Omerta : City of Gangsters promises serious incline... and fails

[Khor1255]

Are you familiar with Jagged Alliance? Omerta was the first town you start in. If the gampeplay is anything like Ja2 I think this game would be a winner. I have been very busy this year and not able to play or follow much of what is happening with rpgs. Please report back here with your findings or I will if I hear something. I think I'll check Best Buys and see what I can see.

 

[spectre]

I think you're reading too much into this Khor.
It's a fairly simple mafia-related trope.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omertà

 

[Eyeball]

Would be excited for this if it weren't for the words "from the developers of Tropico 3 and 4."

Those guys are very adept at taking a unique and awesome concept and transforming it into a game that is just.....bland.

 

[RedScum]

Meh, i really enjoyed playing Tropico 3 & 4. But maybe that's just because i got to live out my dreams as a communist dictator over a humoristic carrabiean island.

 

[Eyeball]

In which case you should play the first one. 3 and 4 I found to be alright sandboxes, but the "game" aspect was dumbed down hugely and they lacked a lot of the charm that made the first game such a joy to play.

 

[spectre]

Those guys are very adept at taking a unique and awesome concept and transforming it into a game that is just.....bland.

I had the very same worries when I saw the gameplay vid. Will there be enough depth and won't it feel bland after a while.
The vid was from the tutorial stage, so it's not surprising that the options are limitedl.

 

[knightley]

Those guys are very adept at taking a unique and awesome concept and transforming it into a game that is just.....bland.

I had the very same worries when I saw the gameplay vid. Will there be enough depth and won't it feel bland after a while.
The vid was from the tutorial stage, so it's not surprising that the options are limitedl.

One thing they are good at is choosing great themes, brutal dictator and criminal gang boss are very appealing game themes.
I have my doubt about depthes in tactical battle. But the theme itself could be interesting enough for me to buy, as long as the gameplay
and UI are at least above average.

 

[MetalCraze]

How do you dumb down the game by adding a lot of content?

Or is dumbing down - better interface?

 

[LizardKing]

Now up on gog!
http://af.gog.com/gamecard/omerta_city_of_gangsters?as=1649904300

 

[Eyeball]

As a pre-order. Damn you for getting me all excited! And damn me for getting all excited about a game that will likely turn out to be as shallow as a supermodel's inner self.

 

[sser]

Also pre-ordered it (through GreenmanGaming). I don't even care if it has a weak release, my being a sucker for all things gangster will entertain me long enough to get by.

 

[Modron]

Also pre-ordered it (through GreenmanGaming). I don't even care if it has a weak release, my being a sucker for all things gangster will entertain me long enough to get by.

Same; if the game turns out to be weak in the gameplay department at least it got me the new King's Bounty for 3 dollars.

 

[Khor1255]

I think you're reading too much into this Khor.
It's a fairly simple mafia-related trope.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omertà

Oh wow. I had not ever heard that as a common term. Thank you. You are likely correct and this has nothing to do with Ja2. But it is a clever marketing strategy considering...

 

[Burning Bridges]

I'm still surprised that someone makes a turn based game at all. The setting has massive potential, but don't let your expectations run high. It was already confirmed that the maps are played one by one in a linear campaign, so unless they plan to make a sequel/addon with genuine sandbox gameplay, it won't even remotely be like JA2. It looks good for a playthrough or two, but without any real persistence to the maps, and without real attachment to your characters, it will grow stale. Which is a shame, I will never get why developers create characters with a lot of depth, only to waste them as decoration.
Anyway, my take is: if this game is enjoyable like Tropico 3, it is reasonable that they make a tb game. But it could have been so much more ... Just imagine, JA2 in a gangster world ...

 

[sser]

I believe there is a sandbox mode. Also co-op and versus. The game will probably have some life to it upon release. One thing to remember is that these are the Tropico guys -- if the game is remotely successful we'll probably be seeing an expansion or two.

 

[Ulminati]

Well, I enjoyed Tropico and I adore gangster themes. Preordered the fuck out of this. Hopefully you get to rename your thugs and dames, because then this game could have srs LP potential.

 

[catfood]

http://forum.kalypsomedia.com/showthread.php?tid=17534

Individual districts of the city are available for sandbox games. These scenarios end once you have complete control over the district. There are various computer-controlled entities present on the map, but no opposing gang that acts the same way as the player.

Even if you like Gangsters, it is important to understand that Omerta is a very different game.

 

[CrustyBot]

That sounds quite disappointing tbh. Was hoping sandbox mode pits you in massive districts of the city, with several gangs vying for control, each with their own quirks/personalities. Still, I'm hopeful for a decent game.

 

[oscar]

I wish people cranked out more turn-based tactical squad games on the Silent Storm engine.

 

[sser]

I wish people cranked out more turn-based tactical squad games on the Silent Storm engine.

It amazes me that it never happened. Silent Storm has one of the most amazing game engines I have ever seen. I don't know what stopped it from blowing up. Maybe it was difficult to work with? But it's rather startling to look at Silent Storm's engine, which came out almost a decade ago, and then look at XCOM, which came out in the past year, and see the huge differences in quality and game mechanics. In one, everything is on a set path with defined parameters. In the other, a bullet can ricochet through the ceiling and trip a mine and end up sinking the roof into the basement. Enemies can literally be so shot to shit the bullets will push them out windows. You can "hear" enemies and spray the walls with bullets, hoping to hit them. IMO, it is really the best tactical game engine I've encountered. I remember assuming, just knowing that JA3 would use the engine, and being pretty bummed out when it just never came to fruition.

 

[spectre]

I wish people cranked out more turn-based tactical squad games on the Silent Storm engine.

Well, you got Homm5. Though it doesn't count because of lack of physics.

I had a dream of making a fallout-themed mod for SS, unfortunately it all ended prematurely when I wasn't able to appease the machine spirit to run the bloody editor thing.
Technically, it had all the assets, I would probably be able to use the disfigured guy from Hammer and Sickle as a makeshift ghoul.

I really loved the engine myself, I mean, individual bullet holes? Being able to bring down a building with meticulous application of 7.62 ammo (and tons of it)?
Not to mention these moments when you would shoot a guy on a catwalk which leave him hanging from the siderail.

Other than that, I think there were several reasons why the engine didn't see much use at the time (Discouting the obvious: lawl an engien focusing on turn based? Here have a cookie), for one it was a resource hog, forcing the devs to cut e.g. on map size.
I remember the maps in SS1 were pretty claustrophobic. They got better in SS2, but weren't impressively big nonetheless. The AI really, really took its sweet time on its turn. Yeah, the physics was awesome, but demolishing a house really took a with the engine crunching them numbers like mad.
While most of these issues are related to computing power and would not really apply right now, well that was then, back in the 2004.

I think the fact that you had to perform genuine magic (including obtaining the specific version of MySQL) to run the MapEdit tool was one of the factors that prevented it from being popular.

 

[Snerf]

This does totally have a bit of Silent Storm vibe about it. God that was such gem, I just wish missions didn't revolve around those mech suit things near the end. Would have loved to see different games in that engine.

Omerta actually looks fairly interesting. Has anyone managed to get more info? Release is coming up quick and I'm debating whether or not to pre-order for the small discount.

How does Silent Storm hold up these days for a replay?

 

[potatojohn]

It's fine. You can get patched versions of S2 and S3 (together) on GOG. Both games work in WINE too.

 

[bonescraper]

The setting has massive potential, but don't let your expectations run high. It was already confirmed that the maps are played one by one in a linear campaign, so unless they plan to make a sequel/addon with genuine sandbox gameplay, it won't even remotely be like JA2.

I don't think anyone expected a JA2 clone. Well, maybe except you.

 

[oscar]

Give Hammer & Sickle a go. You play as a Soviet spy in 1949. A bit more intrigue and stealth-based than Silent Storm, but same engine and lots of (often quite subtle and thoughtful) choices and consequences.