The Gangs of New York was a bloody good movie, and the Gangs of London is aiming to be a bloody good game. From the designers who brought you The Getaway series, Gangs of London takes gamers into the London underground of organized, and not so organized, crime. Like The Getaway, Gangs of London will also feature a wide-open, sandbox environment for players to walk, run, or drive around in. The gameplay will feature squad-based combat with lots of shooting and a hint of strategy.
The story follows the uprising of a new gang going by the name of the Talwar brothers. They want to rule the new criminal underground of London and players are thrust into the mix of the gang war going on in the streets of England. Unlike other free-roaming titles, Gangs of London allows players to choose from one of five different gangs with more than 60 missions to complete. Each gang represents a different faction of play, including the Jamaicans, the Pakistanis, Chinese, Russians and British. Playing styles will vary to the gang, as their attributes are unique for hand-to-hand combat, weapons, and vehicles. Regarding vehicles, some gangs will have higher attributes in speed while other gangs may focus on handling. The same rule applies for handling shotguns, assault rifles, SMGs, or handguns; each weapon will vary to each member of the gang, and the overall gang itself. In addition to choosing a gang, players won’t simply play one protagonist, but rather, they will switch between certain members of the selected gang. For each mission, there’s at least one other gang member that will accompany the player to carry out any given task (i.e., Rockstar’s The Warriors).
"Don't hate me for having hair!"
The interesting aspect about playing a gang, is that each member is good for a specific tactical task. More-so, each gang member has a weapon and unlike GTA or the Getaway, players are unable to pick up new weapons. Instead, to use a different weapon players simply must switch characters. For instance, players can flank the enemy by having a gang member with an assault rifle to stand in the doorway, while they move in close using another member with a shotgun. Weapon ammunition is unlimited for each character, but they still must reload during firefights. Switching gang members during gameplay is simple and allows for players to approach a situation using weapons strategically, in which they feel is best suited for a given scenario.
In regards to the mission structures, the game will sport a variety of different missions. Some missions range from beating someone into a pulp, executing someone in a firefight, or tailing someone on-foot. Driving missions include: giving chase, trying to escape or get away, and playing bumper cars to get targets off the road. The driving mechanics are obviously mirrored after those found in The Getaway. So for those who liked the driving in The Getaway, I guess that’s good news and for those who abhorred it, I guess that’s too bad.
The story arc for each gang is told through some snazzy looking graphic novel-style images and cut-scenes, not unlike Max Payne. While the cut-scenes look cool and the art-style has its own original flair, the game itself, so far, actually looks and moves quite fluidly. The bump-mapping effect and smooth use of the textures over the meshes give the game a distinct look. So long as nothing changes until its release, the game should come off quite well, graphically.
Watch my back homey!
Apart from the Story mode, though, there’s a couple of other modes as well. Tourist mode allows players to venture about London as a tourist. It’s funny playing as a little, non-violent tourist. The mode, however, gives players an opportunity to catch up on a little history. While running around as a tourist players can take pictures of specific landmarks that give players details and a little history of the landmark. Gang Battle is another mode that sets the game up like the classic board game Risk. The objective is to sabotage the other gang’s efforts while recruiting more gang members. Four Weeks Later is a mode that puts players in a position adjacent to the scenario in the British flick, “28 days later”. Finally, Free-Roam allows players to venture about the city with a gang, partaking in various mini-games.
The Gangs of London looks somewhat interesting. With all the other free-roaming titles out there it doesn’t seem to bring much of anything strikingly new to the table. However, for PSP owners this game might be an interesting alternative to Pursuit Force or Liberty City Stories. The Tourist mode and Four Weeks Later mode seem kind of cool. For the sake of the SCE London team, hopefully these modes will be enough to keep this game from collecting dust on a shelf. For more information regarding Gangs of London, be sure to stay tuned in with Vgcore.com, as the October 3rd release draws near.
