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YARRR. TROPICO 2 be an amusin' turn in thee strategy genre, but after a few gos, we was wishin' it be less repetitive than paintin' a scow in a rainstorm. OK, enough pirate-speak. Tropico 2 moves the Central American dictatorial simulation of the series to a pirate colony of the 1600s. You're king of a motley band of pirate scum and their captive workers. In addition to land-based farming and other activities, you'll have to build and manage a fleet of ships to plunder more resources and sustain your colony. Soon after understanding the process of the game, levels become repetitive. While we do get some seafaring simulation, Tropico 2 is mostly based in the landlubbin' roots of the original game.
Tropico 2 mostly takes place on your pirate island. You'll have to keep the pirates and their captives happy and coexisting to thrive--pirates like wenches and captives like churches. If they're unhappy, you'll have mutiny or a revolt on your hands. The captives are the general workers, harvesting corn farms, making sea rations or serving beer at the local dive bar. When not sailing, the pirates keep the captives in-check, but are generally out carousing. You'll harvest trees with lumberjacks, use them to build more structures and otherwise advance the colony like in similar games.
We initially liked these basic strategy elements, but they grew repetitive. Each time we played, it was nearly always the same "trees, food, beer, ships, advanced structures" order. A few levels deviate from that route, but not enough. The process of building the industries is slow; we played on the highest speed possible and still spent too much time waiting.
Worst of all, the pirates seem like a thin wrapper over the island strategy elements. We'd hoped for interactive ship life; after all, we're no scurvy land lubbers. However, instead, making a few general choices about where to sail and what to do was the only booty to be found.
-ZACK STERN
Tropico 2: Pirate Cove 
MacSoft | www.macsoftgames.com | 763-231-8100 | $30
Pros: Initially nuanced simulation, unique.
Cons: Repetitive, spend more time on land than sea.
Requires: G3 800MHz or faster, OS 10.2.8 or higher, 256MB RAM, 32MB VRAM
macHOME recommends: Same
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