Empire of Sin

55%
Game Brain Score Based on 4,927 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • stability
Empire of Sin Game Cover
A refreshingly deep and customizable turn-based tactics game lets you reign supreme in a 1920s criminal empire.
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"Empire of Sin" is a strategy game set in the 1920s Prohibition-era Chicago. As a criminal mastermind, players build their own criminal empire through strategic management of illegal businesses, hiring and controlling gangsters, and navigating the city's political landscape. With turn-based tactical combat, players must make tough decisions and employ devious strategies to outwit and outfight rival gangs and become the ultimate crime boss.

  • Mac OS
  • Nintendo Switch
  • PC
  • Play​station 4
  • Windows
  • Xbox One
  • Xbox Series X|S
  • Cloud
  • NVIDIA GeForce NOW
  • Play​Station
  • Xbox
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

55%
Audience ScoreBased on 4,927 reviews
story217 positive mentions
stability551 negative mentions
  • The game has a unique setting in 1920s Chicago, providing an interesting atmosphere and aesthetic.
  • The turn-based combat system is enjoyable and allows for strategic gameplay.
  • The variety of bosses and gangsters adds depth to the game, with each character having their own backstory and abilities.
  • The game suffers from numerous bugs and glitches that can disrupt gameplay and lead to frustrating experiences.
  • Gameplay becomes repetitive quickly, with limited variety in missions and combat scenarios.
  • The AI is often unchallenging and makes poor decisions, reducing the overall difficulty and engagement of the game.
  • story1,454 mentions

    The story aspect of "Empire of Sin" has received mixed reviews, with players appreciating the unique backstories of the various mob bosses and the potential for engaging narratives. However, many have criticized the overall execution, citing numerous bugs that hinder mission progression and a lack of depth in the main storyline, leading to repetitive gameplay. While some players find enjoyment in the character-driven side quests, the overarching narrative often feels shallow and disconnected, leaving many feeling unsatisfied with the game's storytelling.

    • “Its initial hours are to be praised; with a large cast of unique characters that all come with their own initial story, it's easy to get immersed in your narrative while short-and-sweet alternative missions keep you occupied between the game's progression loop.”
    • “The storyline for each character is interesting, but the only thing is I feel scammed for not getting the second expansion pack that I purchased.”
    • “The story is great, the in-game mechanism and flexible story/gang decisions making offer a really enjoyable experience.”
    • “After being out for multiple years, the game still has bugs that break main storylines and the developer has not resolved the issue at any point.”
    • “The missions felt lackluster, the characters didn't have any real significance, and the combat was... lacking.”
    • “The story is dull and companion missions are simplistic.”
  • gameplay1,086 mentions

    The gameplay of "Empire of Sin" has received mixed reviews, with many players noting its repetitive nature and shallow mechanics. While the turn-based combat and management elements offer some fun, they often feel unbalanced and simplistic, leading to a grind after a few hours. Additionally, numerous bugs and technical issues detract from the overall experience, leaving players hoping for future updates to enhance gameplay depth and fix existing problems.

    • “Lots of content and I honestly think the gameplay is incredibly fun.”
    • “The minute-to-minute gameplay is pretty great, as the combat is satisfying and there's always something new to work on, upgrade, conquer, etc.”
    • “The graphics of this game are solid, the environments beautiful and the myriad game mechanics fun to employ, without being too complex.”
    • “The gameplay is very thin - use your character to attack a building, designate it as a brothel, distillery, or bar and then repeat it over and over and over across 12 boroughs that have nothing distinct about any of them.”
    • “With almost no variety to the gameplay and barely any depth to the gameplay that's there, this game is just not worth it.”
    • “The idea of the game is good, but the game mechanics are so bad that they kill most of the enjoyment.”
  • stability553 mentions

    The game's stability is widely criticized, with players reporting numerous bugs and glitches that significantly hinder gameplay, including game-breaking issues that prevent mission completion and frequent crashes. Many users express frustration over the lack of developer support and updates, leading to a perception that the game feels abandoned and unpolished. While some players find enjoyment in the core mechanics, the overwhelming presence of bugs makes it difficult for many to recommend the game in its current state.

    • “Even if combat is repetitive, it is currently not buggy; the existing aspects are decent.”
    • “The game is a buggy mess, and even when it's not broken, it's poorly designed.”
    • “It's so buggy, there are literally still things in it that say 'placeholder.' Like they didn't even attempt to finish it.”
    • “The game is extremely buggy and unpolished and not just in minor ways, sometimes having soft-locks that require you to blow up the game in task manager.”
  • graphics383 mentions

    The graphics of "Empire of Sin" receive a mixed reception, with many players praising the overall aesthetic and visual presentation, particularly the recreation of the 1920s gangster atmosphere. However, numerous reports of graphical glitches, performance issues, and dated animations detract from the experience, leading to a consensus that while the visuals are appealing, they are marred by technical flaws and inconsistencies. Overall, the game showcases solid graphics but suffers from optimization problems that impact gameplay enjoyment.

    • “Empire of Sin has an overall aesthetically pleasing set of presentation values.”
    • “Good graphics and visuals that are a significant upgrade from the decade-older entry in the genre, Omerta: City of Gangsters.”
    • “The graphics are stunning and yes, there are a few minimal bugs, but after 4 hours of gameplay, I’ve found nothing that impacts gameplay let alone ruins it.”
    • “Crappy graphics and animation, check.”
    • “The graphics go out often and create a rainbow fuzzy screen that requires a restart.”
    • “Graphical glitches render it unplayable, which is a shame because I was having fun.”
  • music215 mentions

    The music in "Empire of Sin" is widely praised for its fitting jazz soundtrack that captures the essence of the 1920s, enhancing the game's atmosphere and immersion. However, many players note that the music can become repetitive over time, with a limited selection of tracks that may detract from the overall experience. Despite this, the soundtrack is generally considered one of the game's strong points, contributing to its stylish presentation and engaging gameplay.

    • “The music does a wonderful job setting the mood.”
    • “I’ve spent a few too many late nights, needing to take over just one more racket, with the energetic, tension building music keeping me hooked.”
    • “Empire of sin has a fantastic idea at its core, and the jolly soundtrack perfectly complements the over the top character designs.”
    • “The music could be better though...”
    • “--the music is a corny electric/synth version of 1920's-ish tunes.”
    • “The game has tons of bugs, clunky and weird animations, poor voice acting, boring and repetitive sound that gets stuck in your head; from the songs to the voice lines the units do, you will always hear the same thing again and again.”
  • grinding142 mentions

    The grinding aspect of the game has been widely criticized for being excessively tedious and repetitive, with players often feeling stuck in a loop of monotonous combat and resource management. Many reviews highlight the lack of variety in missions and combat scenarios, leading to a sense of frustration and boredom as players grind for progress. While some appreciate the concept and potential of the game, the overwhelming sentiment is that the grinding mechanics detract significantly from the overall enjoyment and replayability.

    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “The combat is absurd, tedious, and incredibly repetitive.”
    • “Playing it through, I immediately drew some comparisons to games like Omerta: City of Gangsters and initially I enjoyed it; the good graphics and dialogue between the gang leaders, with some small story details about the relationships between who we hired to be in our crew, but after a few hours I realized that this was all the game had to offer: repetition and grinding that does not seem to reward any progress. I felt like I had the most fun in the first 2 hours and the hours after that were spent repeating the same things over and over.”
    • “The game is slow and boring; you spend hours grinding for people to kill so your skills can level up, and when you have 8 people to level up and some of them needing to kill about 300 people to max their skills, then that's going to take a while.”
  • atmosphere108 mentions

    The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its immersive recreation of the 1920s Chicago mafia setting, enhanced by engaging music, character design, and atmospheric dialogues. Players appreciate the blend of fun gameplay mechanics with a rich, thematic backdrop, although some note that the atmosphere can occasionally feel repetitive. Overall, the game's strong sense of place and character contributes significantly to its appeal, making it a notable experience for fans of the genre.

    • “Overall, the game does a good job creating that 20's Chicago atmosphere.”
    • “A refreshing atmosphere with some character to enjoy the familiar mechanics from XCOM, but in the world of the roaring 1920s and prohibition!”
    • “I love the graphics and the voice acting - they did a great job of establishing the 1920s gangster Chicago atmosphere.”
    • “No flavor, no atmosphere, no team or resource management to get your teeth into.”
    • “In my opinion, that completely destroys any roleplay factor and atmosphere.”
    • “The only positive thing I can say about it is the 1920 atmosphere.”
  • replayability103 mentions

    The game's replayability is a contentious topic among players, with many expressing disappointment due to limited character customization, repetitive gameplay, and a lack of meaningful differences between playthroughs. While some appreciate the variety of playable characters and random elements that can enhance replay value, others feel that the game falls short of its promises, leading to a generally low perception of replayability. Overall, the potential for replayability exists, but it is hindered by design choices and technical issues.

    • “The gameplay is a lot of fun, and the number of playable characters and different decisions available give this game a lot of replay value.”
    • “There is also great replayability because after picking one of 14 bosses, you are randomly placed in 1 of 10 different neighborhoods, with your starting placement and starting rivals in each neighborhood also random.”
    • “Depth of character - they really took their time to create inspired bosses to play so the replayability of the game is great.”
    • “Overall it's a very fun game, but its replayability and lack of immersion makes it mediocre.”
    • “If you want a shallow but fun shoot-and-loot basic management game, then go for it. However, if you wanted to create an empire and see it rise from nothing to a major competitor in the city with replayability and different options for the various bosses, then you will be disappointed.”
    • “Each character has their own storyline mission, but besides that, everything is the same, so the replayability is pretty low.”
  • humor54 mentions

    The humor in the game is a mixed bag, with many players finding the quirky characters, funny dialogue, and amusing interactions enjoyable, particularly in the context of the 1920s Chicago setting. However, the presence of numerous bugs and awkward animations often detracts from the experience, leading to moments that are more frustrating than funny. Overall, while the game aims for a colorful and humorous tone, its execution varies, leaving some players entertained and others disappointed.

    • “The economy, upgrading, looting, turn-based battles (awesome), politics, gangs/competition, crew members with unique abilities, hilarious/great voices and accents...very entertaining and a breath of fresh air.”
    • “When I first played this game, I chose Al Capone. For the first 10 to 20 hours, it was a blast! I loved the setting, the ambiance and tone of 1920's Chicago, the jazzy music that made you want to dance, the quirky characters with differences in personality and specializations, the funny and badass dialogue, great storylines, and side missions.”
    • “My funniest encounter is a mobster of mine falling in love with a woman, wanting help with a date and asking me to ensure they don't drink, getting progressively more funny as they keep trying to get one before it turns out it's actually a hit on them more or less.”
  • optimization28 mentions

    The game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting significant frame rate drops and performance issues, even on high-end hardware like the RTX 3080 and i9 processor. While some users noted smooth performance at 120 fps in 4K resolution under certain conditions, the overall consensus suggests that the game requires further patches and optimizations before it can be recommended for purchase.

    • “The standard view when wandering the city is nice to look at and runs smoothly at 120 fps in 4k resolution.”
    • “Performance: 10/10 - the game performs impeccably.”
    • “Build rackets, gun down rivals, etc. You can do pretty much everything you'd expect out of a gangster game, and there is a pretty cool logistical planning and optimization element to the mid-game.”
    • “In typical Paradox fashion, it's a niche game that nobody else is making, but it wasn't completely optimized and probably didn't get as much attention from product testing as it deserved.”
    • “Game is broken and poorly designed/optimized.”
    • “It's also very poorly optimized and my RTX 2060 is working harder than when I play Cyberpunk 2077.”
  • monetization20 mentions

    The monetization strategy of the game has been widely criticized as a blatant cash grab, with many reviewers pointing out that the DLCs feel exploitative and the overall game lacks depth and quality. Despite some potential, the focus on profit over gameplay quality has left players disappointed, leading to a perception that the game is primarily designed to capitalize on fan interest rather than deliver a meaningful experience.

    • “Just another cash grab game using concepts and ideas they know will draw fans in.”
    • “The worst part...they are already advertising DLC, which kills any hope I had that they are even working to make the actual game any better.”
    • “So much potential but as it goes these days it's all about cash grabs.”
  • emotional14 mentions

    Reviews indicate that the game lacks emotional depth, with many players finding the dialogue uninspiring and the overall narrative shallow. Comparisons to other titles, such as Saints Row 2, highlight a significant emotional gap, leading to disappointment in the game's storytelling and character engagement. Overall, players express frustration over the game's inability to evoke meaningful emotional responses.

    • “This is by far the most heartbreaking meta issue I have with this game.”
    • “Eve Online shed a tear of pride when this game came out.”
    • “Except Saints Row 2 was more emotionally impactful than any of the story on display here and was actually a decent copy of what it was trying to ape.”
  • character development13 mentions

    Character development in the game is described as average and lacking significant impact, with players noting that negative effects can be easily avoided. While there are some enjoyable elements and reasonable progression, the RPG aspects feel dull and the character design is criticized as unattractive. Overall, the character development does not elevate the gameplay experience significantly.

    • “It mixes XCOM-style combat with empire management, budget management, and some character development, which overall was an enjoyable mix.”
    • “The game at the moment provides an average challenge, and there is some reasonable character development.”
    • “Empire of Sin has a fantastic idea at its core, and the jolly soundtrack perfectly complements the over-the-top character designs.”
    • “RPG aspects are dull and lackluster, as character development doesn't have much of an impact and negative effects can be easily circumvented.”
    • “The game currently provides an average challenge, but the character development feels uninspired and fails to engage the player.”
    • “Character development is overshadowed by other game mechanics, making it feel like an afterthought rather than a core aspect of the experience.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

59% average critic score

Buy Empire of Sin

Play time

11hMedian play time
17hAverage play time
6-24hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 104 analyzed playthroughs

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