Game review: Gangstar New Orleans has too many rough edges

Gameloft has released a new action game called Gangstar New Orleans. Sequel to the Gangstar Vegas, the new game works on similar lines as the popular Grand Theft Auto (GTA) series by Rockstar Games. It is available as a free download on the Play Store and App Store with in-app purchases ranging from Rs10 to Rs6,200. What makes the new game better than its predecessor or any of the games in the GTA series is its smaller footprint. It takes up only 800MB of space which is three times less than what Gangstar Vegas takes up after installation.

Looks impressive

Despite the smaller file size, the game looks beautifully designed and detailed enough for the small screen. Like its predecessor and other games in the GTA series, the Gangstar New Orleans is inspired by real-life neighbourhoods, landmarks and buildings in the city it’s based in. The game offers a fleet of uniquely designed vehicles and attires. The city is divided into several small pockets but one can navigate easily using the city map, which shows up on the screen when you are on a mission.

Challenging but with glitches

Not much has changed in terms of gameplay, which makes the Gangstar New Orleans a bit monotonous. The game follows the same style of play where players have to control upstarts trying to make it big in the underworld by taking on established gangsters on their own turf. Character movements can be controlled through on-screen touch controls. The regular combination of controls includes a joystick on the left side, an invisible control to toggle camera and the shoot/punch/attack button on the right.

A few of these are replaced by a second set of controls like an accelerator button and two navigation keys when the characters are riding a bike or in a car or monster truck.

The missions are short but quite challenging and involve a lot of violent scenes. You can play in a career or simply while away time in the Mayhem mode where you get points for hurting people and damaging property.

The game’s biggest issue is the lack of proper optimisation. Though Gameloft has managed to keep the game’s size down, frequent game crashes, frame drops and delay in loading are some of the issues that can frustrate even the most avid fans of the series. Also, the game is not compatible with all Android smartphones and Gameloft is yet to release a list of devices that support it.

Verdict

Gangstar New Orleans suffers from too many inconsistencies, as of now, which makes playing it more frustrating than enjoyable. If you have played the GTA series or other Gangstar games before, there isn’t much in this game to offer. In case you are looking for something new, you can try Bully: Anniversary Edition by Rockstar Games. It is also an open world action game, but has a refreshing storyline and gameplay. It also charges a one-time fee of Rs182 and doesn’t hassle users with in-app purchases.