Role-playing action in a copy of the criminal world
This isn’t Gameloft’s first mobile open-world action game. And before New Orleans, fans of the direction were already running around Vegas. Nevertheless, the game still wants to be compared with the GTA series developed by Rockstar Games.
Gangstar: New Orleans fully exploits the concept of Grand Theft Auto, which has already reached the full fifth version. In fact, this is a copy, modified taking into account modern mobile realities.
The plot does not shine with originality. This is another story of a criminal pawn that is trying to knock out the kings. It turns out with varying degrees of success, but if you follow the script directly, the same outcome will meet the hero in any case.
Cars, cops, deaths and that’s it
Before following the storyline, every fan of the GTA series must play the fool to their fullest – go all bad through the streets of the open world of the game, robbing and beating townspeople, stealing cars and bikes, and running away from the police.
Albeit in part, but it is possible in the new Gangstar as well. Almost all transport in the game can be taken under control and ride with a breeze. There are simply no laws of physics here, but a certain amount of fun will definitely come out.
Ordinary people on the streets practically do not resist violence and it is unlikely that it will be possible to measure strength with them. And the cops are very reluctant to react to illegal actions – you can break the window of a police car and steal it right from under the nose of the guardian of order.
If you can cheat hard enough, a couple of police cars will arrive. Representatives of the authorities will run out of them and try to get closer to the hero in order to simply arrest him. And they will almost certainly succeed in this. About nothing.
An open world full of linearity
There is simply no actual benefit to the open world in the game. Despite the fact that you can really run around a little and even complete some kind of side quest, in any case, return to the storyline.
To do this, you can go to the map at any time and activate the task. In this case, you can ride a motorcycle, trying to smash the main character against the nearest walls, participate in a shootout, and so on – it does not matter.
Missions are more focused on the need to kill another thug that got in the way, or to bring an ally to one of the control points.
And besides the gangster theme, the game somehow fit a mystical and even fantasy message with magic, magic stones for pumping weapons, and so on. There is a feeling that the creators, to put it mildly, were too clever with all this.
Gangsters, neighborhood wars and an abundance of donation
After an hour of playing, a clear understanding emerges that we are facing another shareware vacuum cleaner, which clumsily tries to disguise itself as a large-scale global project with multiplayer and an open world.
The developers even used a monetization model that I call energy. Here the character has a limited supply of strength just for the passage of the storyline. And it goes down to zero very quickly.
There are practically no district wars here – there is no full-fledged multiplayer here either. The first in this case is necessary for the imaginary competitive spirit. And the latter justifies the impossibility of playing without an Internet connection.
Yes, playing on the train, subway, and so on without a normal connection to the network will not work with all the desire.
Graphics and concept with silly comparisons
After a short game and the wretchedness of the graphics, the understanding comes that the world of mobile gaming has practically died – and this is another nail in its gloomy coffin, which is being hammered here by one of the leading developers of the App Store.
I would like to show the creators a finger at the new Zelda, which today can be considered the standard of the open world on mobile platforms. And without fear to seem ridiculed to ask – how long will they feed us with this.
At this rate, without ideas to make real quality, in a year or two we will inevitably come to a situation that it will be simply impossible to play on iOS – nothing. Until that time, let’s switch to Nintendo hybrids and enjoy life and extraordinary games.
In the meantime, the App Store will hit rock bottom for sure. And the general result of my acquaintance with Gangster: New Orleans is negative. It is better to replay the GTA lineup on mobile phones again.
