Tropico 4 has been testing gamer's resource and city management skills for a few months now. Many of us have found taking the role of El Presidente and building an island up on love, hate, or fear an absolute blast. But while Tropico 4 has provided gamers with hours of entertainment, there's one thing they desire: more. With the official expansion, Tropico 4: Modern Times, coming soon, Kalypso is giving us more of what we love, and in the most creative way possible. We got our hands on it the other day and were pleased with the results.

For those who have not stepped into the world of Tropico 4, we'll give you the rundown. Imagine yourself in command of an island – essentially a fictional version of Cuba. You'll step into the shoes of El Presidente, a man who looks quite similar to Fidel Castro. Picking either campaign or free-mode, a series of campy, 50s' pop elements will be thrown at you as you keep your island running, productive, and strive to make the people happy, or at least keep them working. That might mean brainwashing them, ruling them with fear, or ruling everything with perpetual kindness and a progressive mindset. Tropico 4 brings you to a Cold War era setting where tensions are tight, and everything from assassinations to world treaties of peace are possible. 

The exportation and importation of goods will be what keeps the finances flowing. Whether you choose to export raw materials, or haul them to create other industries, Tropico 4 focuses heavily on making this sort of trade work. At the same time you'll be building houses, apartments, hospitals, schools, and dictating the law and order of the island to keep everything in balance (or perhaps just creating a utopia / dystopia).

However, as the game years increase in Tropico 4, the island still screams 1950s Cuba, even in the 2000s. Tropico 4: Modern Times changes this by adding in modern buildings and modern events. As the years increase, so will the design and age of your buildings. The neighborhoods you built in 1960 will be vastly different from those tall complex towers you'll build in the 90s. Of course, with new buildings comes new… everything.

First, you'll be given around 12 new campaigns and 30 new structures. With the addition of new tech like the Internet, space shuttle programs, and world events like the War on Terror will unfold before your eyes. You and your people will be facing all sorts of changes socially and politically. The campiness and humor still remains, and as you take on the role of El Presidente in this new Modern Age, you'll unravel an interesting story of conspiracy and illuminati dealings while you build secret police and glass towers across Tropico. You'll also have the addition of organic farms and biofarms to help with land management, and the ability to create a police state is all so much easier in Modern Times. Want to cut off birth control to your people? Go for it. Are there people who don't like your television program? Have a convenient "accident" happen to them, or put them down in the street where everyone can watch and learn to fear you. It's up to you how you play. You can even have a hippie love fest for your people if you wish to.

Internet, Freedom of Speech, the space race, control (or freedoms), the War on Terror – these are things on which Tropico 4: Modern Times focuses heavily, giving us much more than just a few new buildings or a skin update. There is plenty of content here to justify an official expansion, as Modern Times turns Tropico 4 into a richer, deeper-layered, and meatier game.

Tropico 4: Modern Times is expecting a March release.

[View Tropico 4: Modern Times images / screenshots +]
[Watch Tropico 4: Modern Times videos / trailers +]
[View more Tropico 4: Modern Times articles (news, previews, reviews) +]
[View Tropico 4: Modern Times cheats / guides +]

User Comments (0)