Tropico is the most cynical game I've played

The message behind the game is extremely cynical. It basically says that all political leaders are there to either line their own pockets or just to hold power. Whether capitalist or communist, ideology is merely a way to obtain more power. The Cold War setting heavily reinforces this notion by having Tropico essentially be a very small pawn in a much larger game betweem the US and the USSR that is the same money-making, power-grabbing scheme on a larger scale. In addition, all of the factions are completely cynical examples illustrating the worst of their particular group as a whole: the religious faction is full of puritanical Moral Guardians, the capitalists are greedy plutocrats, the communists want you to keep everyone equal regardless of skill or effort, the militarists are club-wielding Black Shirts, the nationalists are xenophobic shut-ins, the environmentalists are so knee-jerk hateful of industries such as logging that they would rather have people unemployed than working at a mill, the intellectuals are prone to get offended at anything done to appeal to the uneducated, and the loyalists are universally depicted as a bunch of boot-licking simpletons who measures a strong leader on how much he abuses his privileges, cultivates a near-religious cult of personality, and brutally oppresses the general population.

I think that's the point. Portray one group in a negative light, even unintentionally, they will be pissed. Portray everybody in such a manner, and nobody really has any right to be offended. Because Tropico deals with such controversial issues, it would be very hard not to piss somebody off if the game was more serious.

Let's rage over a game that is very obviously ment to be a political joke.

I'm not raging over this game I love this game I'm just saying that out of all the games that I've played this is the most cynical one I've seen with the Witcher games taking second place.

It's an obvious parody, there's no reason to take it seriously.

Just because it's a parody doesn't mean I have to ignore the cynicism and message of the game.

Do you even have a sense of humour anywhere in there?

I think maybe it's unfair to call it cynical - there is too much parody for it to be anything other than the most cynical extreme. At the same time, I think some of the positives of politics are lost in the gameplay - the aims may be to hold onto power and build up a big-ass Swiss account, but it's easy to forget that you've built up infrastucture, improved the lives of the people, provided services, saved the environment, kept the Yankees and Commies from stealing Tropico's independence, moved everyone from shacks to condos, etc etc.

Hmm.. Never thought it like that, I guess despite the evils a dictator may commit he has a done great many good as well

I do, my favorite joke in the game was when Penultimo was giving an announcement where all sleepwalkers are to be provided with bulletproof vest during times of curfew.