60 Second Preview of…

Tropico

The Specs

Tropico is a primarily a game of building with political overtones. From hotels and golf courses to sugar plantations and mines, Tropico provides over 100 structures to build. You choose how to shape Tropico's economy by the kinds of buildings you construct, choosing to emphasize industry, mining, agriculture, or tourism. Tropico goes beyond that, though, with an island of individual citizens who each are strving for happiness. These complex citizens can be made happy or unhappy by a wide variety of variables, such as the quality of their housing, their jobs, and so on. It's your job as the leader of this small island to figure out how to make them content — because if you don't the army, church, rebels, or one of the many other factions may attempt a coup. Tropico will come with a variety of scenarios to play and will also include a random scenario generator. In addition, Tropico will use a new and improved version of the Railroad Tycoon 2 engine and will play at resolutions as high as 1600x1280.

The Speculation

Mark's Comments: You get to be your own version of a lighthearted Castro or Noriega in a bright, colorful game with AI-driven citizens who are affected by dozens of variables. Do you invest in housing or factories, mines or hotels to attract the tourist trade? Sounds interesting, doesn't it? Tropico will require players to take a more intimate approach than the typical Sim City approach. Like all good strategy games, Tropico will require the player to juggle many different conflicting goals. Like a Phil Steinmeyer game, you can expect Tropico to be intelligent.

Tom's Comments: Woo-hoo! Roller Coaster Tycoon in a banana republic! Sim Junta! Railroad Tycoon II with politics! Caesar/Pharoah in the contemporary Third World! Since the game is going for a lighter touch, it looks like they're soft pedaling some of the less savory aspects like the drug trade, political oppression, and golf courses. But I love the milieu, I love the look, I love the development studio, and I love Phil Steinmeyer's ongoing developer's diary in Computer Games Magazine. Wringing resources from Carribbean islands is uncharted territory in computer gaming, but I can think of very few companies I trust to take me there like I do PopTop.