Gangland is a computer game created by Mediamobsters (now: Sirius Games). It was released on 14 February 2004. It has the premise of mixing real-time strategy

Real-time strategy

Real-time strategy is a sub-genre of strategy video game which does not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry is credited with coining the term to market Dune II....

 (RTS), role-playing game

Role-playing game

A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...

 (RPG) and simulation (Sim).

Story

The player takes the role of Mario Mangano, whose four brothers, Romano, Angelo, Sonny, and the eldest Chico, are caporegime of the Mangano crime family based in Palermo. When their father, the Don of the Borgata, dies, a power struggle hits the family and ends with Chico being nominated as the new boss. Romano, Angelo, and Sonny murder Chico after his promotion and flip away from Italy to the new world, escaping the police manhunt meant to capture them. Two years later, Mario's uncle Vincenzo Mangano calls Mario's grandfather and says that the three brothers are in his city, Paradise City. The single-player campaign begins when Mario is sent to Paradise City by his grandfather to work under Vincenzo until he is powerful enough to hunt down and kill the three murderous brothers.

Vehicles

There are 7 drivable vehicles available to steal or purchase:

• The Runabout is a small car, which could be compared to the Mini Cooper. This is a light blue, and can seat two units. It has good handling but is slow, and has poor armour.
• The Street Car is a light car, in grey, and can seat two units. It has average handling and average speed.
• The Truck is a heavy, bulky utility vehicle, that can seat eight units, but unlike the other vehicles has no shooting seats. It is very slow and has poor handling.
• The City Car is a black, Cadillac
  Cadillac
  Cadillac is an American luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors . Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, but mostly in North America. Cadillac is currently the second oldest American automobile manufacturer behind fellow GM marque Buick and is among the oldest...
  
  -type vehicle, that can seat four units. It has decent handling and a decent speed.
• The Military Vehicle is a Humvee-style vehicle, that seats four units. It has incredibly heavy armour (the heaviest), but poor speed and handling.
• The Sports Car is a red Dodge Viper
  Dodge Viper
  The first prototype was tested in January 1989. It debuted in 1991 with two pre-production models as the pace car for the Indianapolis 500 when Dodge was forced to substitute it in place of the Japanese-built Stealth because of complaints from the United Auto Workers, and went on sale in January...
  
   style car which seats two units. It's very fast, and has decent handling.
• The Police Car is, as the name says, a police car. It can seat four units, and has average speed, armour and handling.

Note: The Military Vehicle, the Sports Car, and the Police Car are not available to steal on the map, and must be purchased.

Paradise City Mobs

The Mangano crime family is not the only organised crime syndicate; it shares the Paradise City underworld with seven others.

• the Jewish Mafia: Led by Rabbi Viktor Schwarzchild;
• the Frantino crime family: American Mafia
  American Mafia
  The American Mafia , is an Italian-American criminal society. Much like the Sicilian Mafia, the American Mafia has no formal name and is a secret criminal society. Its members usually refer to it as Cosa Nostra or by its English translation "our thing"...
  
  , Led by Rocco Frantino;
• the Cartel
  Cartel
  A cartel is a formal agreement among competing firms. It is a formal organization of producers and manufacturers that agree to fix prices, marketing, and production. Cartels usually occur in an oligopolistic industry, where there is a small number of sellers and usually involve homogeneous products...
  
  : Led by Amado Raùl Callas;
• the Yakuza
  Yakuza
  , also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...
  
  : Led by Riju Teshighara.
• the Russian Bratva: Led by Alexander Minkowskij;
• the Black Mafia
  Black Mafia
  The Black Mafia, a Philadelphia-based organized crime syndicate whose small beginnings started from holding up crap games and dealing in the illegal drug business, was formed in September 1968 by Samuel Christian, who later adopted the name Suleiman Bey under the Nation of Islam, and was at its...
  
  : Led by George King;
• the Triads: Led by Fei Li Xiao;

Reviews and Criticisms

A common criticism of Gangland was its repetitive gameplay. The game also suffered from a poorly implemented checkpoint saving system, as well as game mechanics that would discourage the use of certain units because of future penalties. Some of the actions a player could perform could be considered game breaking actions (such as the permanent destruction of vital resources) that could ruin multiplayer games.

Mobile phone release

The game was released on an unknown date by King of Mobile for mobile phones. The story and graphics are much simpler, and different from the PC version. The player controls Mario as he carries out Vincenzo's instructions to kill rivals.

Sequel

On Oct 1st publisher CDV

CDV

cdv Software Entertainment AG is a German publisher of computer games, specializing in strategy titles for the PC. cdv was founded in 1989 in Karlsruhe, Germany by Wolfgang Gäbler and Christina Oppermann. In April 2000 cdv became listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange...

 announced that Escape From Paradise City

Escape From Paradise City

Escape From Paradise City is a 2007 computer game created by Sirius Games, the sequel to 2004's Gangland. Published by Cdv Software Entertainment, it was released on October 27, 2007...

 is gone gold and would be available on Oct 24. Escape from Paradise is developed by Sirius Games.