Omerta: City of Gangsters

The PC demo for this game has dropped, so I thought it might be a good time to start a thread for it.

I've always wanted to get into the Tropico games, but have not as of yet. I'm much more interested in the gangster setting of this game compared to the banana republic setting of Tropico, so it's been on my radar for sure. I'm one of the few that actually enjoyed The Godfather II game, so that kind of gangster theme goes a long way with me.

The trailers I've watched have looked a little janky, but then again, they're clearly gameplay and not jazzed up, BS CG, which I appreciate.

I haven't paid much attention to this ("City of Gangsters" LOLOL) and had sort of forgotten it's a kind of strategy game. That could be interesting, or terrible. Is it really a city-builder along the lines of Tropico?

Somebody download the demo and report back!

The trailers make it look more like a gangster empire management game. Honestly, just based on the little I've seen, it reminds of a XCOM in that there appears to be a strategy layer and a combat layer. I'm going to check out the demo for sure.

Oh, okay. A tactical squad-based combat strategy game would make a lot more sense. How would you even go about building a city of gangsters, anyway? The only available buildings would be Italian Restaurant and Speakeasy.

You could also get Italian Deli or Imported Goods Business, and eventually tech up toward Waste Disposal Business, Construction Site Trailers, Strip Club, and Casino.

Sweet! We're really on to something here. Kickstarter, HERE WE COME

I tried out the demo a bit this morning and I can't say I'm too hopeful. The overworld map actions seem a bit boring and the combat seems a bit unrealistic. In the tutorial mission my guys were crouching behind cover only to have the enemy thugs rush up right in their faces, miss them at point blank range, and then get gunned down on my next turn. I was playing at the easiest difficulty level but I'm not even sure brighter enemies would really save it.

I'll have to wait for some other intrepid soldato to figure out if this is worth the lira.

I tried the demo this weekend and was so bored by it that I didn't even finish it. Everything about it felt clunky. I'm not a big strategy game guy, so my opinion probably means very little. I was drawn to it almost solely based on the setting and that definitely was not enough for me to stay interested.

So this is out today. Working on the review, but the short version is "don't buy unless you really, really adore the premise."

That's about what I expected. The pricetag on the thing looks pretty lulzy in comparison to the content on offer.

Too bad. Concept does sound great and I almost preordered, but I had a bad feeling and I'm glad I held off.

Review is up.

Spot on review Adam. My impression of the game from the demo made me draw similar conclusions. The game is flat, bland, and not particularly well thought out on both layers of the game. I am of the opinion that it would be a good game for iPad if it cost half as much.

I can't say the review is surprising, in light of what I saw of the demo, but I'm still disappointed. It's a style of game I'd really like to see more of.

Great review Adam! It's sad that this didn't turn out better but them's the breaks.