Time is a central part of the main story itself (SPOILER ALERT!) when the Presidente becomes his own enemy in order to stop the destruction of the world at the hand of the Order. Slow down time to issue more commands to individuals, or to buildings, or speed time up to stop waiting for the crops to be harvested and the minerals to be mined to be sent off the island to other nations, or to witness the instant completion of the construction of new buildings. Tropico 5 also employs a special device in the hands of the Presidente and his dynasty (because how can he be a Presidente, the ruler everyone needs and deserves, without having any superpowers or super gadgets?) which allows him to control time itself. Scientific progression, the freedom allotted to the player in the choice of construction of buildings – everything is determined by the era you are in. Time plays an extremely important role through in Tropico 5. The final stage lies in the Modern era, which can be accessed by either the Nuclear Program, or the Space Program – leading to an age of peace and prosperity. As soon as you declare for one side, the other side will stage an invasion of Tropico, and the side you have declared for will help fend the invaders off. The War in the main continent demands your attention, and both of this eras have a pretty pathetic ending – research a number of scientific technologies, build up your army, then side with either the Allies, or the Axis powers and later either the US or the USSR, and survive the attack by the other. Later, you progress through the World War and Cold War eras, dealing with the people’s demands, being a democratically elected leader or a despotic ruler. Once you have enough popular support, you can either pay the gold price by buying out your freedom with debt, or pay the iron price by fighting off the Crown’s troops with your own. Your job is to instigate the native folk of the island, as well as the many arriving from other colonies of the Crown to work on the island, to rebel against the Crown. You have a fixed time for ruling, called a ‘mandate’, after which another new governor will be sent to the island,and you will be routed up and sent back home. You start off not as the dictatorial Presidente of the island, but rather as a colonial governor sent by the Crown (representing the colonial powers in Europe) to rule on the island. In the game, the ‘era’ system plays a big role in the freedom allotted to the player as well as the citizens in the game.
But what happens when you are put in command of not a city, but your very own nation – that too an island nation, isolated from the outside world, far away from any external disturbances? Yep, that defines the Tropico series, and Tropico 5’s added gameplay mechanic of “progression of time” adds a shred of realism to an otherwise fictional game with fictional characters (of course, any resemblance to any character, living or dead, is purely coincidental!) Designing a city had become too mainstream, with SimCity and Cities Skylines becoming the main titles of the generation. City builders have evolved over the years, giving the player extensive freedom through in-game mechanics, as well as a large amount of customization.
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