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. 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.
  4. 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
  5. 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
  6. 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
  7. 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
  8. 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.
  9. 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
  10. 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
  11. 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
  12. 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
  13. 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.
  14. 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
  15. 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
  16. 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/
  17. 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
  18. 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
  19. 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
  20. 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
  21. 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
  22. 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-
  23. 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
  24. 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.
  25. 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
  26. 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
  27. 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.
  28. 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
  29. 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

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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