Tropico 2: Pirate Cove

wenching?) The only problem with building on the island is the same problem that was present in the original Tropico: it takes too long. You could read the book Treasure Island in its entirety before some of the larger structures can be completed.

There’s plenty to keep you busy as you try and rule your pirate isle. Again, there isn’t quite the amount of infrastructures, population, and everything in-between to care for as the recently released SimCity 4, but Tropico 2 has its fair share. You’ll have to find the best place to build buildings, and there’s a menu to let you know where the most suitable spot to place corn farms or mine iron. That’s just one of many menus that are charted. Flipping from menu to menu is done with a click of the mouse to keep tracking of the goings-on of your pirate island rather easy.

Bringing The Sims-style gameplay onto your island is the interactions you have with the island residents. Each character on the island has his or her own personality and needs, and the gameplay really requires paying attention to how they are performing in their work duties and generally behaving. By simply clicking on a character you can see their most recent thoughts, so you can gauge what kind of mood the island populous is currently in. Most instances of clicking on an islander elicit a humorous response that will remind some gamers of the WarCraft series. If they are complaining heavily on how the pirate life is treating them, you may have to provide new buildings or better island conditions through the issuance of the game’s edicts, which are commands that can go a long way to making the islanders happier, or at least, more compliant.

You may find yourself losing track of your objectives during missions. That’s where Smitty comes in. Sitting in the top left of the game screen is Smitty, who passes along advice to help you while you’re playing and also has a scrolling menu to help you figure out what needs to be done next. Just like in the first Tropico there’s a log that keeps track of every single detail of your game, including how many captives and pirates are on your island and how they feel about your island rule, which is one of the most important pieces of island info to pay attention to. If the masses aren’t happy, odds are your pirate rule could be in serious jeopardy. It may sound overwhelming to keep tabs on so many different functions at once, but that’s the game’s charm. Tropico 2 offers serious but lighthearted gameplay that most gamers this side of SimCity 4 will find it completely challenging.

Tropico 2 looks exactly the same as the original game, which was graphically pretty solid, if unspectacular, to begin with. But the original game was released over two years ago, and it’s obvious the developers went the safe passage by sticking with the Tropico’s 2001 graphical game engine and not upgrading the visuals. The game’s soundtrack is again wonderful, but nowhere near approaches the amazing award-winning Latin beat tunes that appeared on the original. The original Tropico’s soundtrack is simply one of the best you’ll ever hear in a game. Because the focus is now on pirates in Tropico 2, there’s a restrictive nature to what music could show up on the soundtrack, having to comply with the whole pirate theme and such. The tune wizards did a pretty good job coming up with pirate-spiced music, but it can’t completely measure up to the impossible-to-match stellar sounds wafting through the original Tropico.

I personally miss the island leader plots of the original game, but Tropico 2 proves even dastardly pirates can be a lot of fun under the hot island sun. Enough new upgrades help enhance the gameplay and create the perfect title for PC gamers who want something similar to SimCity 4 without having to spend a week studying the instruction manual learning how to play. It also brings humorous Sims-style gaming into the mix. Tropico 2 is a wonderful game worth its weight in buried golden treasure.

- Lee Cieniawa

lcieniawa@armchairempire.com

(June 22, 2003)