Game Reviews

Gang Street Wars

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Gang Street Wars

I like it when this happens. Every so often a game comes along that immediately throws you into confusion, irritating you with irksome, inexplicable gameplay one moment then completely catching you off guard with equally inexplicable addictiveness.

None does this more effectively than tower defence and real-time strategy mash-up Gang Street Wars.

On the eve of World War II a city is thrown into criminal chaos and civil disorder. Street gangs immediately leap into the breach in an effort to take control. With the authorities occupied elsewhere (on the Western Front, presumably) the gangs must first rid themselves of any competition.

As the boss of one such band of Mafioso brigands, you answer the call for open warfare and head straight for the opposition's headquarters. At either end of the street is a criminal hideout: yours at one end, a rival gang's at the other. Taking control of the territory means destroying your enemies' crib, so you send out your goons to do the dirty work.

The levels are simple (though very attractive) 2D side-scrolling streets, and your minions head out of the door in single file for the short walk to your enemy’s HQ.

In the most unadorned, literal manner, the game brings together elements of tower defence and real-time strategy. Combat is built around the order in which you send your lackeys to war. Each one has its own special skill, such as hand-to-hand fighting, gunplay or long range explosives.

Pitting a gunman directly against a brawler, for instance, will likely see your pistol-wielding Pete beaten to a pulp pretty quickly. If he's in line behind one of your own muscle men, however, he's in a far better position to take potshots at the train of rival goons streaming toward your hideout.

During the first couple of missions, when you're still trying to figure out how the damn game even works, the instructions provide little help. A shoddy localisation makes things worse when trying to make sense of everything that's going on. Simply put, Gang Street Wars is an aggravating mess.

Yet there's something about the upbeat soundtrack and cartoon visuals that keeps you playing, though, and an hour later you find yourself surprisingly addicted.

Paying careful attention to the order in which your adversary sends out his troops, you can assign your own men carefully, giving your Molotov cocktail-wielding psychopath (rather amusingly nicknamed Noodles) plenty of room to fling his bottles while your strongarm takes point.

What begins as an undisciplined rumble does eventually fulfil its promises of strategic gameplay.

It's a slow walk getting to your enemy's doorstep, and wrecking the place is no small task, which means the levels sometimes go on a bit too long and stagnation sets in.

Nonetheless, there's no avoiding the mesmerising uniqueness of Gang Street Wars, which will undoubtedly see a slew of clones refining this slightly rough, though ultimately successful birth of a cross-genre cult classic.

Gang Street Wars

A bizarre gameplay concept slowly reveals itself to be built upon inspired foundations - a little too slowly perhaps, but with enough appeal to carry it through
Score
Spanner Spencer
Spanner Spencer
Yes. Spanner's his real name, and he's already heard that joke you just thought of. Although Spanner's not very good, he's quite fast, and that seems to be enough to keep him in a regular supply of free games and away from the depressing world of real work.