- From building the island
infrastructure, supporting the residents’ needs, dealing with
foreign powers and staving off a random military coup or
possible election loss, plenty of El Presidente activities will
keep gamers occupied 24/7
- Caribbean-flavored music is once
again amazingly catchy and perfectly fitting the tropical
gameplay setting, although it can get stuck in your head for
days afterward
- Too many times gamers will be
left waiting, with not much El Presidente work to do, for some
source of income to balance out inevitable deficits
- Interactive disasters reminiscent
of SimCity, but they can be tremendously frustrating to see a
lot of your island-building hard work wiped out by a random
tornado or erupting volcano
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Tropico
4
Score:8.5 / 10
Running a beautiful island paradise as El
Presidente might seem like the perfect job, with plenty of fun under the
tropical sun while having the final say on how the gorgeous paradise of
Tropico is run. However, with an entire island infrastructure to build,
supporting the island residents’ needs, dealing with foreign powers and
staving off a random military coup or possible election loss, being the
head man in charge can become a 24/7 responsibility that sometimes
doesn’t allow for much frolicking under that beautiful tropical
sunshine.
Quelling those opposing your reign with a little secret police
subterfuge and intimidation or siphoning off some of the money from your
government’s profits or
accepting bribes and building up a nice
large Swiss bank account are possible entertaining benefits to “feared
dictator” island ruling, though. Or if gamers play it as the altruistic
leader beloved by all, they may be more concerned with establishing a
strong economy that spreads the happiness and wealth to the people who
call the lovely sands and warm skies
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of the island home. Iron-fisted
dictatorship or democracy for the people, it’s all up to gamers on how
they want to rule their own island paradise in the newest rendition of
the resource management simulation title, Tropico 4 on the Xbox 360.
On the surface, Tropico 4 doesn’t seem that much different than its
predecessor, Tropico 3. As before, gamers start from nothing more than a
sandy beach isle with a scant few buildings as El Presidente and build
that island into whatever vision for grandeur gamers decide: a
political, economic or military power? Environmentally friendly or turn
a blind eye to ecological destruction as long as the money flows?
For-the-people laissez faire economics or suppress them and exploit
their hard work for self-profit? A tourist destination or focused on the
build-up of military might? Friends with the United States, Russia or
China? It’s all the decision of El Presidente, and each and every
pronouncement affects how Tropico develops as a nation.
But there are a few new challenges that returning El Presidentes will
find in the newest Tropico. There are new political superpowers to ally
with, and gamers will need to elect a whole government cabinet to assist
in getting those presidential policies in place. One somewhat annoying
addition is the inclusion of randomly dispersed natural disasters.
Nothing is worse than having erected a well-functioning island, with
high-producing farms and factories, and then encountering an
indiscriminate tornado or erupting volcano that instantaneously wipes
out all that island-building hard work.
For gamers that are social media addicts, Tropico 4 also adds Facebook
and Twitter integration. Gamers can snap screenshots and post them on
the Tropico 4 Facebook page, post to Twitter right from the game itself,
or compare Dictator Rankings with others.
While the gameplay isn’t much different
than any other previous Tropico, there is a 20-mission new campaign with
plenty for aspiring dictators to undertake in the form of objectives to
complete if accepted. Tropico 4 certainly has a full slate of
decision-making choices to make on a constant basis, and while building
the island with plenty of farms, factories and other structures (there
is a new selection of 20 buildings – including a stock exchange and aqua
park for the Tropicoan tourism industry), the most crucial building is
that of roads, though.
Gamers need to have a smartly planned roadway mapping across the
entirety of Tropico so that the crops and resources can be brought to
the factories and markets they need to travel to in order to increase
the Tropico GNP by assisting in economic growth. Without that money
flow, Tropico 4 can be sometimes very boring, as gamers with deficits on
the dockets cannot build new structures of hire new workers without
constantly reviving coffers. Money can come from donations or from
products made in Tropico that can be exported.
Waiting for buildings to be erected or crops to grow is about as boring
as, well, watching buildings be erected or crops growing. The very sharp
and detailed visuals along with a catchy Caribbean-flavored soundtrack
is a nice diversion while waiting, however, and there is a quick-build
function at least for structures that gamers can utilize with enough
money in the treasury, so that the buildings can be raised and put to
moneymaking work ASAP.
There is an in-game El Presidente advisor that gives gamers suggestions
on how to better their standing, along with occasional offers from
outside entities such as ambassadors that require decisions that can
negatively or positively affect how El Presidente governs and manages
Tropico, as well as how long his sovereignty as Tropico’s leader lasts.
Although there are some gameplay moments if gamers aren’t especially
careful with expenditures early in the game when some dark clouds of
boredom while waiting for some moola to multiply in the national vaults
can rain on a sunny day of tropical island ruling, those who enjoy
SimCity or Civilization-style resource management gameplay with a heavy
dose of political behind-closed-doors wheeling and dealing will enjoy an
excursion to Tropico in its latest rendition.
