Game Reviews

Gangstar Rio: City of Saints

Star onStar onStar onStar halfStar off
Get
Gangstar Rio: City of Saints

Upon installing Gangstar Rio: City of Saints on your Xperia Play, you're greeted with a sober warning stating that the game contains rude words which should not be reproduced in the real world.

It's a bizarre admission, especially for a game which promotes the wholesale slaughter of innocent bystanders and generally revolves around filling people with so much lead it's a wonder they don't magically morph into pencils.

Killing is fine, but swearing? Don't do it, kids.

Say hello to my little friend

But, then the maker of the Gangstar series has always had trouble deciding just how far to take its GTA copycat routine, and while Rockstar's franchise 'boasts' similar levels of carnage to the Gangstar instalments, Rockstar is savvy enough to throw a bit of humour in there, too.

Gameloft has no such talent with jokes, unfortunately, and as a result its clone comes across a little too straight-faced - something which is exacerbated by that aforementioned pre-load warning.

While the original, and disappointing, iPhone version's (which Keith reviewed not so long ago) penchant for morality-free shooting sprees remains intact, one thing this Xperia Play edition does solve is the pitiful control system.

Her name is Rio

On iOS, it felt as if you were constantly at war with the touchscreen - simply guiding your nefarious avatar around the streets of Brazil's second city was a little too similar to pulling teeth.

Mercifully, the Xperia Play's physical interface eradicates much of that frustration. Walking and driving are now mapped to the left-hand analogue pad, and other controls are assigned to proper buttons.

As a result, Gangstar Rio: City of Saints controls like a dream, and this definitely makes a difference when it comes to user enjoyment.

Of course, Gangstar Rio: City of Saint's other irksome shortcomings haven't been addressed en route to Xperia Play, but if you're a fan of GTA and crave something along the same lines, it's worth taking for a ride. Just don't expect a comparable experience when it comes to overall quality.

Gangstar Rio: City of Saints

The addition of physical controls improves Gangstar Rio: City of Saints's ability to entertain dramatically, but it doesn't fix the fact that the game is morally questionable and lacks the humorous edge of GTA, the series it seeks so hard to emulate
Score
Damien  McFerran
Damien McFerran
Damien's mum hoped he would grow out of playing silly video games and gain respectable employment. Perhaps become a teacher or a scientist, that kind of thing. Needless to say she now weeps openly whenever anyone asks how her son's getting on these days.