Tropico 4

 PC
User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 419 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 274 out of 419
  2. Mixed: 118 out of 419
  3. Negative: 27 out of 419
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  1. apokalipto
    Aug 13, 2023
    9
    Very good game. I enjoyed playing this game a lot. I strongly recommend this.
  2. Dco326
    Jun 28, 2023
    8
    Dobra igrica realno dobro sam se proveo ali je bas slicna kao trojka, al ajde kampanja je zanimljiva ali posle nekog vremena postane malkice repetativna i to je to. Nikad vise za jednom je top
  3. mkhue108
    Feb 26, 2023
    7
    First Tropico game I’ve played. Love sending my death squad suppressing people.
  4. DinoBeam
    May 29, 2022
    5
    It's alright, no real highs or lows, kind of boring.________________________
  5. Izoeros
    Apr 26, 2022
    7
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  6. saxonec
    Nov 15, 2021
    10
    Игра в которую я влюбился по трейлерам, игра которая влюбила меня в ходе прохождения. Отличная сюжетная компания, большой функционал микроэкономики и менеджмента. Это очень качественная игра, учитывая её стоимость, рекомендую.Игра в которую я влюбился по трейлерам, игра которая влюбила меня в ходе прохождения. Отличная сюжетная компания, большой функционал микроэкономики и менеджмента. Это очень качественная игра, учитывая её стоимость, рекомендую.
  7. TheEarthDragon
    Sep 13, 2021
    9
    Still the best Tropico to this day. The woke will have meltdowns with soft gender roles adding to the management aspect, but that is also part of the fun and struggle to balance your Tropical Paradise
  8. Sepherim
    Mar 3, 2020
    5
    Tropico 4 es un juego de gestión que sin duda es muy accesible para aquellos que no somos muy expertos en el género. Lo cual está muy bien: pocas cosas que controlar, cadenas más o menos sencillas de producción, etc. Lo cual está muy bien hasta que llevas unas cuantas horas de juego y ves que, en realidad, no solo es sencillo sino que es simple, y al final estás haciendo en cada misión loTropico 4 es un juego de gestión que sin duda es muy accesible para aquellos que no somos muy expertos en el género. Lo cual está muy bien: pocas cosas que controlar, cadenas más o menos sencillas de producción, etc. Lo cual está muy bien hasta que llevas unas cuantas horas de juego y ves que, en realidad, no solo es sencillo sino que es simple, y al final estás haciendo en cada misión lo mismo. Lo cual rápidamente se vuelve muy repetitivo. Gráficamente no era en su momento para echar cohetes, ahora menos, y a nivel de sonido y demás, lo mismo. El resultado por tanto es un juego que, sin poder decirse que sea malo, tampoco se puede decir que sea bueno, y cuyo interés decae a medida que vas jugando. Un 5,5 pero probablemente sea menos para aquellos que buscan juegos de este género.… Expand
  9. Wiebe
    Feb 26, 2020
    4
    Barely an improvement over Tropico 3, cheap money grab from a studio that should have done more to evolve their game
  10. ZetaJiffils
    Dec 21, 2019
    2
    Aburrido, MUY aburrido....y mira que a mi me gustan los juegos de construcción y survival....pero este juego....buah!!!
  11. Trey82
    Dec 8, 2019
    8
    Coming off of T6 and T5 (I felt like a leisurely city building sim, and T5 truly disappoints with its lightning pace and endless MISSIONS. T4 gives you far more choice in accepting missions and doesnt push you to complete 10 months of work in a 12 month timeframe!),
    I miss certain things, sure. The interface in 5 is laid out better. The buildings are far more 'diverse' in their benefits,    Coming off of T6 and T5 (I felt like a leisurely city building sim, and T5 truly disappoints with its lightning pace and endless MISSIONS. T4 gives you far more choice in accepting missions and doesnt push you to complete 10 months of work in a 12 month timeframe!),
    I miss certain things, sure. The interface in 5 is laid out better. The buildings are far more 'diverse' in their benefits, and you cant build an uber-starter economy in 5 minutes by throwing down 10 woodcutters, waiting for the environmentalists to complain and then solve it with garbage dumps in the next 5 minutes. :)

    With that said, I solidly endorse T4 as a 'leisurely' city builder. Yes, you have missions but you dont have to rush to them.

    Yes, the populace is never happy with what you are doing and you have to .. in essence, never satisfy everyone, because doing so would actually anger another faction. (Your sims want churches, so build them.
    Wait, you built too many, the middle east doesnt like it and the church now wants you to get rid of all that alcohol-based entertainment you just built!)

    Which leads us to two things: You kinda have to do your homework. Do you really need to? I mean, could I wing it? Sure.
    But if you realy want to enjoy the scenario you are about to enter, you should 'perk' up, accordingly.

    If you head into a mission where you'll need to build mines because export on everything else has a -30% debuff.. well what can we do? I like T4 because I really do have choice in how and when to tackle it! :)

    Do I just deal with the low prices and hit it with pure numbers? 400 citizens mining dirt-cheap commodities will keep the economy afloat, but you arent gonna hit a million bucks, anytime soon.

    Do we go food-heavy? A ton of farms and ranches, and then buff up those ranches by making it smoked beef and choosing 'food for the people' to increase happiness because the money isnt rolling in fast enough to build all the necessaries overnight...

    Do I just wing it and leave the immigration office on 'open door' and let the island turn into a runaway train? I can turn it back down to 'tropico first' and problem-solve during the next 10 rebel attacks, easy. At least I hope so.

    Anyway. The paths are there, and the learning curve makes it feel like youre repeating the exact same thing over and over until you learn what works. That is every strategy game ~ but the leeway you have in this one will make itself known within 2 hours. Give the first mission a couple tries.

    I only have 3 overxplained points of advice for you.

    Immigration office.
    First building you buy. Build it and change your immigration policy IMMEDIATELY when problems are solved or arise. (Problem: Not enough or too many workers. Check the almanac with F1 and see how many unemployed and how many job openings there are. Constantly.)

    Education requirements.
    This isnt simcity ~ you are shooting yourself in the foot by over-educating your citizens! who will work the basic jobs after you turn everyone into a needy, overpaid high school or college grad? Besides being super expensive to just throw down 4 buildings (basic school, HS and college) that'll solve a long term problem in 5 minutes... you can rush your society into overspecializing, and you'll notice it in your almanac ~ but it wont directly tell you that despite having 36 job openings, the college grads choose to be unemployed and homeless (no income, ergo no home, ergo the communists think you have insufficient housing, ergo the people are unhappy, yada yada)... so what do you do, now? You overeducated them and they now just sit on their ass and whine about it. Go back to the immigration office and turn it to 'love it or leave it' ~ the unhappy citizens will up and leave within that year.
    Sure you could just build some college-required buildings like clinics, dig for oil, armory, etc. But that is expensive and shows a lack of planning.

    MILITARY!
    While you are busy jumping from one problem to the next, barely giving much attention to the fact that maybe you have 3 rebels on the island.. (3? So what? Disorganized and whiny rebels dont pose a threat, yet! ~ That is what we think, 5 minutes before a rebel attack. Give or take. :)
    Build an army base. Create sentry boxes at your palace. The job satisfaction promises that you'll at least have a barebones defense. If your population is unhappy, you should throw up a second base... and maybe hunt down some rebels and put a bullet in 'em or arrest them. Youre just creating more problems, but at least youll get a chance to solve them, instead of watching the palace burn. *shrug*

    Good game. Not perfect. Not easy nor hard. But good for a few hours, a few salsa songs and a laugh. :)    … Expand
  12. gracjanski
    Aug 24, 2018
    10
    This game is a positive surprise for me. Of course I have the Complete Edition with all DLC. I didnt play the Tropico 3, so I cant compare it and cant complain that it is more or less the same.

    The gameplay is great, especially because it has a campaign, that is even well done. In the campaign you need to build up an isle with different strategies, what is exactly, what I want in such    This game is a positive surprise for me. Of course I have the Complete Edition with all DLC. I didnt play the Tropico 3, so I cant compare it and cant complain that it is more or less the same.

    The gameplay is great, especially because it has a campaign, that is even well done. In the campaign you need to build up an isle with different strategies, what is exactly, what I want in such simulations. But the campaign could be shorter or more diversified, because you build up islands from the start all the time. Could be a better idea to take some islands and solve problems (like in the scenarios in the sim city games). But overall I like this game even more than the popular Sim City franchise. In addition all the political mechanics are reasonable to me, especially I like the 8 political fractions and how to handle them.

    The atmosphere is great also with a cool humour and nice hints on the practical side of the politics.
    It is a fun to zoom into the streets and watch the normal day by your citizens.

    The devs could put in much more and better music, but for that I hear to some caribbean/ hawaiian music via youtube.

    And yes, the natural desasters are not fun, especially, when they come so often, very frustrating.

    There are challenges, but they are blank, because you need to download them and the connection to the server is not working.

    The DLC Modern Times is bad, you can read about it in the DLC page.    … Expand
  13. aralath
    Aug 7, 2018
    7
    Fun strategy game. However it does not bring new elements to the genre. Still playable.
  14. DanySK
    Oct 31, 2015
    8
    More Tropico 3, and that is good in my opinion. If you liked the previous chapter and want more of the same, this should be satisfying. If you search a wide improvement, or new game mechanics, or you don't like the third chapter, stay away.
  15. tonyman97
    Apr 28, 2015
    6
    Don't buy this game if you have a social life (or a life. period.), as it is probably the most addictive game I have played. Graphics are meh, mechanics are good and it's got some pretty funny political commentary. Would recommend to anyone I don't want to see for a month.
  16. smilzoboboz
    Mar 17, 2015
    7
    Yet another Tropico, with updated graphics, and that's why this game is good. If you already own Tropico 3 you can skip this review and I suggest you not to buy this game, because unless you're a die-hard fan of the Tropico series you won't feel the purchase was worth anything.

    That said, this game is marvelous. Unlike almost every city-builder game out there, your goal is not to build    Yet another Tropico, with updated graphics, and that's why this game is good. If you already own Tropico 3 you can skip this review and I suggest you not to buy this game, because unless you're a die-hard fan of the Tropico series you won't feel the purchase was worth anything.

    That said, this game is marvelous. Unlike almost every city-builder game out there, your goal is not to build a successful city/country but to do anything you can to rule on it and keep doing it surviving elections, coup d'etat, riots, etc.

    Graphic is really good, music feels like Buena Vista Social Club (which means awesome), actual game mechanics and enjoyment are flawless.

    What this game lacks (and I can't really say exactly why) is longevity, after 3 cities I felt like I had no reasons to build the 4th one... still I'd like to recommend this game to almost everyone.    … Expand
  17. Ecresis
    Jun 25, 2014
    7
    Tropico is a banana-land oriented city builder, it is full of clichés, funny bits, and unique gameplay features such as bribing, corruption and tobacco fields.

    The graphics in Tropico 4 are wonderful, the city building is very often limited by landscape but you can do curves, long roads in the nature, and many options to make your city different in each gameplay. It is a city builder    Tropico is a banana-land oriented city builder, it is full of clichés, funny bits, and unique gameplay features such as bribing, corruption and tobacco fields.

    The graphics in Tropico 4 are wonderful, the city building is very often limited by landscape but you can do curves, long roads in the nature, and many options to make your city different in each gameplay. It is a city builder with all the classic bits, making money, providing electricity, services, but then there is the background. Tropico happens during the Cold War and you'll have to bear with it, and make decisions that could end up with your nice peaceful city being invaded by the US army

    Another good point : the happy salsa music. If you don't like it, you might not enjoy yourself, but it is very entertaining while you're slowly building your city. Only 12-13 songs though, you might end up dreaming about the songs if you're not careful

    Now the 3 was already good, the 4 was the same, and the 5 is again.. the same. No improvement justifying buying the 3 versions.

    Conclusion : Genius idea, over-used in the long term, and prepare yourself to a butt-dance session on your chair    … Expand
  18. lzk222
    Jun 20, 2014
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Tropico 4 is a really good game. Not a great game but good enough to keep any one interested in city building, economic management and resource collection engaged for hours at a time. The biggest pros of Tropico 4 are its citizens, its political factions and the detailed economic system created by its developers.

    The complexity of the individual citizens that live on your island is quite impressive. Unlike other similar games such as Sim City or Anno, every citizen in Tropico 4 has a unique name, skill set, political inclination, age, home country, job experience, etc. I love the the richness and detail of this element of the game for it makes the micro level of Tropico 4 realistic and engaging. At the macro level the various political factions that must be navigated and addressed hinge upon the preferences and character of your citizens. The balance of this aspect of the game is well developed. For every action in the game, there is an equal an opposite reaction. This keeps the game fun and challenging, and makes it very goal driven which appeals to players such as myself. Perhaps the most important pro is the elaborate and diverse economic system that undergirds the game as a whole. It is refined and intuitive. If it were not the game would suffer greatly and likely be very frustrating to play. Although it is not as extraordinarily complex as some other virtual economies I have seen, it is intricate and realistic enough to suck you in and make you feel like you are accomplishing something meaningful. The resource diversity is exciting, the supply lines are challenging and the financial calculus that stems from all of this resource management is sensible and addictive.

    As a side note I must also compliment the humor of the game, which is apparently a legacy of the series, the unique premise of the game (which also harkens back to its legacy) and the graphics which are a little corny but detailed enough to make the game feel real. Admittedly, what really makes Tropico 4 a pleasure to play are the little things. E.g. the political quotes that pop up between screens, the ability to customize and control yourself as an avatar presidente within the game or to choose from historical characters towards the same ends; The graffiti that appears on the walls of your buildings or the snakes and tapirs that occasionally wander through your jungles, and the resource pallets that pile up at your industrial sites. All of these things give the game character.

    On the cons side of things I must admit that the same little things that make the game so great are also its main shortcoming. There are little things in Tropico 4 which I find very annoying that could be very easily addressed if the developers cared to do so. For instance, there is no North button which aligns the mini map with the onscreen view. This drives me crazy! I spend the first minute or so of every game just trying to line up my view with the mini map. Very frustrating. Also, many of the menus in the game are simple to the point of being primitive. The build menu is a good case in point. First off, accessing the build menu is somewhat counter intuitive for it only appears when you right-click. Then, once you are in the build menu, navigating to buildings is a total pain because the subsets don't have back buttons. If you click the wrong building subset or are trying to find a new building and don't know where it is then you have to exit and re-enter the menu every time! For those new to the game, such as myself, I wish there was an info box option for certain game features. Again, using buildings as an example, when a mission requests that you construct a certain building there is no hint as to where you can find it in your menu so you have to make lucky guesses and go through the whole process of entering and exiting the build menu as mentioned above. Perhaps I am just nitpicking at this point but I really wish there was a shift button option for certain actions such as late game management with air conditioning or upgrades to mines, ranches or manufacturing buildings. Instead of going to each building individually and upgrading it manually, it would be nice to hit the upgrade once while holding down a hot key so that the same action applies to all.

    Besides the little things, the two main cons of the game in my opinion are the campaign which lacks depth and is somewhat monotonous, and the music which although good in quality becomes very repetitive after a while. This is because it is catchy (seemingly a good thing in real life, but not for a computer game) and because it is on a short loop.

    All in all, although there are a lot of little things that I dislike about Tropico 4 because there is so much right with it as a whole that I have to give a favorable review. I give it an 8/10. Viva El Presidente!    … Expand
  19. Zegu
    Jun 6, 2014
    9
    I have sunk so many hours into this game. I bought it right after the sim city fiasco and couldn't be happier. It is a silly town builder with some cool options in edicts.
  20. Fonzy
    May 28, 2014
    8
    This game is pretty damn cool. To anyone of my generation that grew up playing SimCity on Mac Classics, this game is a must-play.

    I did not pick up this series until Tropico 4, so I can't share the gripes that some other people have that this version is not much an upgrade over Tropico 3, but I think if you're new to the series, this installment is a fine place to start. Tropico 5 was    This game is pretty damn cool. To anyone of my generation that grew up playing SimCity on Mac Classics, this game is a must-play.

    I did not pick up this series until Tropico 4, so I can't share the gripes that some other people have that this version is not much an upgrade over Tropico 3, but I think if you're new to the series, this installment is a fine place to start. Tropico 5 was just released, too, and I'm eager to try it out, but I'm going to wait for it to come down in price a little first.

    Solid game.    … Expand
  21. TheKingJpiter
    May 27, 2014
    10
    I love this game i ve played this game for weeks and it was amazing and i love tropico 4 with the Modren Times dlc and it is more exitng than Tropico 5
  22. EpicVico12
    Dec 7, 2013
    0
    fthis game sucks so hard dsfsdfsdfsdfsfsdf sdffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff
  23. Plutarco
    Dec 6, 2013
    10
    Even better than Tropico 3, funnier and far more complex. This version also adds new interesting buildings and objectives. It is an excellent game, don't think it twice to purchase it because it is also a great and peaceful option among so many repetitive and bloody games out there.
  24. c3p
    Nov 23, 2013
    6
    Game is probably a 8/10, the fact that i have to provide a mail to play it (even though i bought it on steam), is responsible for -2.
    It's just the most stupid/annoying thing i have seen in a game in a really long time!
  25. lach1223
    Oct 29, 2013
    8
    At first glance, Tropico 4 looks a lot like Tropico 3: the graphics engine is very similar and many models are reused. However, Tropico 4 brings many good additions to the series to create a more enjoyable experience overall. Tropico 4 adds more buildings and missions as well as a cooler soundtrack. Tropico 4 also adds more foreign factions such as China and you can now import resourcesAt first glance, Tropico 4 looks a lot like Tropico 3: the graphics engine is very similar and many models are reused. However, Tropico 4 brings many good additions to the series to create a more enjoyable experience overall. Tropico 4 adds more buildings and missions as well as a cooler soundtrack. Tropico 4 also adds more foreign factions such as China and you can now import resources rather than just export. Although the premise can get repetitive, there is lots to do in Tropico 4. From the campaign, to the random map generator sandbox to user made challenges, you are sure to have lots of fun being El Presidente.… Expand
  26. TheNikus
    Sep 2, 2013
    8
    Tropico 4 is a really motivating game. The campaign is really fun, all 20 missions of it. With tourism, trade, different factions and other aspects of your island to manage, you have a lot to do in this game. It really makes you feel like a dictator too, you can have people assassinated or simple shot in the streets by your soldiers. The voice messages you get from faction leaders andTropico 4 is a really motivating game. The campaign is really fun, all 20 missions of it. With tourism, trade, different factions and other aspects of your island to manage, you have a lot to do in this game. It really makes you feel like a dictator too, you can have people assassinated or simple shot in the streets by your soldiers. The voice messages you get from faction leaders and foreign representatives are really funny. While playing the campaign, I only encountered a single glitch (didn't let me finish the mission, had to use a cheat). Also weird: Religious people sometimes demand a cathedral on an island with three apartment buildings and two farms.… Expand
  27. JampStealthy
    Aug 19, 2013
    10
    Never played a Tropico game before. I liked Civilization but most city-building games such as SimCity I found very boring. This, however is a perfectly crafted game, with addictive gameplay, a great atmosphere, and the best music in any strategy game I've ever heard. Highly recommended.
  28. Wizzsama
    Jul 29, 2013
    10
    I like Tropico from last millenia, when first game was released. And this game are not an exception. But comparing first and fourth Tropico I can say that i just love the story here, even if it lost charming rebel's radio from third.
  29. K7Sniper
    Jul 14, 2013
    9
    As a long time fan of the Sim City series, I was one of the many who essentially was sent off with the latest EA debacle looking for a new form of city simulation. After picking this up on Steam during a sale. It has been worth every penny. While it may not look as pretty as other games like Cities XL, it makes up for it in every other way. The game itself is very smooth, the objectivesAs a long time fan of the Sim City series, I was one of the many who essentially was sent off with the latest EA debacle looking for a new form of city simulation. After picking this up on Steam during a sale. It has been worth every penny. While it may not look as pretty as other games like Cities XL, it makes up for it in every other way. The game itself is very smooth, the objectives add some sort of "Here, try to get this at your leisure" element, and all the construction projects feel that they have some sort of purpose to them. While there are some elements that I wish could be added or changed, such as perhaps a difficulty increase, or an option to set zones instead of actual buildings in some cases (think Sim City vs Sim Town style of construction), but overall, the game has been very enjoyable and it is worth the cost.… Expand
  30. starlight12
    Jul 2, 2013
    8
    Tropico 4 is a city builder in a little island, you are a dictator.
    You must survive after 50 years of tyranny.
    In first, the content of the game The campaign is long, with hard constraints (but we will see after that's not really hard). And after you can try the community's challenge. Or a custom sandbox with adjustable difficulty. So the life span as long as your desire to become El    Tropico 4 is a city builder in a little island, you are a dictator.
    You must survive after 50 years of tyranny.
    In first, the content of the game
    The campaign is long, with hard constraints (but we will see after that's not really hard). And after you can try the community's challenge. Or a custom sandbox with adjustable difficulty. So the life span as long as your desire to become El presidente.

    Now, the gameplay. The main goal is to survive, against elections (too easy for the fraud), against the rebels, the insurrections, the putsch or survive against USA or URSS. You must satisfy the citizens, they are communist, ecologist, religious.... Because if they angry, they hate presidente. And you must build building or industries for have more and more money, with exports or tourism. Mine, farm, bank, all means are good and after, with the Dollards, you can build a mausoleum (loyalists love that) or invest to your Swiss Counts or a church.....

    The only problem or this game is the fiancial difficulties absent at the long term (in-game, the 1980'decade).
    You win too much money with industry and planting, the only limitation is the lack of labors.
    But with money, you can pay everything, 10 hospital or 10 churchs (everyone is satisfied) or cops and military for kill rebels, too easy to survive after 30 years in-game. And the decree destroy opposition (the spy too).
    And the requirement of our people doesn't increase significantly.
    After the end of URSS with the miracle of the capitalism, people wants the pretty life and doesn't want live with 10 Dollards per mouth. This is possible to transcribe this.

    For the conclusion A party in campaign or in sandbox give you the happiness to kill opposants with difficulties, but at the long-term, you have more money than you can spend.

    But the game stay pleasurable and you will enjoy that.
    (Sorry for my english)    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

60
#60 Best PC Game of 2011
60
#60 Most Discussed PC Game of 2011
58
#58 Most Shared PC Game of 2011

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 46 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 32 out of 46
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 46
  3. Negative: 0 out of 46
  1. Gamer.no
    Apr 18, 2013
    70
    Taking control over the fictitious banana republic Tropico is still very entertaining. The changes from Tropico 3 are not overwhelming, but for new players the learning curve is a bit steep. However Tropico 4 is an addictive title and a safe alternative to Theme - and Sim -games.
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  2. Games.cz
    Dec 29, 2011
    70
    A well-made instalment of the great game trying not to innovate itself, but pleasing its hardcore fans or newcomers nonetheless – by its new campaign with more assignments, an import option and by a several new buildings addition. One is just wondering why there are still some flaws in the game and why the Tropico 4 does not bear a title of an expansion pack?
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  3. Vandal
    Nov 22, 2011
    80
    The game expands and improves the series, making it more approachable than ever, but without losing depth, so it offers the same fun, but improved. However, it evolves little in comparison with the previous entry, so those who enjoyed Tropico 3 won't find many new things in this fourth installment.
    Read full review
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