$20 Game of the Week: Tropico 3 Gold Edition (PC)

Tropico 3 takes things back to the theme of the original game, which had you running a Banana Republic (rather than the second game which had you running a base of operations for pirates). Of course this time, everything takes place on a 3D map complete with a customizable avatar of the President. As the newly elected/appointed/installed ruler of a small Caribbean island, it falls on you to shape the island’s destiny while remaining in power for as long as possible. There are several factions you’ll have to satisfy, each having thier own needs. The capitalists want to see the island making good profits and having top notch entertainment, the communists want to see that everyone has decent housing and a good job, the religious want to make sure the island has high moral standards, while the intellectuals want to insure Tropico has unbiased media, good schools, and honest elections. In addition to the factions, you will also have to juggle your relationship with the US and Russia (this takes place during the cold war you know), so they won’t decide to invade your shores.

It’s up to you how to run your island. Will you make it an industry giant, or a tourist mecca? Will you carry on Che Guevara’s revolutionary mindset, or become the next Pinochet? When will you have elections, or will you have them at all for that matter? Will you allow gay marriage, or give into the religious right and ban contraception? Whatever you choose, its all up to you. Remember, keeping the people happy is the first priority. If you can’t do that, they may just vote you out of office, or worse yet, rebel against your corrupt rule. The game’s atmosphere is light-hearted despite its subject matter, and the hilarious radio banter will keep you in stitches. After you beat the 15-mission campaign, you can take on online challenges, visit other players’ islands, and even craft your own missions, complete with a timeline editor where you can create your own real world events.

Tropico 3 Gold Edition contains the base game along with the Absolute Power Expansion Pack, which adds new buildings, a new campaign, a new tutorial, a new radio DJ, and a new faction, the Loyalists. To satisfy the loyalists, you’ll have to do things that may cause everyone else to look at you funny if not outright piss them off, i.e. build a huge golden statue of yourself, build a childhood museum, or suspend elections. You can even use the new features in Absolute Power in the base game too, opening up new strategies.

Tropico 3 is hands down one of the best management simulation games of the past decade. If you ever wanted to run your own island, now is your chance.