Exclusive: Hands on with CrimeCraft: Kingpin on iPhone

CrimeCraft: Kingpin may be a member of the social network gaming family, but it's part of a new generation. Not to be subordinated to the current Don of the genre, Mafia Live, the game goes a step further, tying into the cut throat gang warfare of PC online game CrimeCraft.

In an exclusive first look, we spoke with Associate Producer Aaron Krasnov, who walked us through the elements that promise to differentiate Kingpin from its rivals.

As with Mafia Live and other social networking games, you begin by joining up with other players to form a gang. Taking on missions rewards you with experience and cash, which you can then turn into weapons and crew members. Reputation plays an important role as well, your circle of in-game friends lending you power and prestige.

Krasnov understands that competition is fierce on the App Store, but he contends that Kingpin supplies better gameplay. "This is definitely a more compelling title, one that isn't as mass produced." The decision to broaden the massively multiplayer gang warfare of CrimeCraft to iPhone through a more methodical social networking experience definitely sets Kingpin apart.

"CrimeCraft is a massive game and we've distilled it down to casual form," he states. Linking up your accounts for the PC and iPhone games allows you to unlock bonus weapons.

That isn't to say that Krasnov and his team haven't been inspired by others in the genre - on the contrary, they've been learned what has worked and what hasn't. "We've taken the best features of other games of this sort and molded it to the CrimeCraft universe."

Specifically, he counts random battles chief among his complaints about competing titles, an element not present in Kingpin.

Instead, there's a mix of missions and contracts that provide combat choices. Both require action points (AP) and enough crew members to get the job done, though the latter require extended periods of time for completion.

In this way, Kingpin forces strategic thinking as you decide whether to commit resources to a lengthy contract or engage in a more immediate mission. The trade off comes from bigger, better rewards from contracts over missions.

Contracts are far more elaborate than missions, as we discovered in tackling one that had us sending crew members to dispatch rival gangsters camped out at city hall demanding tributes from passers by. They're also reccurring, so once you've fulfilled a contract you can commit resources to completing it again for more experience.

Experience earned from missions is dynamic, which Krasnov explains is a mechanism for discouraging high level players from trouncing newcomers. As such, high level players earn less experience when combating players whose level is lower than their own.

In the case that you get your butt handed to you in battle, you're not killed off. Defeated gang members are allowed to go into hiding, and can never die.

While Kingpin earns attention for integrating elements of the CrimeCraft universe, it does little to match the game's visual flair. Compared to competing social network games boasting colourful interfaces and flashy animations, it doesn't pack quite the same graphical punch.

Of course, it's gameplay that makes the game and Kingpin looks to compete on that front well. The degree to which builds on CrimeCraft and integrates play with that game will determine how compelling an alternative it is to other social networking titles.

Expect the game to arrive on the App Store within the next few weeks.