Good Morning Tropico!

The city building genre wasn’t what it once was. Let’s be honest – the last Sim City game sucked and the one before that wasn’t great – so much so that the best game in that series’ recent history has been on the iPad. Cities XL’s vision of an MMO-like city building experience fell flat, too. Thank the lord, then, for Tropico.
 

Well that doesn't look good...

For the uninitiated, Tropico is something like a cross between a Sim City style game and ‘Evil Genius’, the James Bond villain sim. You’re in charge of a small tropical island, and as President you can either be a just ruler holding elections or a ruthless dictator ruling through the power of his army.

Like Sim City, pleasing the people in the city is important, and you have to deal here with different ‘factions’ of people. Will you satisfy those who believe in Science or those who believe in God? Nationalists or Tourists? Capitalists or Communists? Your little island isn’t the only thing important here, either – outside Tropico the cold war wages, and you must choose if you’re to side with the US, USSR or China, all while trying to ensure you have a decent ‘retirement fund’ put away in your Swiss Bank Account.

Tropcio’s set in an era long-gone, but in the age we’re in right now with several countries across the world rising up against Dictators, it all feels very topical. Even with its tongue planted firmly in its cheek, Tropico somehow manages to touch on exactly what it must be like to be El Presidente, ruling your island however you wish, staying in power at any cost. Tropico 3 was hugely successful with this formula, so little is set to change in Tropico 4. Instead, the team at Kalypso and Haemimont Games have just decided to up the ante with even more stuff.
 

Despite all the fancy urbanisation, it's important to remember where you are

That includes a new campaign that offers up 20 all-new missions spread across 10 new maps, and 20 new structures and buildings each with unique functions. These buildings will be introduced over the course of the missions so as not to overwhelm players, we were told.



The politics of Tropico is a major part of the game, and that’s now been expanded with the ability to appoint citizens to the ‘Council of Ministers’ – a group who will then act as a conduit between your Presidente and the citizens of the island. Who you appoint will be a major choice, as appointing someone who is good at the job might not be what you want – appointing someone stupid might mean more work for you, but it means your decisions will be questioned less. These major choices will impact on the core gameplay in large ways.

The biggest addition of all in gameplay terms comes in the form of ‘Interactive Disasters’. Previously in Tropico disasters would happen but would just destroy some buildings and kill some citizens – now they happen before your eyes. One example I saw was an oil spill from an oil tanker. We had to choose how to react – cleaning it up right away was a very expensive job, but necessary – if we left it, the sea life – needed for our food – and tourism – needed for cash – would both be damaged.

The disasters range from the man-made like the oil tanker to more violent acts from Mother Nature including volcanoes, droughts and tornadoes. How to respond will affect what the people think of you and how you can progress in each mission.
 

Different, yet oh so familiar. I think I'll place some more statues of me today

All that adds up to be a fairly significant jump over Tropico 3, but I haven’t even mentioned the biggest, most noticeable jump of all – the graphics. Everything has been improved, tweaked and changed in a way that makes the game look better, sharper prettier and more vibrant than ever before. Bright colours now dominate in Tropico, and as a result it looks a lot more like the tropical paradise it’s meant to be. As somebody who put a lot of time into Tropico 3 and loves a good city building game, I can’t wait to get my hands on Tropico 4. It launches in late 2011.