A game to play if you have a lot of time on your hands
Now this may seem harsh but I've got to point some important things out in this review. The game has some pretty major flaws that need to be addressed so that you get the full picture of what the game is really like. For all of you that play sim games you will know that it involves a lot of waiting for stuff to happen and that's what Tropico 3 does a lot. This meant the scenario game play took forever and the fact that you had to start over again if you lost and did not save was irritating. Another major flaw was the bizarre happiness metre which never seemed to go above 50% even after giving my island electricity, casinos and bars as well as lots of food and wealth.
Pleasing the population of people on my island proved difficult as well due to random slums that were built even when free housing was available. With all these flaws and and almost impossible campaign mode i found it very hard to enjoy and get into the rhythm of the game.
Like the sims it had become one of those games that you play for 30 minutes to get a little fix and the turn off.
That is until you look at the other playable mode sandbox. Not only does this let you decided what happens, when it happens and how often it happens it also gives you more freedom and time to build a half-decent island with a happy-ish population. Unlike the campaign mode my villagers never become rebels and were 75% happy at one point. Sandbox mode never became a chore or a bore as my island was never struck by a hurricane (This usually happens a lot in campaign mode) or random lama diseases.
Overall if your buying the game for the RPS aspect I would say it's worth a quick bash, however if you interested in a in-depth story you might want to keep looking around for something worth the money. Overall i would rate this game 8/10 for sandbox mode and a minute score of 5/10 for campaign. Giving my total rating of 7/10.