I loved Tropico 3. So it's not much of a surprise that I leaped for joy upon hearing that Tropico 4 is coming out. But is El Presidente's latest outing his worst?
The gameplay remains the same for the most part, with a few new buildings here and there. Tropico 4 is an economic and political simulator, In which you run and maintain your own banana republic.
The UI(User Interface) has been remodeled and is a hell lot smoother. But, the small text decided to make a comeback for some reason. And It is kind of annoying that you have open the build mode every time you want to place another object, a problem not seen in the other games.
The addicting formula is still intact, and trust me you will lose a large portion of the day because of it. However the campaign, which feels watered down, is nothing more than a group of generic objectives this time.
The Tropico series is well known for its sense of humor, was anyway. It will still make you giggle here and there, but that's all. It's predecessor did a better job at keeping me entertained.
However, what Tropico 4 does do right makes it worthy of the Tropico name. It fixes the economic system to the point of near perfection. And the dangerous pastime that is Tropican politics has had allot added to it, including a council of ministers and more superpowers to threaten poor old El Presidente.
The character creation menu hasn't had allot added to it, other than a revamped trait system that really rewards you for trying different things. Basically, each time you choose a trait it will be more effective in whatever it does. Sadly, El Presidente's wardrobe hasn't been expanded to meet his presidential needs.
The Islands are bigger, but there isn't enough new buildings to fill it with. The new building's are actually useful, and most of them expand the gameplay one way or another.
There using the same graphics engine, but its been modified to have more colors and be more optimized. The colors really add to the beauty of your personal tropical paradise, and being more optimized means it works better.
Music is an important part to Tropico games and all games in general. I am really disappointed to say that Tropico 4's soundtrack sounds more like elevator music then music being played at a fiesta.
The voice acting is decent for the most part, but El Presidente's new voice does get irritating from time to time. The new radio DJ's have no personality what so ever, DJ Juanito
of Tropico 3 fame was much better.
Last but not least, the UGC(User Generated Content). Browsing through them was a pain in the previous game, but now it's a joy seeing the different missions fellow dictators think of. There's also Facebook and Twitter integration if your a social person.
Overall the latest Tropico game leaves me satisfied, but I cant help but missing DJ Juantio. Honestly I think it's unfair to compare it to the other games, however it still is a good game.
So if your looking for some new strategy game pick this up. If your looking for a Tropico game look somewhere else.
Thanks to an addition to the Humble Totally Tropico Bundle, you can now complete your Tropico 4 and 5 collections.
The Humble Totally Tropico Bundle just launched today. It features games like Tropico 5, Tropico 4, Tropico 3, along with a number of expansions and DLC.
Player2 takes an in depth look at the Tropico franchise and its long history
I never played these games. They look like fun though perhaps I should rectify that next steam sale.
Feedback is appreciated. Also, feel free to ask any questions!
I like the Tropico series a lot, and I agree with your review. Good job!
My biggest problem with T3 was that it was so buggy on 360, so I was happy that T4 was more stable.
Also, they are putting out DLC for this game, which is a good thing, though I wonder if people will feel it is a bit overpriced for what you get. Still I am glad they are supporting the 360 version better this time around.