Everybody wants to be Eva Peron, err, a raging dictator. Make it happen in “Tropico 3”

Tropico 3

DEVELOPER: Haemimont Games
PUBLISHER: Kalypso Media
SYSTEM: Windows XP/Vista/7 (Xbox 360 releases in February)
PRICE: $39.99
ESRB RATING: Teen (13 and older)
REVIEW RATING: 4 stars (out of 5)

By Jeb Haught

Before combat ruled cyberspace, strategy games started out as a way to perfect the fine art of building cities rather than conquering other civilizations.

However, most games focused on gathering resources and expanding the main city. "Tropico 3," on the other hand, takes a different approach by letting players also tackle the political and social aspects of maintaining a fictitious Latin American city during the Cold War.

Players begin their adventure by creating their own exalted potentate or choosing from real-life despots like Fidel Castro and Eva Peron. Every leader has positive and negative aspects that affect their game play, like womanizing, gambling or having a high diplomatic rating. Then they can choose from 15 different islands that each have different objectives, or select one that doesn't impose any requirements.

Now it's time to embark on traditional city-building activities, such as erecting churches, houses, roads, farms and factories. Promising dictators must also keep a steady income stream in order to maintain power, and expand by extracting resources and trading with foreign lands. Of course, keeping the people of the land busy and happy is also an important factor.

That's just the beginning, as maintaining relations with the U.S. and USSR can have both positive and negative outcomes. There are also various "events" that appear innocuous but usually have a deep impact on your city later in the game. Players will also have to be aware of their popularity and influence factions and churches to ensure their own re-election.

With so many interconnecting factors and choices to consider, a more robust tutorial is sorely needed. Even those who played the previous incarnations will have trouble figuring out every subtlety.

But that shouldn't deter anyone who is genuinely interested in setting up his or her own faux dictatorship while playing the humorous title, "Tropico 3."

Get your muddy drive on in "MX vs. ATV Reflex."

MX vs. ATV Reflex

DEVELOPER: Rainbow Studios
PUBLISHER: THQ
SYSTEM: Sony PlayStation 3 (Xbox 360)
PRICE: $59.99
ESRB RATING: Everyone
REVIEW RATING: 3 stars (out of 5)

For the last decade, Rainbow Studios has dominated the off-road racing genre on nearly every platform. Ever since I played the first "ATV Offroad Fury," I was instantly hooked, thanks to extremely accurate physics and a great blend of realism and arcade fun. With their latest title, "MX vs. ATV Reflex," Rainbow Studios creates the most realistic off-road racing experience available, but sacrifices most of the fun in the process.

Just like a turbocharged engine on a prototype vehicle, the new Rhythm Racing physics engine offers new possibilities like creating real-time ruts in the mud that affect handling. This helps to make every race different, but it also leads to many unexpected turns and accidents.

But the biggest change to the series has to be the new Rider Reflex control system, which lets players steer their MX or ATV with the left analog stick and control their rider's weight distribution with the right stick. I'm a big advocate for adding realism to games, but not when it makes them frustrating to play! I doubt if many gamers want to struggle through every single turn, but that is exactly what Rider Reflex controls force players to do.

Now add a new trick system that tasks players with holding a shoulder button and pressing the right analog stick in three different directions for each trick, and the result is maddening. Hitting huge unrealistic jumps and performing several tricks before I land was one of the highlights of previous games, but now I have trouble landing one trick without wrecking. Players can also try their luck at off-road truck and buggy racing, but it pales in comparison to Sony's "Motorstorm" series.

"MX vs. ATV Reflex" can be fun for die-hard off-road racing enthusiasts, but the general public will find more aggravation than joy.

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