Tropico 4

 Xbox 360
  • Publisher: Kalypso
  • Release Date: Oct 18, 2011
  • Also On: PC
User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 42 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 42
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 42
  3. Negative: 3 out of 42
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  1. BrettSiebenhaar
    Aug 11, 2018
    8
    EL PRESENDENTE IS BACK!!! This game was like Tropico 3, but they made it better. Everything to me felt like they improved. The controls were easier to use, the menus were easier to navigate. The visuals might have even been improved as well. The game keeps the basic formula from Tropico 3, but I just had more fun playing this one.
  2. Winterspark
    Dec 28, 2014
    7
    A watered down version of sim city in a tropical environment. If you are willing to overlook the slightly clunky control interface and a somewhat limited palate of buildings to play with, there is some fun to be had here, even if it does generally involve vandalising your own island.
  3. LD9000
    Mar 14, 2014
    10
    Plenty of stuff to do in this town building sim. Because the population of your islands is really small (under 1000), each citizen is unique in it's political affiliations and preferences. The game consists of making money while keeping your citizens happy.

    There's plenty of humor, from the sexual innuendos of your high school teacher to your advisor constantly defending your actions.    Plenty of stuff to do in this town building sim. Because the population of your islands is really small (under 1000), each citizen is unique in it's political affiliations and preferences. The game consists of making money while keeping your citizens happy.

    There's plenty of humor, from the sexual innuendos of your high school teacher to your advisor constantly defending your actions. Great voice acting all around.

    After playing on over 10 islands, I still have not built every single building, there's over 50 of them, and the expansion strategy seems to be really deep. The best city building game I've seen yet.    … Expand
  4. Deiliberi
    Mar 1, 2014
    8
    Tropico4 isn't that much different from Tropico 3, which isn't a terrible thing. The game is definitely fun and worth your time. I had three big issues with Tropico 3. First, the tutorial was not sufficient, and the learning curve was brutal. Second, the game had a tendency to throw random disasters your way with no warning. There were times when it felt like a fickle god was out to getTropico4 isn't that much different from Tropico 3, which isn't a terrible thing. The game is definitely fun and worth your time. I had three big issues with Tropico 3. First, the tutorial was not sufficient, and the learning curve was brutal. Second, the game had a tendency to throw random disasters your way with no warning. There were times when it felt like a fickle god was out to get you, and there was little you could do to prepare. Third and finally, a lot of the missions involved an arbitrary clock. Once you had stabilized your island, reaching a point that your industries were so diversified that you actually were able to comfortably weather any crisis the game could muster, you were left running out the clock, with little to do but maintain what you had built and wait. I can't really say if Tropico 4 has solved the first issue. Having played through Tropico 3, I came to the game well prepared to face its challenges. The second issue has largely been resolved, there are still disasters but it felt like you were given a little more warning, a chance to prepare and think ahead. The third issue was almost entirely resolved; The game throws you a series of challenges, many of which might be optional, but if you ignore all the optional challenges you find yourself in hot water. Unfortunately, Tropico 4 also misses out on one of the great strengths of its predecessor. The humor just isn't as good. Tropico 3 was distinguished from other simulators by its sense of humor and Tropico 4 is just not quite as funny. I miss Betty Boom complaining about the fact that my wind turbines rotate with, rather than against, the wind.… Expand
  5. Bradyboy12
    Aug 11, 2013
    10
    A great city building game full of things to do. A fun campaign and an amazing sandbox mode, create tourist traps, industrial wastelands, huge metropolises, or agriculture islands, way better then sim city enact laws, set taxes, be despicable, and create your dream island!
  6. aadms
    Aug 10, 2013
    8
    So I'm guessing that most of the negative reviews on here are about Tropico 4 hardly being any different from Tropico 3? Well, I never played Tropico 3, so I can say that I really like playing Tropico 4. It scratches that building simulator need that we all have, it is challenging as SimCity, has many scenarios to play out, humerous and addictive. The drawbacks that I found in the gameSo I'm guessing that most of the negative reviews on here are about Tropico 4 hardly being any different from Tropico 3? Well, I never played Tropico 3, so I can say that I really like playing Tropico 4. It scratches that building simulator need that we all have, it is challenging as SimCity, has many scenarios to play out, humerous and addictive. The drawbacks that I found in the game are the road making ability, the lack of altering terrain, and the fact that your workers are trucked to a work site but end up walking back. When all is said, I'll be keeping and revisiting this game on my Xbox for a long, long time.… Expand
  7. drlowdon
    Jun 18, 2013
    7
    Having previously tried, and failed, to get into SimCity I decided to pick up Tropico 4 at a bargain price and thoroughly enjoyed its tongue in cheek approach to the city building genre.

    As with its predecessors the game puts you in charge of running a tropical island, either in the open sandbox mode or the 30 mission campaign. Played in sandbox mode the game is actually very similar to    Having previously tried, and failed, to get into SimCity I decided to pick up Tropico 4 at a bargain price and thoroughly enjoyed its tongue in cheek approach to the city building genre.

    As with its predecessors the game puts you in charge of running a tropical island, either in the open sandbox mode or the 30 mission campaign. Played in sandbox mode the game is actually very similar to SimCity with no real goals or time limits to affect how you play allowing free reign to design your island in any manner you wish. While this is certainly good fun I generally found the campaign mode, which sees the game split into missions lasting between one and two hours (although it is of course possible to save the game at any point), the more enjoyable experience. The varying goals of each mission force the player to play each one differently. One mission may ask you to set up a resort to attract tourists whilst the next may require you to export a certain quantity of natural resources for example.

    Regardless of what mode you play the game in there is certainly a great deal of depth to proceedings with finances, citizen happiness, crime levels etc all needing to be correctly managed. Fortunately a well designed tutorial explains everything clearly and the will controls quickly become second nature meaning people new to the series will easily be able to get up to speed.

    It's unlikely to hold anyone's interest for more than a few weeks but Tropico 4 is undoubtedly one of the best city builders available and will appeal to anyone with an interest in the genre, although anyone that has played the previous game will find not much has changed.    … Expand
  8. RacoonV
    Apr 16, 2013
    6
    I purchased the first XBOX 360 installment of the game Tropico 3 after I saw it in the bargain bin in my local gamestore. After being pleasantly suprised I was looking forward to Tropico 4, which resulted in a small disaster. Inititally I was pleased with the game, it has improved on a lot of areas and game mechanics compared to Tropico 3. The campaign is pleasant and offers a challenge,I purchased the first XBOX 360 installment of the game Tropico 3 after I saw it in the bargain bin in my local gamestore. After being pleasantly suprised I was looking forward to Tropico 4, which resulted in a small disaster. Inititally I was pleased with the game, it has improved on a lot of areas and game mechanics compared to Tropico 3. The campaign is pleasant and offers a challenge, the edicts (laws) are fun, the style of the game is interesting and the DLC (downloadable content) offers many more hours of gameplay. The big let down of the game is that the game doesn't work properly on the XBOX 360. You can't have a population over 500, otherwise your game freezes and it corrupts the save games. This results in the fact that all your hard work on a specific town is lost. This also results that you can't reach the year 2020 without taking a break, because then your population has reached 700 by ease, which results in a freeze or corrupts the save game. The learning curve of the game is also pretty hard, for new comers the game is hard to pick up, since there are a lot of menu's and it requires some training on how to build the most efficient city. All in all, the game is worth the money, but don't expect to much.… Expand
  9. Oxcart
    Mar 24, 2013
    9
    I've been a fan of Tropico since the first one came out many years ago for the PC. Tropico 2, with its pirate kitsch, was an annoying distraction, but Tropico 3 made up for it. Tropico 4...? The best way to describe this installment is as "Tropico 3 with a lot of extra features." Is it an entirely new game? Not really, but how could it be and still be Tropico? The new features areI've been a fan of Tropico since the first one came out many years ago for the PC. Tropico 2, with its pirate kitsch, was an annoying distraction, but Tropico 3 made up for it. Tropico 4...? The best way to describe this installment is as "Tropico 3 with a lot of extra features." Is it an entirely new game? Not really, but how could it be and still be Tropico? The new features are universally good; there are none I was forced to look at and think "Why did you do this to my game?" Smooth controls, which are surprising for a console builder game, and a reasonably smart menu system make the game easy to play for hours. And hours. And hours and hours until your boss calls and asks where you are. Kalypso has also been good enough to port the expansion packs that have been released, which add considerable content to the game. New buildings, edicts, and all kinds of amusing stuff which fit seamlessly into the Tropico mold. Overall, this is an amazingly good builder on its own; add in the fact that it's this good on a console, and it's outstanding. There is one serious downside, though, and it's this flaw alone that dings my rating. I've had serious problems with corrupted saves once an island has been running for a significant length of time (about 30 years). Perhaps one day a patch will come out to cure this, but I'm not optimistic; the same problem plagues Tropico 3 on the Xbox. Still, tons of fun to play! (Just cross your fingers while saving!)… Expand
  10. adokretz
    Mar 10, 2013
    8
    Tropico is a fun game, and you can drop the controller whenever you want, and continue just as easily. It is relaxing, entertaining and filled with positive and humorous vibes. While Tropico tries to be funny no doubt, you don't seem forced to laugh at it's ironic and stereotypical jokes, that comes naturally. The gameplay doesn't differ much from the 3rd and previous installment of theTropico is a fun game, and you can drop the controller whenever you want, and continue just as easily. It is relaxing, entertaining and filled with positive and humorous vibes. While Tropico tries to be funny no doubt, you don't seem forced to laugh at it's ironic and stereotypical jokes, that comes naturally. The gameplay doesn't differ much from the 3rd and previous installment of the series, but why change something that works perfectly. The new features are much welcome, and it is no doubt an improvement. If you're new to the franchise and don't know what to expect, the tutorial is helpful and you understand and get to know the menus completely after your first, maybe second mission. What I missed was more maps, as the campaign will have you play on the same 6-7 islands twice or maybe even trice throughout the 20 mission story. That gets rather repetitive, but at least there are new objectives each time and you therefore build the island differently than the first time. Much like Tropico 3, this is a fun and clever game that you don't play for too long at once.… Expand
  11. Blurtex33
    May 26, 2012
    10
    Iâ
  12. Munzta
    Nov 24, 2011
    6
    On one hand, this is a good game. If you enjoyed the previous Tropico games, chances are that you'lll enjoy this one as well. It has all of the same selling points as its' predecessors, and quite the better graphics. When that's been said and done.. it's pretty much old material in a new wrapping. Nothing groundbreaking, but enjoyable if you're into the Tropico series.
  13. shelbstar
    Nov 21, 2011
    8
    Being the first Tropico game I have played I cannot comment on how alike or unlike the previous games it is. However after playing other games that are similar to this I can honestly say this is up there with my favourites. I played the demo first and this then prompted me to rent it, I'm now contemplating buying it which doesn't happen very often. This game is challenging but at theBeing the first Tropico game I have played I cannot comment on how alike or unlike the previous games it is. However after playing other games that are similar to this I can honestly say this is up there with my favourites. I played the demo first and this then prompted me to rent it, I'm now contemplating buying it which doesn't happen very often. This game is challenging but at the right level, so that it is never too hard or too easy. The objective system is implemented cleverly giving you a range of optional and forced objectives. This is great as you can complete the forced objectives to win the level, however you can also complete the optional objectives to enrich your experience. There are also objectives which occur because of your actions (edicts, constructions etc...) I think these are some of the harder objectives but they can help a lot. I would say that this game is great, but i would reccomend renting or playing the demo before buying.… Expand
  14. Dark_Knight1990
    Nov 20, 2011
    8
    While I do not usually approve if a company slaps a new coat of paint and a few tweaks to a game and sells it as new, this is not the case with Tropico 4. On the surface it appears to be an "updated" Tropico 3. The game has taken a complete overhaul on the Xbox 360 with almost every aspect working way better than before. The roadways build correctly, the quick-build option can helpWhile I do not usually approve if a company slaps a new coat of paint and a few tweaks to a game and sells it as new, this is not the case with Tropico 4. On the surface it appears to be an "updated" Tropico 3. The game has taken a complete overhaul on the Xbox 360 with almost every aspect working way better than before. The roadways build correctly, the quick-build option can help immensely, and the new buildings completely change the game. The old structures function largely the same with a few notable improvements, such as roadway access for some buildings or the ability to upgrade Tenements with A/C. The improvements to the game are vast but you are likely to not notice at first. Do yourself a favor and buy Tropico 4. In about 3ish hours when you get done with your game, you'll be thanking me.… Expand
  15. vtolegend
    Nov 20, 2011
    2
    As a fan of the previous installments i feel insulted that Kalypso would make a "new" Tropico game and call it the 4th installment. This games in-game menu's, building, characters, design is almost identical to the previous game. Download the glicthy demo if it is still available and see for yourself.
  16. Apotts
    Oct 28, 2011
    8
    Although this is a lot like Tropico 4, the new additions really improve the game. The islands are brighter and bigger, and the new objective system really adds to the games challenge. If you loved Tropico 3, and don't mind that this game is more of the same with a few really nice additions, you won't be disappointed.

Awards & Rankings

87
#87 Best Xbox 360 Game of 2011
93
#93 Most Discussed Xbox 360 Game of 2011
82
#82 Most Shared Xbox 360 Game of 2011

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. Xbox Achievements
    Feb 15, 2012
    82
    Tropico 4 is a well-crafted update that is subtly better in almost every respect, including more helpful guidance to total newcomers and a steady stream of in-game mini-missions to keep things interesting. That pesky save bug makes an unwelcome return though and really should have been dealt with by now, but that aside you will be lost in a tropical paradise.
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  2. Games Master UK
    Jan 12, 2012
    72
    There's never been a better time to get into politics. [Feb 2012, p.101]
  3. Xbox World 360 Magazine UK
    Dec 28, 2011
    69
    It's a sprinkling of glitter rather than an overhaul. [Feb 2012, p.109]
See all critic reviews »