If you don't fall precisely into either category, read on - by the end of this article you should have more than sufficient information to help you decide whether or not to at the very least download the demo...

The premise? You are the newly installed dictator of an obscure caribbean island (yes, you even look like a certain Senor Castro...) and it's up to you to make a go of it. How? Almost any way you like... you can be the hardcore dictator type, ruling with an iron fist, laying waste to all that oppose you... or, you can take heed of what it is the people want, building nice homes for the populous and generally being mr nice guy... or you can attract tourists to your isle, raking the suckers for all they have... you can steal all the money and run off with the wealth of the people... or almost anything in between!

The level of freedom presented to the gamer in this title is unsurpassed - play it as you will, just stay in power - through bribery or murder, the choice is literally yours.

The game mechanics are oh so similar - build stuff, examine stuff, look at stats - etc. This comes as a relief - the instantly familiar interface (stylized rather nicely too!) allays your fears and enables you to tackle the vast array of options with instant aplomb - very rarely does a designer get things this right, you will rarely be more thankful for a developer's experience in a genre as you are with this title. Two minutes into the game, the controls are second nature. That's a very good thing too - there are a LOT of options available! Take care to investigate them all - their use can make certain aspects of the game considerably less time consuming.

The graphics engine is very impressive - allowing zooming in to a very personal view of townsfolk etc (a mere shack will take up a good portion of the screen, you can see very detailed plant and tree life, etc) right out (with a mere scroll of your wheel mouse - you do have one of those, don't you??) to an overview map of your little piece of paradise (you can see the outline of the island and identify which bits are covered by forests etc, but that's about it). In addition to the wonderful zoom function, you can rotate your view 360° (in 90° increments) for an unprecedented and detailed view of your buildings and island in general. The detailed graphical genius will mean that you will spend a lot of time on this function - the buildings and ruins etc really are quite spectacular.

The political aspect of your paradise isle must not be ignored - there are lots of little sub-groups amongst your population and how you handle them will have a very real effect on the events in the game. Don't want to have an election? You can avoid it, but it will have serious effects on the ploitical stability of the island. Make sure you keep your military very well paid!

It's not all politics though - your people have other needs too... These range from quite basic (shelter, food) through to "how can I possibly affect that" items (religious devotion etc) - all of which have a part to play in how your gamestyle progresses. You can get a very very detailed readout on your currently selected inhabitant's satisfaction in the various categories or you can opt for a simplified overview as to their current level of happiness and current desires. Take care to heed the overall desires of your people while not necessarily catering to their every whim - it's a balancing act and it will decide your fate. Choose wisely.

Resource gathering varies from farms (that grow whatever you decide - from corn to coffee, pinenuts to pineapple) to tourism, ultimately these all (and more) will affect your bottom line. Do you go for the quick buck? Or do you spend the time and establish a self-sustaining but slower income? Do you scare your peasants into working harder for you (lower $ spent per $ earned) while scaring away the tourists or do you draw in the international disposable income by hiding the unwashed masses?

You decide.