Tropico 2: Pirate Cove, developed by Frog City, continues Pop Top's tradition of giving players their very own island to satiate the megalomaniac inside. While its predecessor allowed one to take control of a Castro-style communist dictatorship, Pirate Cove puts players in the role of a Pirate King. The pirate theme is certainly no stranger to strategy games, but this different perspective offers a fresh take on the genre. Sea battles are all automated, and players don't even have direct control over their pirates. Instead, the player must use limited resources to create the ultimate pirate haven--one that guarantees riches, rum, and wenches for all. Historically such islands existed as bases of operations for pirates. They provided R&R and a place to hide from pirate hunters. Tropico 2 does a great job of capturing the feel of this era, albeit with an absurd edge.
The usual end goal of building games such as this is to make a profit. Since a pirate's cove is ideally kept secret from powerful nations such as Spain, England, and France, there is no outside trade to accomplish this. So the obvious way to bring in the gold is to do what pirates do best—steal it. While pirates will pay for entertainment and living quarters, this trickle of income is nothing compared to the fortunes gained by looting. For this a few things are needed—pirates, weapons, and a good ship. The designers have made an interesting choice here. Rather than take control of a ship as in games like Pirates or Cutthroats, one must simply provide their vessels with everything they need for a successful journey and hope for the best.
The crews have a number of different desires that must be filled, such as gambling, wenches, and drinking (to think that we now call these people degenerates, for shame). Players build up their Caribbean island to fulfill these accommodations. Similarly, the infrastructure required to provide pirates with the essentials (everything from muskets and cutlasses to peg legs and wisecracking parrots) needs to be properly managed. Since pirates are usually out at sea or in the local gambling den, one can't ask them to get blistered hands chopping down timber. Therefore manual labor is accomplished by captives, which are kept in the stockade until needed. The only real concern with captives is to keep them working and not trying to escape. Feeding them and keeping them dreadfully afraid of an iron fist pounding on their face is generally the best method.
All of these building aspects are handled in mostly the same manner as Tropico. In the original certain buildings had prerequisites, such as having electricity or educated workers. In Pirate Cove certain buildings can only be constructed if a particular tradesman, such as a gunsmith or carpenter, is available. For a small fee pirates will set sail and kidnap any necessary workers. It is most comparable to the system used in the classic Colonization.
Thankfully construction is much faster and road building is a breeze. The overall AI for transporting goods seems to be much better. I found that as long as I had the proper production chains in place, I rarely had to micromanage and could focus on the bigger picture—my pirate voyages.
There are a few steps to setting up a pirate voyage. First the player chooses the sea region to operate in. This is done from a larger map of the Caribbean (a nice new addition to the series) separated into different regions. Then one chooses the type of mission, ranging from exploration of the region (which results in a higher chance of success) to standard pirating of vessels to the raiding of colonies for fresh captives. Players must also decide the method employed. If swords are the only weapons available the crew is going to have to board the enemy ship, which may result in more casualties. If the ship is fitted with a full complement of cannon, then they can pound the enemy ship and take the loot. They're probably not going to leave with many captives, however.
Each pirate has a few different ratings such as swordsmanship and gunnery that affects the outcome of a battle, albeit in an abstract way. One can construct schools to train them in certain areas and they will gain experience with more missions. Regardless of skill, pirates need to be kept as happy as possible to keep their morale up and prevent a mutiny. The captain can also have a big impact on the success of a mission, and losing one can be devastating blow to the overall ability of the crew.
This is merely touching upon the intricate gameplay in Pirate Cove. The edicts return to give players a wealth of options. For those that have not played Tropico, edicts are polices that can be implemented to achieve a variety of goals. For instance, gambling games can be rigged in the player's favor, or random executions can be scheduled to keep the captives in line.
Pirate Cove offers up a campaign, which traces the adventures of a single pirate, as well as nine individual scenarios (although one is a tutorial). The mission objectives are generally quite varied. One mission might require stashing a certain amount of gold in a pirate cave (just like El Presidente's Swiss bank account in the original) or interrogating a prisoner for information on an impending attack. Once again there is a full sandbox mode which adds nearly limitless replay value. Adding to this is the option to choose a historical pirate. Each one has different strengths and weaknesses, just like the dictators from Tropico. There is also a map editor to create scenarios from scratch.
In many ways the emphasis on pirates makes Tropico 2 a more focused game and eases some of the frustrations of the original. The first title was more dynamic in the sense that there were numerous ways to make money, such as tourism and trading a variety of goods. In the sequel there is only one viable way of acquiring gold. This doesn't mean that Tropico 2 is a simpler game. There are still a lot of choices to be made. To really be successful and keep one's island well stocked with gold, multiple ships will need to be used. More ships mean more supplies, entertainment, resources, and captives are needed. But this focus means that once a sizeable fleet is going on consistent voyages it is generally easier to keep a profit. Another way in which Tropico 2 is a bit easier to manage is the happiness of pirates. Even when my wallet was tight I never really had too much trouble keeping my pirates satisfied—at least, enough to avoid being killed. In Tropico my game often came to an abrupt end because of a coup led by unhappy citizens. This was such an issue that one of the main focuses of the expansion pack, Paradise Island, was to make it easier to keep oppressed people in line.
I gave the first game's interface a high score when I reviewed it, and the same goes for Tropico 2. Building options are logically categorized, and whatever can't be built is conveniently blackened out. In general, everything is one or two mouse clicks away. Perhaps the greatest feature, however, is the log book. This presents just about every bit of relevant information in the game. One can easily get a list of unhappy pirates or instantly see which captives are close to making an escape attempt. The new region map I mentioned can be accessed with a push of a button, and this too is nicely organized. Clicking on a region offers up all pertinent information such as the profitability or trade routes, amount of enemy patrols, and the extent it is explored. One minor interface annoyance is the fact that on the island map I can set all the parameters for my ship voyages except for the region. This creates some unnecessary switching back and forth for one detail.
If I have any complaints with the game, it is that it sometimes stays unnecessarily close to its roots. Why not allow players to take control of sea battles, or perhaps capture and retain other colonies? When I think of a pirate game, building corn farms and iron mines doesn't immediately come to mind. Perhaps there could have been a few more bold additions to make it more than just an island sim.
My other complaint is that the tongue-in-cheek attitude of the game, while true to the original and often quite amusing, is sometimes a bit silly to the point of not making sense. For instance, the game makes use of auras, such as fear, order, and anarchy, to affect the contentedness of pirates and captives. One way to increase or decrease these auras is to use décor. How can one increase the fear aura to keep captives scared? Plop down a giant skeleton hand. How about the anarchy aura to keep pirates feeling carefree? Just throw a few crazy shrubs down. Some of it also affects the game aesthetically. For instance, one piece of décor is a skeleton on a pole. Why is the skeleton four times the size of a real one?
Overall, the visuals are comparable to the original. The terrain looks smoother this time around and zooming in allows one to admire the considerable detail put into each structure and character model. Personalities such as Captain Henry Morgan are easily discernible from the rest of the people mulling around the island, and sloops and galleons alike look impressive docked in the harbor. While it adds nothing to the graphical quality, it is aesthetically pleasing that this time around all buildings can be fully rotated.
It must be emphasized that Tropico 2 has one of the best soundtracks in gaming. I purchased the original Tropico's music CD and I will also pick up this one. I'm not going to pretend to be an expert in this genre of music, but the CD insert describes it as a blend of Afro-Caribbean beat mixed with Irish flutes, violins, and Spanish Flamenco. You really need to hear it to get a good sense of something so eclectic. The sound is also well done. While sound effects are standard fare, the voices in the game lend a great deal of flavor. Captives and pirates can be of three nationalities, French, Spanish, or English and they will answer in an appropriately exaggerated accent when clicked on.
Oh, and last but not least, losing ships at the start of the game can essentially end it, since you may not have enough resources to build another. The manual even mentions that players should save their game before sending ships out. Take that advice. Numerous times I was caught up in the game and forgot to save, only to lose my ship and hours of playing time.
From one Tropico fan to hopefully another, I can honestly say that I was pleased with how Tropico 2: Pirate Cove turned out. I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in the subject matter or historical period, as it is brimming with atmosphere. Those of you who just didn't get Tropico's appeal will probably dismiss this excellent title, and that's a shame. Tropico retains its status as one of the most unique series in computer gaming. I can only imagine where the third iteration will take us.
Reviewed by Anthony Micari.
