Gangsters 2
| Gangsters 2 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Original title | Gangsters 2 - Vendetta | ||
| Studio | Hothouse Creations | ||
| Publisher | Eidos Interactive | ||
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
June 1, 2001 | ||
| platform | Windows | ||
| genre |
Real-time strategy game , computer role-playing game |
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| Game mode | Single player , multiplayer | ||
| control | Keyboard , mouse | ||
| system advantages preconditions |
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| medium | CD-ROM | ||
| Age rating |
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Gangsters 2 (Original title: Gangsters 2 - Vendetta ) is a computer game by Eidos Interactive and the successor to Gangsters: Organized Crime . It is set in New Temperance , a fictional state during the Prohibition period in the United States . The latter, and the presence of American flags as well as the FBI, point to the USA as the rough setting. Everything revolves around building a Mafia empire and violent confrontation with rival gangs .
action
When the protagonist Joey Bane returns from the army, he learns that his father, a mafioso , was murdered by an enemy gang leader. He swears revenge and sets out on a vendetta through the various cities of New Temperance . More and more entanglements with other bosses come to light, which ultimately lead to the sponsor of the state. The game is won if Bane's opponent Frankie Constantine is killed in the last mission.
Gameplay
Gangsters 2 is mainly based on the 21 missions single player campaign. There is also a multiplayer mode ; an open game in the classic sense as with the predecessor Gangsters is not possible. As with gangsters , the player has a view of the entire city from the start, and unlike the predecessor, the enemy territory including the headquarters is also known. A mission is completed when the player has achieved the specified primary goal, and he can also increase his score by completing secondary goals. These goals are to eliminate certain opponents, to protect certain people or to destroy or take over and hold certain businesses.
The game differentiates between day and night, which affects some activities. Basically, the game can be divided into a combat and an economic part. Both areas are mutually dependent.
Combat part
The player has a maximum of eight gangsters available, who accumulate in the course of the campaign and can also be recruited in the newspaper . These are like the "soldiers" of a gang, as they fight and attack or take over opposing businesses. Some are fixed characters of a specific mission, others are freely generated by the computer. Once they have joined Bane's gang, they are all controlled by the player. You can receive reinforcements in the form of up to four bodyguards called thugs . Every gangster has the basic skills of combat and camouflage . Some have additional special abilities:
- Assassin: Gangsters with this ability are able to take out individual enemies in a particularly targeted manner.
- Bombers: This ability allows attacks with bombs either in buildings, on the street or by remote detonation of previously prepared enemy vehicles.
- Flatter / distract: Flatterers can bribe important people such as police commissioners , judges and priests so that they no longer pay so much attention to the crimes of the gang, whose payroll they are on, in the exercise of their offices. Only the FBI is incorruptible. Furthermore, flatterers can distract people on the street from what is actually going on for a limited time by engaging them in conversation.
- Drive Getaway Cars: Gang members with this ability drive vehicles significantly faster than others.
- Kidnapping: Kidnappers can kidnap other characters who are then held in the office or hiding place. This can be useful to harm an enemy, but also to protect the abductee. The player can decide whether to release him or kill him.
- Hold-up: This feature enables hold- ups on businesses (e.g. banks) in order to steal money or documents. Only works during the day.
- Safe crackers: Has the same effect as a robbery, but through a break-in . Only works at night.
- Espionage: Spies can scout out the movements and plans of enemy gangs, which may give the player a tactical advantage.
The main character Joey Bane is also available as a gangster in every campaign mission. In contrast to his colleagues, however, he must never die, otherwise the game is considered lost. After each mission, newly added gangsters are either fired or accepted into the "family", which means that their skills can now be improved with the help of experience points and used again in later missions. In total, apart from the gang leader, eight gangsters can be accepted into the family.
In addition to gangsters and thugs, there are also professional killers who try to kill key figures such as opposing gang bosses or police commissioners for a certain amount of money. In contrast to the gangsters, these professional killers are exclusively controlled by the computer.
Economic section
Since gangsters and thugs do not do their services free of charge, the player has to generate income . It does this mainly by building illegal business. Possible are:
- Distilleries
- Breweries
- Whisper bars
- Gambling dens (different variations)
- Loan sharks
- Brothels
- Boxing rings
- Betting shops
- Counterfeit printers
- Protection money centers
Every single illegal business needs a suitably qualified specialist to run it. Like gangsters, specialists can be recruited through the newspaper, given experience points after the round, and up to eight of them can be accepted into Bane's “family” for a longer period of time. The corresponding buildings can either be bought or snatched from the enemy using gangsters. In addition, thugs can be hired to guard. Once the hired specialists have been sent to an illegal business, their behavior there, like the behavior of the thugs and the employees there in illegal companies, cannot be influenced by the player.
All their own gangsters, specialists and thugs have only one need that the player has to take care of: their payment. If Bane's cashier is empty, the game is considered lost.
Others
In addition to hostile gangs, the police, the FBI, the judiciary, the military and priests also act as opponents.
Gangsters 2 no longer had a successor. Similar games later appeared with Gangland (2004) and Omerta - City of Gangsters (2013).
reception
In general, the game was rated mediocre.
The PC Games called it a " half-baked mixture of real-time tactics and business simulation " and gave it a rating of 55%.
The online magazine gbase wrote: “ Gangsters 2 is a game that has not learned from the mistakes of its predecessor. On the contrary, with numerous options that have been eliminated, the game has lost a lot of its appeal. “The score was 7.5 points.
The verdict of golem.de was somewhat more positive : " With Gangsters 2, Chicago of the twenties, which was shaped by the mafia, is experiencing a resurrection on the PC, which can be seen both visually and playfully ".
Web links
- Gangsters 2 at MobyGames (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ see: official operating instructions for Gangsters 2
- ↑ http://www.pcgames.de/Gangsters-2-PC-16428/Tests/Unausgegorene-Mammlung-aus-Echtzeit-Taktik-und-Wirtschaftssimulation-10046/ (August 31, 2013)
- ↑ http://www.gbase.de/pc/reviews/369/Gangsters-2-369__p4.html (August 31, 2013)
- ↑ http://www.golem.de/0106/14383-2.html (August 31, 2013)