Review: Tropico 4 Gold Edition offers the best of both third-worlds

Tropico 4 Gold Edition for the Xbox 360 is pretty much Tropico 4 and its expansion, Tropico 4: Modern Times. In short, it's a humorous city-builder where you decided the fate or your nation and its people as El Presidente. While I wasn't blown away by Tropico 4 when I played it on PC, I can't deny that it is a fun and entertaining game. The Modern Times expansion made it even better, with the introduction of new buildings and missions.

In total, you're both of the campaigns, a sandbox mode to do what you want, more than 30 missions and all of the great humor and absurdity that Tropico is known for — just in one box.

Having played Tropico 4 on PC and Gold Edition on the Xbox 360, there are a few things I can compare: graphics and controls. The graphics — unlike the PC version — aren't adjustable. So, what you're left with are lackluster visuals that merely serve their purpose. It's not the clean, sharp image that you can get to on the PC. However, the controls work as well as I can hope for a city-builder on a console. After a little learning curve, I was able to get to everything fast, navigate menus effectively, and most surprisingly, didn't yearn for a keyboard and mouse.

Tropico 4 Gold Edition is what it is, and if you're looking to dive into the i-talian leather shoes of El Presidente, then the Gold Edition is the perfect opportunity.

Check out our full reviews of Tropico 4 and Tropico 4: Modern Times.

[Reviewed on Xbox 360]