Tropico is a pre-September 11th game and reflects that tremendously. The first installment came out in April 2001, believe it or not. In this, our hell timeline, is playing a Caribbean dictator that promises to “build bridges instead of walls” and “make Tropico even greater” something we can casually indulge in? On the other hand, it’s only a game, and a game with quite a pedigree. Like its protagonist/mascot El Presidente, Tropico 6 is a product of our time looking back to a time that never existed. If you were a writer, your editor would throttle you for hack symbolism, but this weird duality percolates through the entire game. Tidings on the radio are from the modern day: Brexit and so on. The dissonance starts in the opening cutscene: A man in a Fidel-style uniform and beard, smoking a Cuban-style cigar, sits at his desk listening to a 50s vintage radio. It’s pretty weird playing a game about being a petty dictator in a former Caribbean colony in The Year of Our Lord 2018.
