It seems hard to believe that the Tropico franchise is still going strong. After all, how many uninhabited islands are there in the Caribbean just waiting for a maniacal dictator to take them over? Brief pause for Google search....ok, there are thousands. Which means thousands of little El Presidente's can start moving in and harassing their subjects, forcing them to toil for the benefit of their Swiss bank account. And in Tropico 4, you are once again given the opportunity to do so, with more sophisticated and comprehensive methods than before.

For starters, the starter to the game is wonderful, with the tutorial going above and beyond itself in explaining the various aspects of game play. For instance, I'm not entirely sure I've ever seen anywhere that tells you that one farm will feed about 50 Tropicans, but the tutorial points it out. The tutorial expands on explaining the factions; it expands on explaining the economics of the island and does an incredible job in doing so. It expands on explaining everything about the game. Novice and experienced players alike can learn a lot from going through the multiple tutorial missions. That's right; it's not just a little starter island. There are mini tutorial missions to guide you through all the basics.

And with all the original gameplay aspects of Tropico, there are a few new additions that add quite a bit to gameplay. The most incredible new system that Tropico 4 has in place is the import and export system. Imports and exports are exactly that; they allow El Presidente to control what comes in and out of the island down to minute detail. The docks even allow you to set limits on how much money your island will spend on imports for every ship that docks. Don't want any imports because you're saving money? Then don't allow them. If you want to import thousands of pesos worth of logs, go ahead and do it! The import system allows you to gain valuable needed resources without having to rely on your own island to do so.

For example, let's say that our random island happens to not have any meaningful metal deposits, but you're dead set on creating a weapons empire. Import the needed metals in and watch your pistolas roll off the assembly lines. Want to avoid pissing off the environmental faction, but you really want to be the leader in Caribbean fine furniture? Import logs so that you don't have to deplete the natural beauty of Tropico to get the materials needed for your labors. And by doing so simultaneously make sure the island stays beautiful for all those wonderful tourist dollars. Combined with the export system that allows you to dictate how many of your goods leave the island, your potential for profit is tremendously increased. The system takes a little bit of getting used to, but that wonderful tutorial steps in once again to explain the changes to the player.

Also, the game has another new mechanic – in game challenges. These challenges allow players to get rewards and benefits for completing certain tasks. For instance, a player may get a challenge that asks them to increase religious satisfaction on the island to 70. If they are able to do so, then they get a boost to the respect of the Religious Faction. Another challenge may ask you to export 500 units of spiced rum to Russia. By doing so, you gain $10,000 to your island bank account to help you out initially and $5000 to your Swiss bank account when done. These challenges can interject another interesting element to gameplay, allowing you some variety in your goals and objectives and giving the player more to work for. However, once a challenge has been accepted it cannot be resolved except to complete it. At least, if there's an easy way to do so it wasn't apparent. And the player has a cap of how many challenges they can accept at once, meaning that if another shows up that you'd like to accept and you have too many, one had better be resolved pronto. Players are able to review the challenges first and let them sit while they decide whether to accept or reject them, but occasionally you may find yourself accepting a challenge and then deciding you no longer wish to complete it. If that happens, you're stuck with it until the end of the game no matter what.