Gangland Q&A

Gangland will be a strategy game that will let you play as an up-and-coming thug in a world of Prohibition Era gangsters. You'll eventually be able to rise through the ranks of your criminal organization to become a Mob boss yourself, and you can even have children who will be born into your criminal empire. To find out more about Gangland, we sat down with MediaMobsters' managing director Christian Majgaard.

GameSpot: Gangland sounds like an interesting game that uses traditional strategy elements, but why did you decide to use Prohibition Era gangland as the setting?

Christian Majgaard: The game does share elements with traditional strategy games, but it is really much more than that. We have taken inspiration from elements of many different games we've loved playing over the years--arcade and action games, simulation, role-playing, and strategy. What we have is an action game with an epic story set in a huge simulated world with lots of stuff and people to interact with. Regarding the setting, we have been in love with the Mafia universe since The Godfather, and we find the "romantic" adaptation of life as a mobster very intriguing--and the perfect setting for a story-driven game.

GS: Is the game intended to have a highly authentic Prohibition Era look and feel? How much research did the team conduct for making the characters, environments, vehicles, and weapons true to the time period?

CM: The intention was always to make a fun game. It has really been a trade-off between authenticity and fun, so we have taken some liberties in designing the world. Basically, we have taken the atmosphere of the good old days--where Prohibition was a catalyst for the growth of the Mafia--and mixed it with automatic weapons and cool cars, like the Dodge Viper.

GS: In order to get started in your career of crime, you need to complete certain missions for the Don. Describe these early missions. How open-ended will they be? How often will you be using vehicles, henchmen, and different types of weapons?

CM: There are two main categories of missions in Gangland: conquests and challenges. Conquests are the missions that form the main storyline. Challenges are very diverse small setups with fast-paced gameplay and a prize in the end, in the form of access to new units. You go through 16 conquests and 10 challenges as you control your main character, Mario, in his search for his brothers.

As Mario starts out, his uncle keeps him busy with all sorts of jobs, ranging from setting up protection rackets, doing drive-bys, taking over businesses, and fighting competing families. Technically, the missions will be generated randomly by our event engine, which has three purposes: to generate unpredictability, to tell a story, and to ensure replayability.

The different jobs all require different approaches. In some you will need firepower and muscle, like when you attempt take over a heavily guarded business. In others, speed is more important. When you need to kill three snitches who are scattered all over town and you only have three minutes, your driving skills--that is, with your MINI Cooper in the narrow streets of Little Italy--are essential.

Once you've finished the single-player game, you will have confronted your three brothers, driven six different cars ranging from Vipers to trucks, infiltrated other families, blown up a ton of buildings, worked with the Russian Mob, fought the Colombians, found a beautiful wife, had kids, lived in four different neighborhoods, run a huge number of businesses, including gambling dens, pawnshops, arms dealers, hotels--and much more.

GS: And once you overthrow your Don and become a crime boss yourself, how does the game change? Will it still use a regular mission structure, and if so, how will you accomplish your different objectives?

CM: The basics are very much the same, although you will have more freedom of choice. As you are no longer taking orders from anyone, you will be offered business deals from international connections, other crime families, and civilian prospects. Basically, you are free to do whatever you want, but to advance the story, you must eventually achieve mission goals.

GS: We've heard that Gangland's 3D environments won't just be there for decoration. How will the environments play a role in Gangland's gameplay, thieving, pursuits, and gun battles?

CM: First of all, you should always watch your back in Paradise City. With a realistic 180-degree line of sight, you never know if some assassin is sneaking up on you to waste you or one of your trusted associates. Also, getting hit by a bullet in Gangland really hurts, so if your life is precious to you, you should never stand in the middle of the street during a battle. That would be suicide. Clever players will use the environment to their advantage by using anything they can find, like seeking cover behind garbage bins, vehicles, and phone booths. Players who reload, heal, shoot, and take cover at the right time stand a much better chance than the dead guy in the middle of the street!

GS: Obviously, in a gangland setting, money is power since it sounds like you'll need to spend it on some very important options. What can you do with your ill-gotten gains in Gangland, and how will the game challenge you to carefully choose where that money goes?

CM: In Gangland, making money will be just as fun as spending it--and its sources are endless. For instance, you get money from the businesses you extort or run, but you can also pick the pockets of civilians, or you can kill the collectors from rivaling families and steal their suitcases. Also, you might be lucky enough to be offered a big loan from another Mob family, but be careful. The interest rates are high, and if you don't pay on time, you'll get a visit from the debt collectors.

In Gangland, it takes money to make money. Taking over and setting up new businesses requires a fair amount of money. You will also need your money to recruit new thugs and to equip them with guns and gadgets. Finally, it is very important that you keep a reserve for other out-of-pocket expenses, like bribing the chief of police.

GS: Gangland also has a family system that lets your character have children. Could you explain this feature and how it will work?

CM: Only your own blood relatives can become leaders in the family. There are three very different children in the game that you can get: a seductress, a lawyer, or an enforcer. Your children will grow up to be leaders and will help expand the family, as they can each control a number of new soldiers. Of course, this is only relevant if you actually manage to find a wife and get married. The women of Gangland want both social status and money, in addition to your love for them.

GS: The last time we checked in, Gangland was expected to support multiplayer play. How exactly will multiplayer work in Gangland? Will there be cooperative and competitive modes, and if so, what are they, and what will they be like?

CM: Multiplayer is indeed one of the most exciting features in Gangland. In multiplayer, there are two basic modes--multiplayer conquests and multiplayer challenges--both offering cooperative and competitive gameplay depending on your choice.

In multiplayer conquests, you get to battle up to seven other wanna-be city kings for ultimate control of Paradise City. The event engine will keep you busy, while you build your family's empire, until you eventually choose to take on other families. Also, you can either play alone or team up with other players according to the map you choose to play.

GS: Finally, is there anything else you'd like to add about Gangland?

CM: With the huge expectations everyone has for Gangland, we are really excited about releasing just a short while from now. We do hope that everyone will be open to this new style of gaming, which combines a number of genres into one, and we welcome all the feedback we can get from the gaming community.

GS: Thanks Christian.