OT: Gangland

[spleen1015]

This game out last week. I really liked Gangsters and Gangsters 2, but I haven't tried this one yet. Has anyone given this game a look? What do you think?

[WSUCougar]

It certainly looks intriguing, but I have not played it yet.

And I'm not trying to be a jerk by saying this, but you really liked Gangsters 1/2? I liked the concept, but I thought they were miserably executed and pretty much unplayable.

[korme]

link?

In other news, I just picked up Tropico today. I am in a gaming mood.

[spleen1015]

I don't think I look at my games the same way a lot of the folks here do. I'm a 'the glass is half full' kind of guy.

I played Gangsters 1 a lot. I didn't like the linearness of Gangsters 2, so I didn't play it as much.

[spleen1015]

hxxp://www.mediamobsters.com

[Calis]

Originally Posted by WSUCougar

It certainly looks intriguing, but I have not played it yet.

And I'm not trying to be a jerk by saying this, but you really liked Gangsters 1/2? I liked the concept, but I thought they were miserably executed and pretty much unplayable.

I'll chime in here and say that I really liked Gangsters 1 and it was horribly executed and almost unplayable, but I put a lot of hours into it. I never played the sequel though.

I'm a sucker for Mob games. It had it's moments also.

[tucker342]

Sounds very promising. I'll be watching for reviews.

[TazFTW]

I was interested in this but after playing the demo, the interest is gone.

[spleen1015]

Originally Posted by TazFTW

I was interested in this but after playing the demo, the interest is gone.

Care to elaborate as to why?

[TazFTW]

Well, I didn't like Gangsters 1 and 2 (like a previous poster said; great idea bad implementation) and it plays like Gangsters with a graphics update.

The driving is atrocious. Some things don't make sense, like the description for the character Big Momma says she's slow but she out runs all of the other people I have (your main character being the slowest of them all). There's no differences in classes, like Big Momma is the only character to carry a shotgun and they all look the same. At least in Gangsters, the characters had names and had different traits/skills. Gangland just groups them into a class.

I don't know, maybe it was because I thought that game looked good and was overhyped about it that the demo let me down big time.

[Deattribution]

Originally Posted by TazFTW

Well, I didn't like Gangsters 1 and 2 (like a previous poster said; great idea bad implementation) and it plays like Gangsters with a graphics update.

The driving is atrocious. Some things don't make sense, like the description for the character Big Momma says she's slow but she out runs all of the other people I have (your main character being the slowest of them all). There's no differences in classes, like Big Momma is the only character to carry a shotgun and they all look the same. At least in Gangsters, the characters had names and had different traits/skills. Gangland just groups them into a class.

I don't know, maybe it was because I thought that game looked good and was overhyped about it that the demo let me down big time.

You might want to actually read the manual, or play the game a bit more. Unless your just going by the demo which is a fairly weak one.

You can replace the weapons on any character via a gunshop that you take over. Depending on the character you pick in the beginning is how your characters speed is determined. The larger, tommy gun using main characters are obviously slower, while the skinny shotgun/pistol guys are quicker. You have 3 different types of bullets you (normal, strong, stronger), 3 different attacks (bullets, explosives, chemicals) for certain characters as well.

It has some issues with multiplayer, it works fine and it's interesting but once whoever is hosting the game quits, the game is over. It really hampers MP because once you kill the host, it's unlikely he's gonna sit there and leave his computer on till the game finishes.

Each character doesn't have a name, but there are several unique characters with unique skills. Some can plant bombs, others can use tommy guns, or double pistols. Some can stun with punches or spray. Then you have characters from other international mafia families (ninjas and such) that you can earn by doing task for the families.

The computer (in my opinion) seems to have a large advantage over you in regular (sandbox type) games. I'm not sure in the single player campaign as I've not given it a whirl. They tend to build up very quickly and warm in to take over your business', so unless you have the game down really well and don't fool around any, it can be tough. Or maybe I just still suck.

Taking over business' is fairly cut and dry, you go in, kill whoever is protecting the business and decide whether to extort it (taking 25% of profits) or take over it (taking 50% profits) and being able to purchase things from the place (gun shop mainly). That's generally it, a guy will start collecting money from the place and carry it to your base. He can be killed along the way, losing the money by enemy families... You also get items, car parts from garages, jewerly from pawn shops, ect... which you can use as trading material with whoever happens to call you in your office, sometimes trading for units, sometimes money and other times for bullets/med kits.

You can get married to a character in game, thus allowing you to have children which can be vital. Three different types of wives, which allow you to have three different types of children. Your children can run the desk in your office, extort/take over, hire and generally anything your main character can do. This is helpful as after the game gets deeper, you do not want to be running around with your main character, once he dies, the game is over.

There's a bit more, and overall I'd say it's strong.... with some proper balancing issues (multiplayer issue, computer strenght, some controlling tweaks) it will be a really solid game in my opinion. Can't really speak for support yet (game only been out about a week), but they are supposedly scheduling a patch sometime this month.

[daedalus]

Interesting review, Deattribution. Thanks!