Gangland is easily one of the better games I have played in its time. Being a fan of the Italian Mob, how can it not?

User Rating: 8 | Gangland PC
I remember I got this game for Easter when I was 12 years old and I was as happy as can be. Reading the preview article in PC Gamer Magazine a few months before-hand paid off as I loaded the game to my computer. Right away I was quite pleased with the graphics and the micromanagement of Gangland (which were outstanding during 2004) and the first few missions helped with learning the controls and the basis of the game, working for Uncle Vinny and not having to worry about controlling businesses and the annoying phone calls and "requests for the godfather". Also with the slightly strategic spin on unit control, I was very happy to find my guys crouched behind a wall of trashcans or a newstand gunning down the attackers from another family. A highlight of this would be the first challenge mission that, if successful, will grant you access to the Russian Sniper unit that picks mobsters off the street like nothing.
I will admit that Gangland did have a bit of a bumpy start in the beginning, but now at v1.4, I think it has improved a bit now with newer skins for shopkeepers, blinking unit icons to signify your men coming under fire, and other miscellaneous little things that make the game still, if anything, a little bit fresh. It is saddening, however, that the multiplayer community has completely dwindled, if it even existed in the first place, which I think it would be awesome if there was a bit more activity. Patch 1.4 remedied such loneliness with the skirmish option, which is what it says it is: player vs. computer open-fighting.
So, being a three-year-old game, it would not hurt to pick it up if you are a fan of the Mafia, RTS games, both, or neither. Just go play it and you will see what I am talking about. Now 15, I cannot believe that it was three years ago I first played it.