Gangs of London kicks off on PSP

When you think of London gangs nowadays, you think of hoodies, happy slapped tourists, and nice people meeting unfortunate ends in unwelcome postcodes. The Krays would be turning in their graves.

The just-revealed Gangs of London looks like varying its gaze between these two crime-loving cultures. Its main focus is on the upper levels of the criminal underworld; five different gangs are vying for control in modern day London, and you can play as any of them. But to bring things back down to earth, doing so involves sending your gang out across about a 3D version of the UK's capital city and giving it a bloody nose.

Gangs of London certainly boasts a motley crew of play modes; there's Story, Gang Battle, Free Roaming and Game Sharing modes, as well as a Tourist mode and Pub Games mode.

In Story mode, the gameplay consists of marauding about London whacking and wasting your opponents in gang warfare, with you switching between any of your gang members as you scrap it out. Driving levels are also promised. The graphic novel-style narrative of Story Mode is retold in different ways when you play as a different gang, and there are some 60 missions in total to complete.

The Free Roaming mode is basically the same without the story getting in the way. You set the time of day, your vehicles and weapons of choice and how competent the local constabulary are, and Bob's your uncle.

Gang Battle mode is more tactical. Working off an interactive map of London, you send your minions out to attack and defend the various 'manors', as everyone will doubtless call their neighbourhoods in Gangs of London. More of a thinking gangster's game mode, Gang Battle is playable by up to five players on one PSP.

The Game Sharing mode sounds more old skool – it generates a new level unique to your PSP, with its own mission objectives, environments, characters and weaponry, which you can presumably share with other PSP owners.

The curious Tourist mode is pretty cute. You sling a backpack over your shoulder and go out and photograph London's landmarks to unlock new game content – it's not yet clear whether you'll be mugged for your camera or pick-pocketed for your high score next to Big Ben.

Finally, after a hard day being a hard man, you can relax with the London Pub Games mode. Given the game's theme you might expect pub classics like 'Bottle the Bouncer' or 'Pull a Dog', but the reality is a more Daily Mail friendly set of mini-games such as skittles and darts, all of which you can play against a friend.

Gangs of London is being developed by Sony's London Studio, which not only has local knowledge, it also made London meaner in the PlayStation 2 game The Getaway. So there's a lot to look forward to when Gangs of London rumbles on PSP this autumn.

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