Rock, Paper, Shotgun

The third Tropico game, this time developed by Haemimont games, has finally washed up on the perfect beaches of my interest. Having messed around with it for a few days, I’ve found time to issue a diktat. Here’s Wot I Think.
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A lovely sunny demo has arrived on the shores of the internet: it’s for banana-republican management sequel Tropico 3! It’s 1.1gb in girth, and can be downloaded from here. As in previous games, you take the mantle of a benevolent dictator of a small island, and try to make the wheels of monopolistic money practices turn for both you and your citizens. The demo contains the tutorial and two missions from the full game, so it should give you a decent taste of how the full thing pans out. Have a play, let us know your thoughts.

Recollections of the Tropico games rapidly disappeared into the hazy history of tycoon games, but they were nevertheless remarkably playable at the time. I’m glad that Kalypso Media have decided to support a third iteration of the series, developed by Haemimont Games. I hope the Bulgarian team can get the tone of it right – their recent Grand Ages: Rome was pretty and playable, but ultimately frustrating, with a poorly-conceived micromanagement system. It looks like they’re aiming to create Tropico 3 using a buffed up version of the rather proficient Grand Ages: Rome technology, as you can see from the teaser below. The world’s friendliest dictatorship is scheduled for release in September.
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Good news for Europeans who are a bit wary around Digital Downloads – Stardock have announced that they’ve found someone with the good sense to bring Sins of a Solar Empire to retail in Europe, the Middle and Far East. Kudos to Kalypso Media for doing the decent thing and taking our money. The press release says that it’ll be for £29.99 (Or 39.99 Euro-poundies) and “will contain an additional bonus of six exclusive maps, a techtree poster and a comprehensive manual”. Late May/Early June is promised, though there’s no set date yet set. Until then, probably a good time to re-read our RPS Sins of a Solar Empire verdict. Yes.

[Thanks to Joachim for the heads up]