Most players will wind up in the game’s tutorial as their first stop, a four stage affair that gently drops players into the thick of Tropico’s mechanics. Those who are willing to brave the unassuming façade will be impressed with Tropico’s tight and addictive gameplay mechanics. Though the game may not look all that enticing, its looks are deceiving. None of these presentation elements are necessarily bad, but you won’t walk away with a particularly strong impression from them either. The music similarly is bright, chirpy and appropriate, but the style of flamenco guitar and samba music starts to get quite repetitive across a lengthy session on Tropico 4. You’ll spend a majority of the game with your camera zoomed right out for convenience’s sake and, even if you do zoom right in, the clarity and definition at the microscopic level isn’t quite good enough to give a grand sense of scale.
The game’s visuals are fairly competent technically, and the bright and lush isles of Tropico make for some stimulating and colourful level designs, but the genre of the game doesn’t really ever allow for the visuals to shine.
It’s a shame that the rest of the presentation isn’t quite as strong. The visual palette is fairly stimulating, but the graphics in Tropico 4 are never going to leave you breathless This is a game that uses socio-political clichés as a constant source of comedy, and it works rather well. It certainly gives the game a unique feel, and it’s always amusing when dealing with the various world powers and factions in the game who, of course, adhere to belligerent stereotypes. The game casts you as the dictator of an island nation, and often makes light of your powers over life and death and of mass censorship. Though it deals with serious issues of political antagonism and methods of bureaucratic deception, it often does so with a huge dollop of charm and humour. One of the first things that hits home in Tropico 4 is the game’s style and tone. Though elements of the console conversion diminish some of Tropico’s quality and appeal, it remains a wholly enjoyable game that feels fresh and unique for a console title.
Though the series has been running for some time on PC, it isn’t often we see this kind of game brave the challenges of a console port. In the vein of sim city, Tropico sees you managing your island nation in terms of its foreign policy, economy, education etc. If you're looking for a game that'll stimulate an older child/teen's grey matter without directly being about puzzles, Tropico 4 would be a great choice - it's certainly not a game you can just coast through without thinking.Ever wanted to take on the role of a dictator of a sub-tropical island nation? Me neither, but that’s what Tropico 4 lets you do. The topics it deals with are similarly complex, and balancing incoming and outgoings, managing trade, and keeping the populace happy requires a lot of patience and thought. With a lot of menus to navigate, and a reasonable amount of reading required, this certainly isn't a game younger children will be able to cope with. As is often the way, one decision will please one faction but upset another (for example, build a church and you'll please the religious faction, but may upset the less religious types) - all you can do is try to keep most of them on side, lest you have to quell an uprising. It's a game of planning and strategy as you grow your economy by building farms and gathering resources, before expanding your island, and building houses, hospitals, factories and museums, whilst attempting the impossible task of trying to keep everyone happy. Slow paced and thoughtful, Tropico 4 isn't a game that's going to appeal to fans of shooters and explosions.