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City of Gangsters

74%Game Brain Score
gameplay, graphics
story, grinding
74% User Score Based on 871 reviews

Platforms

PCPCWinWindowsEGEpic Games

About

"City of Gangsters" is a tycoon-style management game set in the 1920s Prohibition era. Players start a criminal operation, build speakeasies and illegal distilleries, manage production and resource distribution, and bribe police to grow their illicit empire. The goal is to eliminate competition and rule the city, while keeping the money flowing.

City of Gangsters screenshot
City of Gangsters screenshot
City of Gangsters screenshot
City of Gangsters screenshot
City of Gangsters screenshot
City of Gangsters screenshot
City of Gangsters screenshot
City of Gangsters screenshot
City of Gangsters screenshot
City of Gangsters screenshot
City of Gangsters screenshot
+2

74%
Audience ScoreBased on 871 reviews
gameplay47 positive mentions
story8 negative mentions

  • Engaging resource management and logistics gameplay that immerses players in the Prohibition era.
  • Strong emphasis on relationships and social dynamics, allowing for strategic decision-making.
  • Regular updates and active developer support enhance the game's depth and address player feedback.
  • Repetitive gameplay can lead to tedium, especially in the mid to late game.
  • Combat mechanics are simplistic and lack depth, often relying on RNG outcomes.
  • User interface can be clunky and requires excessive clicking, detracting from the overall experience.
  • gameplay
    220 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay of "City of Gangsters" revolves around managing a bootlegging empire, focusing on logistics, supply chains, and strategic decision-making. While the mechanics offer depth and potential for immersive storytelling, many players find the gameplay repetitive and tedious, with a lack of engaging dynamics and depth in combat and rival interactions. Overall, the game presents a complex management experience that can be enjoyable for those who appreciate micromanagement, but it may quickly lose appeal due to its one-dimensional gameplay loop and clunky interface.

    • “The gameplay is mostly management and decision-based, with your concerns revolving around supply and demand and influence, but the real fun comes from crafting your own crime narrative.”
    • “The intricacies of logistics and business management offer a fantastic time sink that it's easy to lose yourself in. The turn-based mechanics with police busts add tension when you find yourself in a high heat area with illicit substances in your car and no further movement points.”
    • “The game combines RPG, turn-based strategy, and business tycoon style gameplay fluently together, forming a game that makes you feel like you are running a bootlegging business.”
    • “It's fun for the first few hours, but when you realize how one-dimensional the gameplay is, it loses its appeal.”
    • “The gameplay loop is tedious and uninteresting.”
    • “The police mechanics are too simple and at the same time unwieldy: once a year you go to the policemen and bribe them, then you can smuggle, kill and do whatever else in front of them.”
  • story
    103 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's story is largely absent, with players primarily engaging in a sandbox experience that allows them to create their own narratives through business management and relationships. While there are numerous missions and interactions with characters, many players find the quests repetitive and lacking in variety, leading to a sense of artificiality in progression. Overall, the game emphasizes player-driven storytelling rather than a structured narrative, appealing to those who enjoy micromanagement and role-playing elements.

    • “The story of the immigrant getting set up in a family's back room is grounding as far as how small you do start to how big of an operation you can become.”
    • “If you like story-rich games, you will love City of Gangsters as so many different personalities make for a deep story.”
    • “The developers have given you a lot of tools and room to roleplay and create your own criminal empire story.”
    • “There is no story mode, just endless sandbox, which gives little to no incentive to play.”
    • “The missions and flavor dry up in the mid to late game, and things get rather repetitive.”
    • “If you actually expected a proper story from this game, you may have to settle for what I’ve written above as the template for the randomly generated campaign maps found in-game.”
  • graphics
    79 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of the game are generally described as simple and stylized, effectively capturing the 1920s gangster aesthetic, though some players find them lacking in detail and depth. While the visuals are considered charming and nostalgic, they may not meet the expectations of those seeking high-end graphics or a more immersive environment. Overall, the art style is appreciated for its consistency and thematic relevance, but it is often noted that the graphics do not significantly enhance the gameplay experience.

    • “The graphics are on the simple side, but the brick buildings do create a nostalgic feel that transports the player back into the 1920s.”
    • “City of Gangsters' graphics successfully reflect the atmosphere of the criminal world.”
    • “The stylized graphics give the game an aesthetically appealing look.”
    • “The 3D aspect was a bit unnecessary; many buildings look the same, and the city feels kind of hollow at some points. I would have been fine with isometric 2D visuals provided the game could have more content and complex data visualizations of charts.”
    • “Tldr: At first glance, it appears to be an in-depth, complex micro-manager's dream game, but quickly falls flat in bottlenecked game paths, clunky interface, bare and horrid graphics, and ultimately shallow, unrewarded gameplay, which becomes boring and repetitive early on.”
    • “I didn't expect much from the game's graphics, this being an indie title and all, but the cartoonish art style betrays the setting; there is none of the grit you would expect from a game called City of Gangsters.”
  • grinding
    66 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The grinding aspect of the game has been widely criticized for its tediousness and excessive micromanagement, which detracts from the overall enjoyment. Players report that while the game starts off engaging, it quickly becomes repetitive and burdensome, requiring extensive back-and-forth actions that feel more like a chore than fun. Many reviewers express a desire for improvements to streamline gameplay and reduce the grind, suggesting that the game could benefit from better automation and quality-of-life features.

    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “This game is mildly fun for a short while, then gets annoying and boring all for the sake of grinding to a goal and... needle in a haystack challenge?”
    • “It's close to being a really fun game, but it gets absolutely killed by its tediousness and required micromanagement.”
    • “Running a gangster empire should be thrilling, but this game makes it a tedious chore.”
  • music
    41 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game has received largely negative feedback, with many players finding it repetitive and monotonous, often consisting of only a few tracks that loop endlessly. While some appreciate the thematic connection to the 1920s, others feel it fails to capture the era's vibrant jazz spirit, leading to a dull gaming experience. Overall, the soundtrack detracts from the game's atmosphere, prompting players to turn it off in favor of their own music.

    • “The music in Cog (upbeat mysterious instrumental jazz) is so good I didn't even want to tune in to a radio station. If you buy this game, I strongly recommend you buy the expansions for a few bucks more as they add a lot of content, maps, and even mob factions.”
    • “The 1920s era gangland setting is interesting, the art style is quaint, the music is thematic, and it has all the elements of a tycoon/4X game for people to enjoy.”
    • “There’s no voice acting, yet the soundtrack keeps things from getting stale, even as those few in-game songs play in an infinite loop.”
    • “The soundtrack is kind of monotonous, with one song on an infinite loop.”
    • “The music encountered is on the very tame side of 1920's jazz music, and only helps to make the player even sleepier than what the boring, repetitive gameplay provides.”
    • “Same stupid music over and over and had to turn it off after the first half hour, to play other soothing background music.”
  • replayability
    22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Overall, the game boasts high replayability due to its procedurally generated maps and diverse gameplay styles, ensuring that no two playthroughs are the same. While many players appreciate the variety and potential for different strategies, some express concerns about existing drawbacks that could hinder long-term engagement. With ongoing updates and the introduction of features like random city generation, the game's replay value is expected to improve further.

    • “And since there's so many factors weaved into the map/city (named NPCs, ethnicity, layout, rivers/coasts), the game offers so much replayability where your game restart is always different.”
    • “The replayability factor is one of the big positives for me - every game is different as the campaign map is procedurally generated (i.e., it's not the same Chicago each time you play), and I can't wait to see what additional systems the devs add to this beautiful game.”
    • “The procedurally generated elements and multiple different valid play styles (focus on one product line? on your own speakeasies? on variety for ease of sale? on territory and passive income?) make the game infinitely replayable.”
    • “The game had potential but has huge drawbacks crippling its replayability.”
    • “But much more needs to be added into the current game for replay value.”
    • “There is a lot of replay value in the maps and two games don't turn out exactly the same every time.”
  • stability
    15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's stability is a mixed bag; while some players report a visually pleasing experience with minimal crashes, many others encounter significant bugs and glitches that hinder gameplay. Issues such as tedious micromanagement and UI problems are common, and there are calls for more updates to address these concerns. Overall, while some enjoy the game despite its flaws, the stability remains a point of contention among users.

    • “Visually and audibly pleasing while maintaining a stable, bug-free experience for a large real-time map.”
    • “Also, the game is still pretty buggy and they seem to have stopped updating it. If I'm wrong here and they start fixing things and adding some quality of life improvements such as better UIs, comparison graphs, etc., I might change this review. But the game still needs more illegal businesses not strictly centered on booze production, and just simply more criminal activities to make you feel more like a gangster and less like a product delivery person in the 1920s.”
    • “Ran into some glitches that made the game inoperable and annoying more than anything.”
    • “Bugs, bugs, bugs... more bugs... buggy trash... time is wasted on this.”
  • atmosphere
    7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's atmosphere is generally praised for its effective use of graphics and music, which successfully evoke the criminal world and the 1920s Prohibition era. While some players feel it lacks the engaging atmosphere of its predecessor, "Omerta: City of Gangsters," many appreciate the immersive experience it provides through its visual and auditory elements. Overall, the atmosphere contributes significantly to the game's appeal, despite some criticisms regarding its gameplay focus.

    • “The game's music is also used in harmony to support the atmosphere.”
    • “The graphics and sounds enhance the game's atmosphere.”
    • “I'm a white-collar worker by day but a mafia leader at nighttime; the atmosphere really takes you back to the Prohibition times.”
    • “I got this game hoping it would expand upon Omerta: City of Gangsters, and it did; the problem is that it is not a fun game like Omerta was - there is a severe lack of atmosphere.”
    • “I'm a white-collar worker by day but a mafia leader at night... the atmosphere really takes you back to the Prohibition times.”
    • “- atmosphere”
  • humor
    6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is characterized by absurd situations, such as gangsters behaving comically despite their promotions, and the nonsensical expansion of territory. Players find the dialogue, particularly the quirky character interactions and amusing item descriptions, to be a highlight, contributing to a lighthearted and tongue-in-cheek atmosphere. Overall, the humor is both situational and dialogue-driven, adding a layer of fun to the gameplay experience.

    • “This becomes hilarious when you start promoting your best gangsters to capos and they are still stuck driving a truck around like an idiot.”
    • “How suspicious the characters act in the dialogue is the most hilarious part of this game.”
    • “You get funny descriptions, such as the apple description.”
  • monetization
    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The monetization model of the game has drawn significant criticism, with players feeling that the frequent DLC releases are primarily cash grabs, offering content that should have been included in the base game. The lack of updates and the perception of a half-finished product have further fueled dissatisfaction, leading to a negative impact on the overall gaming experience.

    • “Couple that with no updates for the game in about 7 months and them wasting no time in shoveling out DLC after DLC for things that should have been in the game, making it pretty obvious this was either a cash grab or is now a dead game.”
    • “So this is now obviously a cash grab where the devs half-ass a game and make you pay for the more in-depth content that should be included in the base game.”
    • “I want to love this game so bad, but after what, 5 or 6 DLCs that only add content that should've been available in the base game, an awful combat system, and probably the worst RNG I've ever seen in a game, it's obvious the devs are just using this game as a cash grab.”
  • optimization
    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Overall, the game's optimization has received mixed feedback; while some users appreciate the limitations that prevent sprawling empires and potentially enhance performance, others feel the game is unoptimized and could benefit from further improvements. The addictive mechanics keep players engaged, but there are calls for better optimization, particularly regarding specific features like gambling debt.

    • “The mechanics of the game are certainly addictive and are designed in such a way that you are always gunning for that extra little business expansion or skill optimization, where there is always one more carrot-on-a-stick reward just out of reach.”
    • “The game also needs to be optimized, but not by much.”
    • “I guess this keeps you and the AI from building sprawling empires with dozens of buildings, which probably helps performance.”
    • “As for the 'rough around the edges' I mentioned earlier, the game seems unoptimized despite the scope.”
    • “The game also needs to be optimized, not by much.”
    • “I guess this keeps you and the AI from building sprawling empires with dozens of buildings (which probably helps performance), but it feels really artificial.”
  • character development
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game features intricate layers of gang progression and character development, complemented by detailed city and character designs that enhance its realistic and dark atmosphere.

    • “Tons of detailed layers of gang progression and character development.”
    • “Detailed city and character designs create a realistic and dark ambiance in the game.”
  • emotional
    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Players express frustration with the emotional aspect of the game, feeling overwhelmed and inadequate due to a lack of understanding of its mechanics. This sense of confusion can lead to negative feelings, detracting from the overall experience.

Buy City of Gangsters

16h Median play time
98h Average play time
8-106h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 14 analyzed playthroughs

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