society.) But if you arent doing what the game tells you, you will be punished sooner. Later. Unrecoverable punishment.

    In simcity, if you didnt plan out a district the way you liked it, well... it still functions.
    If you built it just to satisfy the 'trends' of RCI (residential, commercial, industrial), you are just filling space and then you gotta course-correct that, later.

    In Tropico 5, if you've played the previous versions, you already got your butt kicked and learned it in the previous games, so maybe you want a challenge and here it is! Tropico 5 isnt city building, it is mission mode where creativity and freedom is punished.
    If tropico 4 was too easy, you could just turn the difficulty up.
    In tropico 5, you leave it on 'normal', get your butt handed to you.. play another couple times, turn it down to 'very easy' and say WTF, am I really doing this? and unlike so many games where the real tutorial is finding out over 10 playthrou... wait I cant call it a playthrough, you didnt make it through. We'll call it a play attempt ~ you attempt the missions, make it thru a couple and find that the city building part now plays like a mobile game ~ HERE IS THE TUTORIAL PLAY IT THIS WAY AND RINSE REPEAT HAHA ISNT THIS VERSION GREAT!
    No. It isnt. Play T4 or T6, but in T6 expect the exact same empire issues, rebel issues and progress wipes. Happiness shouldnt equate directly to votes, the problems shouldnt be fixed overnight simply by throwing up 3 more houses, a tavern and a church right where the homeless shacks are.
    In a city builder, YOU FIX PROBLEMS OVER A LONG PERIOD OF TIME! THIS GAME RUINS TROPICO!    … Expand
  82. ProfAmateur
    Jan 5, 2021
    5
    As someone who doesn't play much such games, i can confirm a hard time with Tropico 5. The Tutorial is no big help so the Story Campaign is not enjoyable. Many times i know what to change, but not how. The game lacks in interessting mods and options. I didn't play it more thab 5 hours.
  83. LQSNIXT
    Jan 23, 2021
    0
    I dont know why people enyoyed this crap. I cant even bulid my city what i do, all options are broken and i can do nothing! Even for free on epic games, absolute waste of time and already deleted from my libruary
  84. BqkRengiTuvalet
    Jan 30, 2021
    8
    oyunda türkçe yapa olmaması beni çok zorladı ve oyun öğretıcısınden hiç birşey anlamadım oyun iyi bir oyun bence benim gibi ingilizce kıtı değilseniz tavsiye ederim
  85. Demiurge11
    Feb 25, 2021
    8
    The Good:
    - it's a fun, and funny, simulator where you play the role of a tin-pot dictator. It gives you a bird's eye view of a tropical island, and you build buildings, one at a time, to create an economy, keep people happy, and manage the direction of your little island nation.
    - It was worth about 30 hours of fun play time. - I feel like the developers learned from Tropico 4, which    The Good:
    - it's a fun, and funny, simulator where you play the role of a tin-pot dictator. It gives you a bird's eye view of a tropical island, and you build buildings, one at a time, to create an economy, keep people happy, and manage the direction of your little island nation.
    - It was worth about 30 hours of fun play time.
    - I feel like the developers learned from Tropico 4, which was a bit repetitive, especially since you had to restart each mission from scratch. In Tropico 5, while you do restart from scratch occasionally, in general, the next mission starts again where you left off the time before last.

    The Bad:
    - you are continually shifting forward and backward in time, and from island to island. I was constantly getting confused (did I build building X? Where is it?). Fortunately, the game offers controls to answer those questions, you just have to root around all the options and you will find them eventually.
    - One big down side is that the budget information provided is nonsense. You only ever need to answer one question: how much surplus cash will I have per year? The game doesn't really provide this answer in a clear way, so you have to kind of intuit the answer. I think the developers could have done better on this point.
    - Also, I was constantly struggling to provide housing for the people. There were always homeless people no matter how much housing I built, and this felt a bit unsatisfying.

    The Ugly:
    - The scenarios are pretty zany, you may or may not like the sense of humour.
    - You might find the graphics and especially textures a bit low-resolution by 2020 standards. It can be hard to identify buildings sometimes due to poor texture quality (even when zoomed in).    … Expand
  86. dastankz
    Jul 23, 2021
    6
    мен мұндай стратегиялар үшін тым жаспын, мұндай зумер болғаным үшін кешіріңіз.
  87. BestSametr
    May 26, 2021
    10
    Oyun Harika ötesi. Oyunu 100 saatten fazla oynadım, hala da hiç sıkılmadan oynuyorum. Kesinlikle alınacak bir oyun. Oyun ilk başlarda zor geliyor (yaklaşık 1 saat) sonra rahatlıkla oynamaya başlıyorsunuz. Fazla söze gerek yok oyunu hiç düşünmeden satın alın derim.
  88. aecsuter
    Sep 5, 2022
    6
    Pros:
    - Fun approach with great voiceovers
    - Many points to be taken care of during a match - Campaign holds a lot and serves as a tutorial for all the possibilities of the game. - Playing in Sandbox with countless possibilities and difficulties for me was the best part of the game. - Huge variety of types of policies/economic models to be implemented, including being able to mix.    Pros:
    - Fun approach with great voiceovers
    - Many points to be taken care of during a match
    - Campaign holds a lot and serves as a tutorial for all the possibilities of the game.
    - Playing in Sandbox with countless possibilities and difficulties for me was the best part of the game.
    - Huge variety of types of policies/economic models to be implemented, including being able to mix.

    Cons:
    - Some problems that arise in management don't make much sense
    - The attacks part is too stupid, it only comes from one place and there's no point in placing the defense buildings further away.
    - Multiplayer without being able to save at any time f..........    … Expand
  89. mkhue108
    Feb 26, 2023
    7
    Good game overall. I personally enjoy political aspect of the game. Nice graphics.
  90. HydrophobikFish
    Jun 9, 2023
    6
    Its an intresting game with a decent premise but ultimately there isn't much depth and you run out of things to do quickly. There just isn't enough to do, and the scope is too small so even when there is stuff to do its always the same variables.

Awards & Rankings

59
#59 Most Discussed PC Game of 2014
32
#32 Most Shared PC Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 51 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 31 out of 51
  2. Mixed: 19 out of 51
  3. Negative: 1 out of 51
  1. CD-Action
    Aug 25, 2014
    80
    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]
  2. Level7.nu
    Aug 11, 2014
    60
    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.
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  3. Worth Playing
    Jul 17, 2014
    85
    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.
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