Gangland Review

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Gangland

Review by Old RoosterMarch 2004

Is This a Family You Want to Meet?

Be careful what you promise. Gangland, from the new European developer Media Mobsters, advertises a “whole new breed” of arcade-style action game, combining elements of real-time strategy, role-playing and sim genres. This family game—crime family, that is—offers us a “living city,” character building, “event-driven plot,” “action-driven combat,” “active resources.” Why, virtually everything you can imagine for a genre-blending, Mafia/GTA kind of game is offered, except Italian food recipes. Wait a minute! Even that is included—specifically, Big Mamma’s Meatballs.

The implication you’re likely drawing from the above is correct.  Gangland has a lot of interesting ideas—even promise—but just doesn’t come together well enough for anything other than a very mixed recommendation. Let’s look at the game in more detail.

Welcome to Paradise City

“Four Brothers Have Come to America; Three are having the time of their lives in the new world.  The fourth is there to kill them!”

This premise for the single-player portion of the game is enticing.  From the game description on the box and elsewhere, you draw the impression that you’ll be participating in a wide-open, dynamic world of organized crime. Running errands for bosses, taking out rivals, moving in on businesses, even creating your personal family, are all aspects you’re expecting.

The first concern for me was raised by a manual that features light black print on grey paper—very hard to read in all but the best light, and preferably with a magnifying glass. Secondly, we have an installation procedure that requires a record-setting 50-digit disk/serial key code, using the infamous Starforce system. Your CD is laboriously checked every time you enter the game. These “protection drivers” are implanted in your system whether you like it or not, and require a reboot. Not a good start.

There is no opening cinematic, and you’re thrust into a dark (see the pictures), violent, sometimes overwhelming city. With counterintuitive mouse controls (from a traditional RTS perspective) and a rather cluttered interface, the opening missions bring you along through a kind of “working tutorial.” The top-down view of your immediate surroundings features rotation and zoom, offering a moderate level of graphic quality.

“Go Back to Mama, You Sissyass!” —One of the Nice Fellows You Meet

The first couple of hours of learning the idiosyncratic control scheme passes fairly well, and you smile at the Sicilian Mafia caricatures with over-the-top voice acting. It’s now time for dinner (trying out the meatballs), and you decide to save your game manually, since you’ve not noticed any automatic save points along the way. Esc fails to bring up a save option. Well, then, it must be F5 for a quick save. No, that isn’t available either. Plunging into the grey-on-grey manual, and calling up the readme, you’re appalled to discover that the only save available, at least as of the time of this writing, is automatic—at the end of a mission!

Well, let me tell you, I had to “go back to Mama” a lot.  The first of 16 missions took me five hours, due, mostly, to the lack of midmission save. There are sequential goals/objectives that need to be completed within the mission. Given the nature of the game, a lot of things can go wrong with your plans, and if they do in a fatal fashion, you’re back to square one! Further, the missions get tougher and tougher, further complicating the save-game anomaly.

Goon Squad Goes Postal in Haiti

Regardless of all the fancy claims, Gangland is primarily a real-time strategy game. You add new units, acquire and build up new bases (stores), defend territory, carry on conquests. There are some skill-building factors and NPC conversations that occur, and, I suppose, one might think of simulation characteristics. But it’s really an RTS game, with a few fancy overlays.

Unfortunately, it’s also not a very good RTS game. Most of what we’ve come to associate with this genre, in terms of gameplay factors, is either missing or done badly. Primary concern is with the AI (artificial intelligence) of NPCs, both your bad guys and the other thugs. In spite of commands given, you never know what your sociopathic colleagues will do. They’re inclined sometimes to passively sit while shot, and at other times will wildly open fire in benign situations, bringing all kinds of accompanying havoc upon you and them.

Indeed, the little heading above suggests the kind of atmosphere in which you primarily reside. There’s no time for calm reflection, “troop” orders and disposition, thinking about building up your “sim-like” family and adding to your “RPG stats.” Rather, it’s a Wild West shoot-’em-up, right here in Paradise City! You can hardly move half a block without either becoming an unprovoked target and/or having your guys open fire on anyone who moves.

One Does Think of the F Word

The “F word” I like to apply to a game is, simply: “fun.”  Unfortunately, another F word better fits Gangland—”frustrating.”  Other one-word descriptors come to mind—incomplete, confusing, difficult, dated (graphics, sound), redundant, unfinished, untested.

This is Media Mobsters’ first game out the door; although one wonders what other topics their company name might let them explore. Given their relative lack of experience, I’m inclined to cut some slack.  And, hey, they might have “connections” where I live (Nome, Alaska)! Yet I must warn our dear readers that this full-price ($50) game is not in the same league as Mafia, Grand Theft Auto 3, or even Grand Theft Auto 2. I suspect the developers tried to do too much, and they ended up with an often-confounding game. In terms of RTS/RPG blend, SpellForce, another new developer entry, is far superior. One patch is already out, and another (midmission save) promised, but as we said at the outset, watch out for those promises!

What I Liked Most About Gangland

  • For a while, at least, the crime ambiance is entertaining;
  • Once learned, the interface allows reasonable management;
  • The multi-player aspect shows some “promise.”

What I Liked Least

  • The game becomes terribly difficult;
  • Lack of midmission save adds to that;
  • Play reality falls way short of what’s promised;
  • Voice and music tracks repeat too much;
  • RTS features range from unfinished to broken;
  • RPG and sim components are minimal;
  • Frantic and cluttered action spoils play. The End

The Verdict

The Lowdown

Developer: Media Mobsters Publisher: Whiptail Interactive Release Date: March 3, 2004

Available for: Windows

Four Fat Chicks Links

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Screenshots

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System Requirements

Windows 98/ME/2000/XP Pentium III 600 GHz (P4 1.1 GHz recommended) 128 MB RAM (512 MB recommended) 32 MB 3D GeForce 2 video card (64 MB recommended) 1 GB free hard disk space

Where to Find It

Links provided for informational purposes only.  FFC makes no warranty with regard to any transaction entered into by any party(ies).

      Copyright © Electric Eye Productions.  All rights reserved.  No reproduction in whole or in part without express written permission.

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14 Responses to Fear Factor

  • Fear Factor | Tap-Repeatedly.com | Reality Topics Blog

    […] nobody@flickr.com (graftedno1) wrote a very interesting post today.   Here’s a quick excerpt:My greatest fear is to be trapped alone in a confined space with a blind human, in total darkness. They have a heightened sense of smell and hearing, and. […]

  • Matt "Steerpike" Sakey

    Lewis, you made me think of the scariest moments I’ve experienced in gaming, and we’re very similar people.

    Bioshock had two moments – the dentist and the flooded room filled with mannequins.

    Thief had Return to the Cathedral, which was terrifying to me. Thief 3 had Shalebridge Cradle, which is so scary it ought to be fined.

    System Shock 2 kept me on the edge of my seat, but it was more lonely panic than true fear.

    Korsakovia was so scary that I uninstalled it.

    And STALKER. Oh, god, the haunted labs in STALKER. The latter two games don’t have scares like that. Few games do.

    It’s especially rare for a game to have more than mere “moments” – for a game to be scary from beginning to end, that’s a triumph.

    Wonderful article. As if Gregg’s review wasn’t enough to convince me that Penumbra is not something I have the courage to play!

  • DPenn

    I’m with you Lewis … I’m a bit of a puss. I just have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of dread as entertainment.

    Still, I’m drawn to dark stories when they have something interesting to say, whether it’s a game like Thief or a film like, say, Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible. So I’ll push through, sometimes peering through my fingers.

    The trouble with games, though, is that if you look through your fingers, you’re probably just going to have to play through the scenario again. :~)

  • Mike "Scout" Gust

    I wanted to play this game. I downloaded the demo but the controls were just too wonky for me to get my head around. I liked the atmospheric vibe a lot. I think I’m a bit desensitized from an overdose of horror movies in my youth so I don’t so much get the dread thing from these games as a nice creepy vibration. If only the controls were better…

  • Lewis B

    @ Mike, what’s wrong with the controls bud? As someone who despises poor control schemes, Penumbra’s is just like any other FPS, except to examine things you right click on them.  To use things you left click.  I’m not sure that can be considered difficult 🙂

  • Gregg B

    @Steerpike: Yeah my greatest shit-scared moments were with those games too. A few spoilers below people, so beware.

    Bioshock – Haha, I remember the dentist. I didn’t really find the game that scary overall but the bit where you go into the wine cellar and notice a mannequin facing the wall and after upgrading your weapon it’s stood directly behind you motionless and quiet just for a moment before attacking you. I shat a brick. I also missed that bit originally until Lew told me about it.

    System Shock 2 – same as you really, more unremitting tension all the way through rather than specific terrifying moments. Oh actually, theres a bit where you call a lift and it breaks then you realise a service droid is coming to fix it… I do remember having sleep issues after my first encounter with the cyborg ninjas though.

    Thief: The Dark Project – The Sword and Return to the Cathedral and Down in the Bonehoard and well, loads of them. The Sword made me break out into goosebumps though because there was a bit where you could hear this creepy giggling which seemed like it was following me about then it suddenly changed to this horrible throaty noise. What made matters worse was that the EAX (bless you Creative) made my foot steps sound like somebody else was there with me. That level was incredible, a bit too incredible as it seems I missed great chunks of it because I was so eager to leave.

    Thief II: The Metal Age – Trail of Blood where you end up in that opening with those damn tree beasts. God the first time I saw one of those hurtling towards me I actually died shortly afterward. Do you remember that Mechanist child walking around on one of the levels? That was a little creepy.

    Then there’s Penumbra: Overture – quite a few bits but I’m not mentioning them here.

    Oh and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. – The brain scorcher lab just because it was so damn quiet. My imagination seriously got the better of me there. Those stuffed animals and heads I’d seen in various buildings led me to believe that those creatures were lurking somewhere in the Zone, specifically that lab.

    @Mike: My control setup was perfect after some tweaking (as well as the simple weapon swing fix). If you ever fancy giving it another go, give me a shout and I’ll let you know my setup.

  • Lewis B

    I’m not sure why guys, but one of my starting paragraphs had gone missing, even though I copied it straight from the original source, and It was fine earlier. 

    Incase you missed it due to some technical issue you might want to re-read just after “Well no she wouldn’t in truth, but in Penumbra: Overture you don’t want to move anyway.” at the very start for those who’ve already read the article. Apologies 🙂

  • Mike "Scout" Gust

    Lewis, it was the weapon swing. It had this terrible, unresponsive feel to it, like trying to hit through molasses. I couldn’t stand using it. I tried the .ini fix as mentioned in the review but it didn’t seem to help. Of course this was the demo…but that shouldn’t have made any difference. I might try the second game instead as I guess they did away with the weapons thing.

    I’m see your first paragraph just fine. It’s the dialogue, right?

  • jdeuel

    I like the argument that weapons can remove fear, but even loaded to the teeth with ammo in AVP’99 the Marine missions were frightful because the enemy was anywhere at any time.

    As for Penumbra Overture, if the controls are anything like the original Penumbra they need to hack in some Wii-Remote 3d controls. I did not like using my mouse for 3d movements.

  • Gregg B

    @Mike: I’ve read that many people avoided conflict altogether in Overture which incidentally is something forced upon you in Black Plague. As somebody who has been renovating a house over the last 6 months with no DIY experience I can safely say that swinging a hammer is significantly easier in real life than it is in Overture without the fix. The fix balanced that for me.

    I’d highly recommend completing the first Penumbra because it’s one big build up to Black Plague which spoils the ending to Overture in the intro. And it’s a great ending too. Just so you know!

  • Lewis B

    @ Steerpike, those moments you mention are all my worst too!!  Do you remember the Robot labs in SS2? Absolutely terrifying, waiting for robots to burst out on you! 🙁 oh and have you ever player Condemned?

    @ Mike, The use of weapons in Penumbra is different to say HL2, where the player is physically holding the weapon, as in Penumbra it floats slightly infront of you.  However, if you change the control method to normal weapon swing, it’s no different!  Speak to Greggi and he’ll tell you what to do 🙂

    @ jdeuel, AVP the original and its sequal were scary however what type of fear do you think it is? I don’t think it’s anything more than sheer tension.  Having a Smart Gun makes you feel incredibly powerful.  I can honestly say in Penumbra the fear is sheer unrivalled terror, where you actually have to force yourself to play on.  It genuinly is that scary! 🙂

  • Jason Dobry

    It’s so true, an arsenal of weapons and ammo rapidly deflates any sense of horror or uneasiness in any game for reasons you already mentioned. Sakey, I thought Bioshock was more “lonely panic,” while I was pretty much always terrified in System Shock 2. I really, really, REALLY did not want to enter The Many’s nursery, and my weapons were so unreliable and ammo so scarce that I never felt safe.

    Silent Hill was terrifying for the same reasons. Ammo was rare and I frequently had to rely on my pipe for self-defense.  Even when I had ammo, the game mechanics prevented my character from being anything other than marginal with any firearm.

    Fear had one moment for me: I was climbing up a ladder, and as I reached the upper platform, my guy briefly looked down as he climbed off. As my perspective looked up again, that Ring-esque little girl was RIGHT THERE, reaching for me. I screamed and she was gone.

    What else…the original Aliens vs. Predator sent me into a locker room and I could only hear the facehuggers scurrying about somewhere within. I had to go in there. I advanced about three steps before the damn thing screamed and filled up my screen with its repulsive underside as it implanted me with its spawn. My roommate made fun of me for weeks for screaming like a girl child.

    Korsakovia–meh.  I was too annoyed and frustrated by the box rearrangement/jumping puzzles to be scared. I uninstalled it after an hour of play, I think. Maybe the scary parts were later, but I doubt it.

    As for Penumbra, I did play through about half of it before other games distracted me. I remember unease and creepiness, but no sweaty fear. I think I’m to blame here, or, more precisely, my daughter, who was still an infant at the time and generally allowed me only to play during the day for 45 minutes at a time. I was denied total immersion and the fear effect suffered. Maybe I should give it another go after I finish Call of Pripyat since she sleeps through the night now. With any luck, Penumbra will keep me from doing the same.

  • Gregg B

    I played the demo of F.E.A.R. but that ladder scare is the only bit I remember. Christ, that made me jump. I’m not too good with cat scares.

    Also I felt exactly the same about Korsakovia. It was creepy at first but then it began to irritate me far too much and it just soured the experience. I stopped playing as a result. Not to mention, when I realised I could bash those smoke-things with my crowbar they didn’t bother me nearly as much.

  • Online Up

    Great article. I look forward to reading more in the future.

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