Gangland is a very good example of a basic ideas and mixing different genre, gone horribly wrong!
First Impression
After installing the game, the first thing I noticed was that there were no introduction cinema before the menu select screen shows up. How can there be a game with no intro? (With the exception of MMORPGs). Looking through the menu, I noticed that you can create a profile where it will save the progress of the game.
Gameplay
It seems like this is going to be a fun game to play. While playing through the game little by little I started to notice some things that caught me off-guard and really ticked me off and frustrated.
When I was playing without the Don, and had the phone option, I had the choice of either answering the phone or ignore it. The phone offers oppurtunities to improve your gang activity or get great offers, but in order to answer it, YOU HAVE TO BE NEAR THE PHONE. I leave the phone after the offer, then five minutes later it rings again, and I am like a long reach from it, and no one else can answer it but you, unless you have children. Why is this a big deal? Because every three or four minutes, the phone starts to ring again.
I also noticed that the AI that you have, are not very smart at all, nor are the opponent AI. When in a battle the thugs that are expert in melee chrage directly to the opponent attacking you, without your command, plus they will just run, and if a obstacle gets stuck in their way, they will stop moving, forcing you to click at them and doing the process. Those that use guns are also in that aswell. You try to tell them to attack them, but if they have a line of sight block, they will not attack.
The use of cars is a ecellent idea, but it has gone bad, because controlling the car is a very hard task to do, and you will end up dead. The only time I use the car is when my group is taking a beating and they need cover to shot with their tommy guns at the enemy until they are dead.
Controlling your groups is also a hard task, because you cannot bind them with a hotkey , so you have to click and drag the square just to send a squad. Also when a huge group moves at the same time, they cluster together and stay like that after they finish moving.
Why isn't there a saving option in the skirmish mode? I mean I understand that there's a auto-save in story mode, but in skirmish mode when playing offline? That does not make any sense at all.
Also the AI is very serious, even if you set them to very easy to beat, in about 30 minutes your base is going to be attacked and you have nothing to defend them and they will be after you.
Howeverm there are some good sides about the game, but not whole alot. You can get married in the game, which is necessarry to expand your gang activity and have your kids take over if you get killed.
Also you can go and take over business like ammo shops, weapon shops, hotels, and other business to increase your funds and the amount of ammos you can have.
Graphics
They are up to par, not that imprresive, but up to par.
Sound
The music is great and changes rythim when you are in a battle, but it really doesn't match with the timeline of the game that takes palce.
Value
Not ahole lot on that department.
PROS: Has the 1930s style theme, most activities you do are what where what mafia gangs used to do. The music is great rythm in the game. The NPCs have the attitudes of serious mafia gangsters.
CON: Bad gameplay, no saving during skirmish mode, VERY difficult to beat the NPCs in skirmish and scenerio. Poor AI.