Tropico 5 trailer takes you through the eras

Haemimont Games, the fun-to-spell developer of Tropico 5, have released a new trailer offering a first look at their upcoming city-builder series. Note that, while it's written Tropico, it's actually pronounced Trropicooooooo. In the world of El Presidente, the root of power comes from your ability to overly-extend vowels. Also from the ruthlessness to fix elections, imprison your enemies, and enact a program of state surveillance.

The trailer offers a quick glimpse at the new eras. While previous Tropico games were set during an indefinite Cold War, this sequel starts in colonial times and runs through to the modern age. As you progress through its four eras, you'll be able to research, build and upgrade new buildings, shifting the architecture of you city along the way.

While it otherwise looks quite similar to Tropico 3 and 4, Haemimont have imbued the game with a variety of clever features designed to test the player. Tropico's problem has always been how easy it was to settle into a comfortable routine. Once you'd learned a few of the game's tricks, you could happily get the basics in place, then begin the transition to tourism. This time, there are a vast number of potential dynamic roadblocks, forcing more improvisation and creativity.

For more details about the game, check out Tom's preview . Tropico 5 is due out this Summer.