14 DAY TRIAL // Tropico and Tropico 2 have been two of the most interesting and quirky management games that I've played. Where Sim City, in all of its installments, tried to maintain a degree of seriousness, with financial reports and advisers talking about city development, the Tropico series built its experience around the idea that “You rule” and that, as long as you are in power, everything is OK.
Kalypso Media has decided to pick up the intellectual property rights of the game from Take Two Interactive, and it is now saying that it plans to release a new game, called Tropico 3, sometime in summer 2009. Development for the title is handled by Haemimont Games, the developer that is also in charge of creating Grand Ages: Rome.
Simon Hellwig, the managing director of Kalypso Media, stated that “The Tropico series is a great IP which we are excited to continue. The game will be the biggest project Kalypso has realized so far in its short history and we are focusing on achieving a worldwide PC hit with this brand. The acquisition of Tropico along with other key licenses is fundamental to our future growth.”
There is little in the way of details regarding the new game, other than it will have state-of-the-art graphics and complex gameplay mechanics that are based on those of the first game in the series, which was launched way back in 2001. A multiplayer mode will also be included.
As long as they can create a game where good governance is secondary to rigging elections, sucking up to superpowers and good propaganda, then, with this effort, Kalypso might just get back the players who loved the first game. Also, it need to get the rights to some good South American music to use as you name yourself dictator of your small island.