Absolute Power is an Absolute Joy!
Yes, you can expect fixes to the code as most patches give you, but this patch goes far beyond most. Kalypso shows true dedication to excellence, and it appears that they want to make masterpiece software, not just something that makes them money.
I am most pleased this patch. The game changes entirely. Tropico III was merely 'good enough'. Absolute Power brings excellence to the table.
You get more islands. You get real adverse responses to improvements. It is difficult to keep everyone happy throughout the entire game, not just in the opening like so many other real time city building games. You really have to manage it all at once and not put off to tomorrow to save expenses that are less necessary. Everything is necessary, and it's necessary in real time!
Tropico III started out with extremely good graphics and they remain in place. This is what drew people to it. It's graphics helped sell it. However, Kalypso advises you to get the most from your gaming experience by buying a high end graphics card. You don't really need this to play Tropico 3. You need a game, not graphics. This game looks beautiful enough with the lowest of graphics settings and it still played well enough.
You don't need the best of the best graphics card to play this game. I'm running the game with a nVidia 8600 GS card and an Athlon 64 single core 3800+ (2.4 GHz). But because the game does struggle a bit, I'm now willing to upgrade my system to get a faster front side bus speed and faster ram, I don't plan to purchase a new processor, but I might. But for once, here is a game who has system requirements stated higher than necessary, not lower. And at the same time, this patch is much more than a patch. It changes a pastime into a real game. You will be challenged throughout the game to keep good cash flow and your population happy at the same time. The patch gives you a difficult middle game and difficult end game, not just a challenging opening like so many city building games that have come before, and even itself, Tropico 3.
This is a serious game, but at the same time there are quite a few elements of fun. Juanito, the radio DJ, is still there, being as ridiculous as most DJs are and even more so. Added to his rhetoric is his ridiculous counterpart, Betty Boom. Betty complains endlessly. She is the voice of opposition while Juanito is the puppet of industry and all that is well and good. They are not annoying as so many reviewers have described. They parody real DJs and are so ridiculous, anyone with a sense of humor can undertand that this is parody and it is entertaining. The only real annoyance is El Presidente's responses to let the user know he has received your request to get a chore done. His responses are still limited to a few and more are necessary to keep you from going mad from listening to his "I'm going!" and "All work and no play." Still, he lets you know he received your command. All games must let you know that what was ordered is coming.
I'd like to have more music. There are only six songs. These do TEND to get tiring, but unlike most city building music, these have excitement in them. They're easy to like, but it does it somewhat monotonous. However, this is a minor problem, and not really a problem at all. The music is good enough to get stuck in your head, and you'll enjoy the songs.
Tropico 3 was merely a pastime before this patch. You got a good opening game and superb graphics, but after the opening it was a cakewalk. One could easily suspect that it was all about the graphics and nothing more. Absolute power brings more than a patch to the table. It changes the software into a game with all three parts: An opening game, a middle game, and an end game. It is truly delightful to see this. There are many developers out there that only want to make money, not masterpiece software. Tropico III with Absolute Power approaches this and it delivers so much, I'm surprised that Kalypso didn't release this as a totally new game. They have now released T4. You can buy that. I will buy it, but this patch is a mere $9.99 at amazon.com. If you already have Tropico 3, buy Absolute power. If you don't already have Tropico 3, buy Tropico 3: Gold Edition which is Tropico 3 with Absolute Power. It too, is a bargain at $10.99.
I also have the original Tropico. It too is a nice game. It plays well, and delivers fine entertainment. Both are the best of the city building games I've seen, and I've seen many! Too many! Tropico and Tropico 3 are a cut above the rest.
Tropico 3 with Absolute Power is a great GAME. It is not a toy and merely a pastime. If you have any interest at all in building a country from the ground up and keeping your population happy at the same time, T3 with Absolute Power really delivers. Forget the graphics! This is a great game, not just eye candy, and if you don't have the best of the best graphic card, it runs fine. It runs on less than Kalypso tells you in their system requirements. It runs on a single core at 2.4 Ghz. It runs on an nVidia 8600 Gs. It doesn't take much at all! And it's a joy to play, not just to look at.
The bottom line: Just Buy It! This is about as good as it gets! Then again, I've not seen Tropico 4 yet. I will though. You can count on that, just like you can count on T3 plus Absolute Power.