Tropico 6 - PC

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Requires: Mouse, Keyboard
Also for: PS4, Xbox One
Viewed: 3D Third-person, floating camera Genre:
Strategy: Management
Media: DVD Arcade origin:No
Developer: Haemimont Soft. Co.: Haemimont
Publishers: Kalypso (GB)
Released: 29 Mar 2019 (GB)
Ratings: PEGI 16+
Accessories: Control Pad
Connectivity: Internet Connection

Summary

El Presidente is back, and boy doesn't the reappearance of this over-the-top totalitarian feel timely?

Tropico 6 has you take on the role of El Presidente to build and manage your own island utopia/dystopia. Will you be a benevolent dictator, wielding your power to improve the lot of your subjects, or will you rule with an iron fist and work only to further your own glory?

The Tropico games work much like city management sims such as SimCity or Cities: Skylines. You'll have to build the infrastructure and buildings a city needs to run and keep its citizens alive, but you'll also have to manage their basic needs in order to keep them doing their bit and keeping the economy going.

There are a couple of major differences to the available maps this time out. Elevation now plays a major role and you'll have to take it into consideration when you're building, perhaps creating cable cars or working around obstacles. The maps are typically spread across islands now, too, meaning that building bridges and considering transport is key. This fits in nicely with the returning 'eras' feature. Later on you'll be able to create large-scale infrastructure projects such as suspension bridges, but earlier in your career your tin pot dictatorship might have to make do with boats to get around.

This is all delivered, of course, with the usual larger than life bombast that the series is known for. Something going wrong? Just blame is on a competing superpower (though they might not be happy) or just choose not to acknowledge that there's a problem (though your people will get fed up of this sooner or later!). Got an impressive building? Top it off with a shark tank or a hologram of El Presidente! Need to pimp your islands a bit? Send pirates to steal world wonders for you!

It's good-humoured stuff, but you won't be able to miss the timely bite lurking in the narrative.