Remember that Tropico 4 Community Interview that we promised? Well, after escaping from the beautiful island by only the skin of our teeth, we've brought back a secretly-taped discussion with El Presidente and one of his aides. The UN, the EU, the League of Nations (they're still kicking about, right?) all want a piece of the infamous El Presidente - and GGTL exclusively has the dirt on him that can bring him to justice.

Read on after the jump for the full interview.

With the new 'Fire Station' building added in Tropico 4, will there be dynamic damage/fires that affect our buildings and island at large in the game?

El Presidente: The Tropican buildings are made by only the best materials. They do not burn or get damaged. Ever. If one of them falls it was meant to fall, by my order.

Anonymous underling: Both will be present in the game. Disasters like earthquakes and hurricanes can cause buildings to become damaged. If a construction worker does not come to repair them, they will catch fire.

Fires can also start because of a volcano, or because of citizen negligence. You can prioritise which buildings should be put out first by your firemen or pay for a helicopter that puts out the fire instantly.

How will privatisation/nationalisation be dealt with? Will we be able to charge for services that were always provided for free in previous Tropico games?

El Presidente: Everything should be under my control at all times. After all, who but me can decide what is best for my people.

Healthcare, food and religion are my gifts to society and will remain free.

Anonymous underling: Privatisation will play a bigger role in Tropico 4. The Stock Exchange will attract foreign offers for constructing private buildings. Private buildings may go bankrupt if they do not have enough resources, or workers. Their owners will also be able to set wages as they see fit. The list of buildings that can be private is not yet finalised, but there will be more options compared to Tropico 3.

Healthcare, food and religion are Presidente’s gifts to society. There are no imminent plans to change that.

Will we have any kind of terraforming tools during our presidential reign?

El Presidente: Tropico is the most beautiful island on Earth. Why would we want to change its landscape if not to build several new factories?

Anonymous underling: Players will not be able to terraform their islands during gameplay. When creating a challenge (both online or offline), you will be able to customise the island including modifications on the terrain and adding/removing resources, crop and beauty markers.

Will there be improvements to the constant traffic congestion we suffered from in Tropico 3?

El Presidente: Traffic jams are a sure symbol of progress. Only well-developed countries can afford to have traffic jams. We should be proud of them!

Anonymous underling: As of this moment, no measures are planned to reduce traffic congestion but that is liable to change. There will be improvements to how roads are constructed, however.

What new opposition will there be to your regime? Right now there are rebels, superpowers, and local politics. What new challenges will be part of Presidente's threat profile?

El Presidente: Threats?!? Don’t make me laugh. Presidente was, Presidente is and Presidente will be forever. No matter what our enemies throw at us, it will always bounce back at them.

Anonymous underling: There are more superpowers now and they are just as fickle as the old ones. The new trade system allows for the superpowers to impose embargos on some goods.

Also, the citizens of Tropico may become criminals and start committing armed robberies and even murder. Your policemen will try to arrest them or shoot them down.

Will the new foreign powers added (China, Europe) place demands on El Presidente, in the same way that the US & USSR currently expect you to, and if so, what kind of new demands might we see from these powers given they are not explicitly Capitalist/Communist?

El Presidente: All they do is demand. I can’t get a minute of peace without someone nagging me to export smoked beef or to become their favoured trade partner.

Anonymous underling: Each superpower has its own unique agenda. Europe is deeply concerned about human rights on your island, while the Middle East is deeply worried by the price of oil and how you affect it. The new superpowers will not be able to invade your island, but they can do damage in other ways, like imposing embargos and other penalties.

How will the combat be handled in Tropico 4?

El Presidente: There is only one way to handle combat: you point your gun and you shoot. If you are doing something else, you are doing it wrong.

Anonymous underling: We do not plan on modifying the combat of the game. We do not plan on making the game an RTS or a shooter. Still, there are a few surprises for the rebels that el Presidente has in his sleeve. I will mention two: one will make El Presidente twice as effective in combat and the other just goes boom.

What are some of the new features/buildings that industrialist dictators can look forward to in Tropico 4?

El Presidente: This is a secret of national importance. You must be a spy if you want this information.

Anonymous underling: Here are two buildings that affect your industry and production:

The Chemical plant is a new production building that does not require input resources, but needs a lot
of electricity. With upgrades it can also improve the life of the everyday Tropican.

The Horticulture Station is a new building that affects your agriculture. It can be used to plant forests, turn all of your agricultural production organic, or you can dabble in the dark arts of genetically modified corn.

Will there be modding tools for the PC community?

El Presidente: Tropico is a work of art. Anyone trying to modify it better wash his hands first and be ready for swift arrest if I do not approve of his creations.

Anonymous underling: Yes. The player will be able to create online challenges. The tools and interface for challenge creation have been totally redone and give many new options. As mentioned before, you will be able to modify the terrain of your island when editing your challenge and add or remove resources, beauty and crop markers. You will also be able to place the starting buildings as you wish.

How politically-minded do you feel Tropico 4 is? Does the construction come before the politics?

El Presidente: This is a very good question. Next question please.

Anonymous underling: Well, looking at current politics and headlines I will say that we don’t dare to go that crazy, but we’re close enough. With the new National Agenda mechanic, the different factions are able to communicate more freely with El Presidente and he can answer to their needs more directly.

Construction and politics go hand in hand. This is precisely why Tropico is unique: you don’t need every building to win - in fact, you don’t need half of them, but what you do need is good planning and awareness.

Are mission islands larger than those of Tropico 4?

El Presidente: Have you heard of a game called Minecraft? Our islands are bigger.

Anonymous underling: Yes. Everything is bigger, as it should be. Alas, we did not manage to reach infinity, but the area of the new maps is twice that of the old.

When can we expect to see new trailers/assets for the game?

El Presidente: I spoil you too much by giving you trailers and screenshots for free.

Anonymous underling: Like all cool developers say, you will see them when they are ready. They are currently in the works.

Could you give us an advance on the 'August 2011' release date

El Presidente: If some dollars were to come to my Swiss account, the game could be out by next week. Propositions below the current US budget deficit will not be viewed seriously.

Anonymous underling: What Presidente said.


Presidente and Underling answers were compiled by Lyubomir Iliev, Game Designer at Haemimont Games.

The verdict? Tropico 4 is guilty. Of being a damn fine proposition. We can't wait to bring you more info on the exotic title, and Gamer's Guide to Life.com would like to thank the men and women at Kalypso Media and Haemimont Games for such a wonderfully inventive interview. Stay tuned to our Twitter for our future Community Interviews, and much more; it only takes a moment to follow us, and you get all that gaming goodness. You know you want to.

Labels: 2011, 360, Chris, Chris Hawke, Community Interview, Exclusive, Haemimont, Interview, PC, Tropico, Tropico 4, Xbox, Xbox 360

Classic fighting game fans are in the midst of a joyous occasion: the new Mortal Kombat release is imminent. However, before we explode with nostalgic glee at the re-emergence of the legendary fighter, let us take some time to remember an experiment, a venture into the implausible. Does Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks mean anything to you?

More than likely, that answer is probably "no". Released in 2005 for the PlayStation 2 and the Xbox, Shaolin Monks was a spin-off to the conventional Mortal Kombat recipe. Instead of purely focussing on versus combat, Midway threw you into a co-operative brawler riddled with everything you love about the MK universe. Unlike previous brawling attempts, such as Mortal Kombat Mythologies and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces, Shaolin Monks surprised by being... well, by being pretty damn good.

Speaking candidly, Shaolin Monks didn’t have the greatest visuals, the story was pretty stupid and the voice acting was exceptionally terrible. Typically, these caveats serve as one enormous admonition to stay far, far away from this title, especially since it was released during the time that some of the worst Mortal Kombat games were made. Uniquely, though, Shaolin Monks didn’t need any of those things to prove its worth as an accessible and fun title to throw into your system. After all, who wouldn’t want to throw useless foot-soldiers into the air, beat them to a bloody pulp, and then pass them to your teammate to repeat said gestures, with a nice decapitation at the end?


As previously stated, Shaolin Monks had nothing going for it in the way a standard triple-A title would. Its glory came from the fact that you could play with a friend, perform series-staple fatalities, and utilise a workable 3D combat system with two of the most famous Mortal Kombat characters, Liu Kang and Kung Lao. If it’s tough to envisage how it'd work, think of Devil May Cry’s over-the-top and completely exaggerated combat, but slower and more manageable. At points there are large numbers of enemies on screen, but there’s no demon chaos beams or exploding light vestibules to wreak havoc on your eyes. There are also platforming sections that require you to skillfully navigate distinguished Mortal Kombat zones, like the Pit.

Shaolin Monks will never beat a game like God of War on pure scale, because each of its attributes simply cannot compete with the angry Spartan and his showcase. I say shove it, though, because the simplicity and enjoyment you get from tossing your buddy an enemy several times, trading off roundhouse kicks to their cranium, is a beautiful thing. This gives scope to worry though, because with Mortal Kombat basically relaunching itself with a new (read: old) foundation, I’m afraid that Shaolin Monks' formula will be lost in transition. There’s also that whole Midway catastrophe, and who owns what licences, but there are always other ways around that.

Shaolin Ninjas, anyone?

Shaolin Monks wasn’t good at anything required to sell on the scale of, for example, Call of Duty, but it excelled in co-operative fare and was a worthy addition to the MK name. A note to NetherRealm, the developers: the new Mortal Kombat is looking amazing. but you can't forget a gem like Shaolin Monks. It would be a severe disappointment.

What do you all think? Should NetherRealm bother with Shaolin Monks? Should they make a series akin to it or perhaps negate the whole game altogether? Give your opinions in the comments section or, as ever, by tweeting us @ggtl.

Labels: 2011, Andrew Whipple III, Midway, Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, NetherRealm Studios, PS2, Xbox

Games support for the original Xbox pretty much completely stopped when the Xbox 360 was released in late 2005, and now support for the console is to be stopped completely with the news that Microsoft will be closing down Xbox Live support for the original Xbox and all of its games on 15th April.

Microsoft PR man Major Nelson announced on his blog:

"I wanted to let you know that on April 15, 2010 Microsoft will discontinue Xbox LIVE service for original Xbox consoles and games, including Xbox 1 games playable on Xbox 360. Our first step in this process will be to turn off auto-renewals for those members who only use Xbox LIVE on a v1 Xbox."

"While I can't comment on the specifics, this change will allow us to continue evolving the LIVE service with new features and experiences that fully harness the power of Xbox 360 and the Xbox LIVE community."

"We did not make this decision lightly, but after careful consideration and review we realise that this decision will allow us unprecedented flexibility for future features."

That means no more online gaming on your old Xbox, and not even any online support for backwards compatible titles like the ever popular Halo 2 and Star Wars: Battlefront II. The only way to get your Halo 2 fix now is to pick up the shoddy Vista port on the Games for Windows LIVE service, which requires a LIVE Gold subscription.

It's a sad day for those of you still playing on Halo 2. It's a shame and it seems a harsh thing to do on Microsoft's part, considering that people still pay £40 a year to use this online service.

Still, on a slightly happier note, Bungie are planning a Halo 2 matchmaking extravanaganza on April 15th as a send off to the game that really got online console gaming started.

Tom

Labels: News, Tom Acres, Xbox, Xbox LIVE

Ever since Braid, a 2D platformer/puzzle hybrid, was released last year on Xbox Live, the "little game that could" has received nothing but praise from critics and gamers alike. Braid was hailed as an innovative and aesthetically charming game, and garnered far more attention that anyone ever thought an online-only indie platformer would.

Labels: Braid, Joey Núñez, Xbox

First things first with this game; it isn’t based on the movie by the same name and released in the same year, it has many similarities to the Walt Disney movie: Pirates (obviously), English soldiers who move from being the goodies to the baddies, then back to goodies and even a ship called the “Black Pearl.” The game was developed by legendary RPG studio, Bethesda, in 2003 but despite its link to the popular movie, gained only average reviews.

The year is 1630, and the Caribbean is bustling with piracy. The main protagonist is Captain Nathaniel Hawk of a small merchant ship, the “Victory”. After leaving the port of Oxbay (which serves as the tutorial, teaching you how to fight, buy and sell booty, hire crewman, fix your ship or loan money) you are given control of a ship and a crew and then given complete freedom in usual Bethesda fashion. Some players might find this intimidating, personally: I loved it.


The 7 islands that you can now explore are each controlled by one of six different factions, with England controlling two. You can choose to do whatever you want, sail to Redmond to inform the English Governor there of the attack on Oxbay that forced you to leave, you could continue your career as a merchant sailor, going from island to island buying and selling goods or you could turn pirate, praying on rich trading ships and becoming a terror of the seas. The fast travel system -which would be essential for a game like this that involves moving large areas that would usually take days-, is solid and straight forward. You are given a crow’s eye view of a map, focussing on your ship. The graphics for the time are beautiful, one thing I disliked about Morrowind (which was released by Bethesda a year earlier) was the graphics, in the small amount of time between these two games, the change is astounding. The gameplay too is good, the main quest line is captivating but not original as once again, ideas from the Disney movie have been borrowed; the hunt for cursed Aztec treasure is the order of the day for this game.


The good points of the Pirates of the Caribbean are almost equalled by its weak points however. The huge areas and brilliant graphics are often dwarfed by bug problems that can destroy your entire campaign; multiple and regular saves are a must. Misspellings in the subtitles are also common and give the game a very unprofessional feel at times. Other, smaller, things; such as how a single, regular crewman will often slay highly paid officers during boarding battles get increasingly annoying. The vagueness of the quest log can also become frustrating at times; this is the draw back to sand-box RPGs, with other games a system of trial and error will –in most cases- eventually pay off. In Pirates you may often find yourself combing the Caribbean, looking for “someone with information about a secret pirate hideout”. Asking the tavern keeper of every island is usually a good way of finding this kind of information out, however, even this sometimes fails to work and you have to ask people at random or have the good fortune to simply stumble upon the person/place you were looking for in the first place.

The overall quality and enjoyability (yes, I think I just made this word up) of Pirates of the Caribbean is high, however, the constant paranoid saving that becomes almost second nature due to a fear of game-killing bugs spoils what was otherwise a great game that, with a few tweaks, had the ability to be a game to be remembered for years to come. Instead, the game was forgotten about soon after its release.

7/10

Lewis

Labels: PC, pirates of the caribbean, Retro review, Xbox

The sequel to arguably 360’s most treasured game to date, Gears of War 2, was probably the most eagerly anticipated game of the year and last week Marcus and co. returned to kick Locus arse once again.

Gears 2 is a constant battle for survival for the humans of Sera. The Locust have been sinking cities through a new, unknown means and now Jacinto is their last beacon of hope. In a final, desperate attempt to destroy the Locust, an attack at the Locust’s home turf is made. Marcus and the rest of Delta squad return to the Locust tunnels to take the fight to them. As humanities final stand, Gears of War 2 involves larger battles with more gears being sent into the action.

On first impressions of Gears 2, there isn’t much evidence of change from the sequel. Take cover-kill-move is still the most effective tactic, the graphics are still beautiful and the many ways of massacring the locust still never get old. Epic boasted of the many improvements and modifications it has made on Gears 1; apart from changing the roadie-run so you don’t jump to cover when simply trying to get from A to B and a stronger cover system, there isn’t much evidence of this. Not that it’s a problem, there wasn’t much in Gears of War 1 that needed improvement and if Epic had messed with the sequel too much it would have lost the magic of the first game.

The two main aims of Epic when they began Gears 2 were better plot and longer game play. By bringing comic book writer, Joshua Ortega on board they hoped to make the game more emotional with a deeper plot. Don’t expect Gears 2 to have you blubbing like a baby, it won’t. But who would buy this game for its emotional content anyway? The length of the campaign has been improved though. I managed to play through it on the normal difficulty in 3 days but that was pretty much constant play when I wasn’t sleeping or at college. Average campaign length is about 10-12 hours but I’m sure plenty of people will be able to tear through it at a quicker rate.

As well as the main plot of ‘kick the crap outta the locust’, sub-plots have also been added, the search for Dom’s wife, Maria being one of them. Many of these plots aren’t finished by the end of the game. The finale of the game is also rather disappointing. The sudden ending is anti-climatic, rushed and as annoying as the ending to Halo 2 but clearly gives the opportunity for a Gears of War 3.

Despite its few flaws, Gears of War 2 is an exceptional game, far surpassing the prequel and can be expected to be under many gamers Christmas trees this December - that is if you can wait that long to play it.

9.5/10

Lewis

Labels: 360, Gears of War, Gears of war 2, Review, Xbox

If you’ve been on Bungie’s website recently, you’ll know about H3: Recon or at least seen the link. Bungie have admitted that this is the game that was pulled at the last minute at E3 this year but aren’t giving much else away. One bit of released information is a cryptic trailer showing the devastated New Mombasa from Halo 2 after the battle involving the Master Chief.

Recon has not been treated as a sequel to Halo 3 by Bungie, rather an expansion. The main protagonist is an ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Trooper) soldier, “Madison” who is deployed in New Mombasa as the Covenant take over the city.

As the character has neither the durability nor power of the Master Chief, the player will have to be more tactical in their playing style than in previous Halo games and could possibly lead to a minor stealth system being put in use.

Obviously, Halo 3: Recon will be a Xbox 360 exclusive and is due for release in Autumn of 2009. The link to the trailer is here

Lewis

Labels: 360, Halo, Xbox

By now it has become obvious that the Wii is leading the next gen console war with roughly 25 million sold world wide, and the main reason for this is the attraction of it’s games to a more casual audience. The 360 and PS3 are often seen as the ‘hardcore gamers’ consoles. Exclusives such as Wii Sports and Wii Fit have made Nintendo’s latest console one that the family can use together. Microsoft have realised this and tried to combat it with the introduction of the Xbox Experience. Experience will be a new dashboard to replace the five screened one 360 owners are used to – but if you prefer the old one you can keep it, as Experience is optional.

The new areas will be: Spotlight, Games, My Xbox, Primetime, Community, and Videos with each area having its own screens. Spotlight is where to go for the most popular and eagerly anticipated stuff on Xbox Live and will often be updated to give you all the latest must haves.

MyXbox seems to be an improvement on the original dashboard, you’ll be able to check your achievements, add pictures and edit your profile. You will also be able to view your Medals; this new feature gives you a little medal when you get an achievement, although this seems pretty similar to what they’ve got already.

Primetime is where Microsoft is hoping to attract casual gamers. Here you play game shows with others over Live. You can participate or just watch these shows and Microsoft plan to eventually introduce live hosts and prizes. Currently Microsoft has only shown one feature for Primetime, a large scale quiz with up to 100 players.

Community is the Xbox’s version of the PS3’s Home and the Wii’s Mii. Create your own avatar that everyone else will see you as. You can also quickly see what your friends are doing and join a Live Party with them; you can chat with your group even if you aren’t all playing the same game or if one of you is watching a film. Microsoft also plan on releasing game where you use your avatar in the game.

You can now also install your games on to your 360, Microsoft claim this increases loading time and makes the ear numbingly loud 360 a bit quieter as the disk no longer needs to be spinning to play the game, although the correct disk still needs to be in the disk drive for pirating reasons or something.

Despite some flaws Experience looks set to be a popular new feature but may be shunned by more hardcore gamers because of its similarity to the Wii.

Experience is due for release this autumn.

Lewis

Labels: 360, Xbox, XboxExperience

Epic Games, the creators of the Gears of War games have recruited the British author Karen Traviss to write 3 Gears of War books. The first which has been named The Battle of Aspho Field is said to be set before the events of the first game.

These books are being written because the storyline was left slightly empty and players will now have a chance to find out more about Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad.

The author Karen Traviss has also written a few of the Star Wars spin off books.

Gears of War 2 will be released on the 7th of November.

Grimmy

Labels: 360, Book, Gears of War, Xbox