Omerta: City of Gangsters from Kalypso Media is a unique take on simulation and turn based strategy. While games like The Godfather and Mafia seem to have the gangster atmosphere covered, Omerta’s setting stands out and has a nice noir feeling to it. The game shows a lot of promise and it appears to be onto something in terms of gameplay.
You build your own story as an up and coming gangster trying to make a name for yourself in the criminal underground. Your cooperation with certain individuals will be remembered and the choices you make may come back in negative ways. Trust no one and spend wisely. The cops are not the only things you have to worry about in this city.
The gameplay, at first, is rather simple on paper. You buy, raid, and negotiate your way through various towns to gain reputation, both good and bad of course. You will quickly learn you cannot please everyone. Aspects of the gameplay remind me of Tropico in terms of the ecosystem and NPC interaction. Every action you make will alter the perception of how your allies, enemies, police and NPC view you as a person. You can be viewed as a saint, or a man who rules with an iron fist.
The core gameplay revolves around renting buildings and establishing businesses to generate clean or dirty money. Every building serves a different purpose and they all have different effects. It has some resemblance to Tropico or Sim city but without the actual city customization.
The second gameplay element of Omerta is the combat. This is not only a simulation game as you will undergo a series of fights with rival gangs and other missions like bank robberies or jailbreaks. The combat reminds me of Dawn of War 2 or Company of Heroes without the real time. You will be able to move your gangsters from area to area shooting all in your path. Each mobster you recruit has their own abilities, strengths, and weaknesses to exploit and protect.
This is only a little portion of what Omerta has to offer. The fluency of combat is very well done and the actual character growth is paced in a manner that is not too slow or too fast. The unique combination of simulation and turn based strategy is something to behold. Any strategy fan will have to play this game. Keep a look out for Omerta City of Gangsters on Steam later this month.
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