Omerta: City of Gangsters (4 DLCs included)

Pretty much Kalypso Media and Haemimont Games make titles that look like they'll be a ton of fun, but then they turn out to be utter crap. The tradition started, for me, with Tropico 3, continued with Legends of Pegasus and Tropico 4, and still stays alive with Omerta. I've given up on buying anything else from these publishers.

I just felt that this game was rushed out by the developers with little thought to the gameplay. I think if they redid it and polished it off, then sold it for half the price (along with "The Con Artist" DLC) then it might get a better reception.

I actually rather enjoyed this game, which I was initially excited for, then sceptical of due to the negative reviews. I gave it a try though and found it to be an enjoyable experience. Is it particularly challenging? No, in the overview gameplay there are very few missions that offer you any kind of time constraint or consequence for just sitting back and racking up money. The tactical combat was enjoyable enough, with a variety of abilities and characters to change up the gameplay and made me want to try new combinations. The best way to experience this game is honestly playing it while watching a tv series or listening to a podcast. It's a good light gaming experience.

First of all - I'm glad to tell that technical issue with not advancing after tutorial is fixed (no need for Japanese Incentive DLC). Now about game itself - Omerta is mixing two genres, quite classic (in its form) "economic" game (well, we could argue if crime activity can be considered as "economic" :P) and turn-based tactic game. First element is quite intuitive, if not simplified (good thing for persons who are not proffesional about this type of game, bad if you're looking for challenge in this genre). It's mostly oriented on buying (and improving) new estates, gathering cash (we've got "dirty" and "clean" money, which is very important since some activities requires clean money, of course we've got methods for both gaining dirty money and clean money, even converting "dirty" into clean). And of course keeping an eye for lucrative opportunities (random tasks appearing from time to time) and fighting with other crime lords. This part is less random in campaign mode, since some events and limits are required by game's plot. Oh, and don't forget about our crew, who can take care of various tasks, but also can get hurt or arrested (which can make them temporarly out of action). Well, looking on all this stuff, it may not sound too easy, but I personally found out that all those mechanics are rather easy to learn. Now, about "tactic" part (my favourite). It's quite standard thing, a bit in "X-COM" taste (or any other typical tactic game), with covering, using various guns (sadly progress with weapons is a bit slow in campaign, but when we're done with first levels, our weapons will become more impressive), melee combat also included, but not so efficient as firearms. In my opinion this part is quite well made, however I would complain a bit about potential injuries (you can have them also during combat), which can in effect require a lot of time in hospital for injured character. Overall, it's quite pleasant game, easy to learn, entertaining to play.

Omerta is a unique game in the city builder realm, It has city management, along with turn based combat. You manage money, to build an empire, while growing a gang and sending out thugs to help take over the city. The game starts off slow, but quickly gets deeper as you gain in power. You hire thugs to protect your business from Drive-bys, and take overs. You can upgrade your weapons/cars over time, along with leveling up the characters you control. Many different weapon types from pistols, rifles, Tommy guns, or even melee like bats and knives. All of which have vastly different styles/effects. The city management side is on the light side, but the combat is fun and challenging, especially on the higher levels. Recently a new patch has been offered out, that adds a rival gang to run in sandbox mode which is very challenging on the higher settings. If you enjoy the combo city sim/combat, give it a try.. there is a demo but is is basically the first mission tutorial in the campaign. As you get in deeper the game really grows. I have about 40 hours played, and the challenges ramp up as you get deeper. For those hard core players, there is also an iron man mode, which means no in mission saves, combined with the higher difficulties it can lead to real challenges. Send out your crew on a mission that goes bad, half your crew can be beat up really bad, which reduces their effectiveness, a few bad missions, your reign of crime might be over! Good luck keep the heat off your back!