Gangsters 2: Vendetta is a 2001 PC video game. It was developed by Hothouse Creations, with Eidos Interactive as publishers. Gangsters 2 was designed by both Peter Moreland and Rob Davies. The game is the sequel to Gangsters: Organized Crime also published by Eidos.

Story[edit]

Set from late 1928-early 1929, the game follows a character called 'Joey Bane'. Bane's father is murdered at the beginning by a mob controlling most of the state, with the capital of Temperance (the fictional state where the games are set). The leader of the mob is Frankie 'Hammer' Constantine. Bane is aided by his father's younger brother, who escaped the killings and gives the player advice on how to build an organized crime racket. During the first mission, Bane kills the men who actually murdered his father, only to learn they were pawns in a grander scheme. Bane progresses through the state, building up his power by eliminating gangsters in various communities connected to the killing of his father, as well as forging alliances with gangsters who are also at war with Constantine.

Style[edit]

The game is very heavily a strategy game, utilizing a point and click interface. Each gangster ('hood') the player controls can have four subordinates that will help the character in a firefight. Players can use vehicles to reach targets faster, attempt drive-bys and transport goods. Weapons can be upgraded, including those of your 'hoods'. Business must be bought, sold and taken over from rival gangs, players must set up many types of illegal businesses to make the most money e.g. gambling dens, breweries and brothels.

The player is given objectives to fulfill. They range from setting up illegal businesses, claiming the enemies' business, kidnapping, and murder.

Features[edit]

Players can purchase a number of different automobiles, business specialists and other 'specialists' including hitmen.

There are five different cars for purchase as well as a range of guns: revolver, dual pistols, rifle, shotgun and the tommy gun. Bombs can also be purchased, but only by a gangster with the bomb skill. Skills can be leveled up before starting each mission, by a limited amount, from leveling your hoods combat or stealth skill, to their special abilities, unique to each hood. There is bombing, bank robbing, getaway driving, or kidnapping skills. You can also level up Specialists's business skill, increasing their profits.

End Scenes[edit]

The game was noted for having end scenes for cases of losing. Icons dependent on the game's outcome would then be placed in the high score section dependent on the losing scene, with the exception of a 'Victory' icon should the player win the game.

• Execution: Bane is sent to the electric chair if the player is arrested and the crimes committed are acute enough to warrant a death sentence.
• Death: If the player is killed by rival gangsters, Bane's tombstone is shown in a thunder and lightning storm.
• Imprisonment: If the player is arrested but not to the severity of execution, Bane is shown being locked away as the sounds of shouting prisoners is heard.
• Bankruptcy: If the player exhausts all capital to the point the hoods desert, Bane is shown angrily leaving an empty office as a picture of his father falls to the floor.

Reception[edit]

The game achieved mediocre success with critics, with it given a 5.4/10 rating by GameSpot,^[1] 53/100 by GameSpy^[2] while PC Zone magazine gave it a 5.5/10.^[3]

References[edit]

1. ^http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/gangsters2vendetta/review.html Gamespot's Gangsters 2 page
2. ^http://archive.gamespy.com/reviews/july01/gangsters2/ Gamespy's Gangsters 2 review page
3. ^http://www.computerandvideogames.com/game.php?id=2666 PC Zone Magazine's Gangsters 2 page

External links[edit]