14 DAY TRIAL // 
Sniper shots and explosives are a gangster's best friend, regardless of the central role the Tommy gun was received in movies and books. Goldie Garneau, now known as Headshot, can thin the ranks quickly with her Killer Quinn triple attack. Gibby Willard has a nasty explosive surprise for anyone in cover. And then my two hired gun characters can deploy machine gun fire to take out anyone who is bleeding or moving to flank. This is just one of the tactical scenarios that can happen during the battle sequences in Empire of Sin.
The new release is a combination of strategy, management, and tactics created by Romero Games and published by Paradox Interactive. It takes players back to the era of Prohibition and challenges them to create a criminal empire in Chicago, after choosing from a variety of period bosses that aimed to dominate the city.
The best part of the experience is the high-level management. Certain buildings can become distilleries, speakeasies, brothels, or casinos. All of these can make money and boost each other’s ability to move product and attract customers. As the game progresses gamers need to choose upgrades, which can of booze they want to deliver, how to deal with their customers, and with rival gangs. It’s a joy to create a smooth-running operation and watch how an entire neighborhood becomes a playground for your unique brand of illegal business.
Empire of Sin offers a lot of information on how each criminal empire runs, making it easy to tweak things and push for even greater efficiency or simply for greater profit. But to keep it all under one’s chosen boss players will have to engage in some combat, with hired mobsters on each side, and negotiation.
The tactical battles are a weaker part of the experience. Think XCOM with less impressive weaponry and a decent level of hand-to-hand action. Initially, the feel of the battles is good, with interesting special abilities for the gangsters you hire and quite a bit of interaction between members of the squad. But after a few hours, it becomes clear that the combat areas are just too similar to keep things interesting.
Some special abilities seem overpowered and weapon combinations can also give a character almost unfair levels of power. The computer opponents are also weak to a mix of chokepoints and overwatch abilities. The worst part is the defensive missions that involve thugs, not mobsters, and I really hope that Romero Games introduces an auto-resolve option in a coming patch.
The part of Empire of Sin with the most potential is the mobster roster. Each character you can recruit has a backstory and traits, alongside personal missions. They love another character and hate some. They develop new characteristics as they get in and out of fights. They can be customized with a variety of weapons, grenades, tonics, and more. It’s fun to listen to each of them and see how they behave in fights under different conditions. This is the best set of interactions between characters in a tactics game since Jagged Alliance 2. But it never rises to the same level of engagement because the management, the tactics, the relationships feature simply don’t mix well with one another.
As Empire of Sin progresses it becomes relatively clear that the best way to play, especially if you value your time, is to always go for decapitation strikes. Improve your businesses and cashflow the best you can during peacetime. Give as much good gear to a squad of solid characters as you can. When another boss wants war avoid the many defensive missions and never attack their properties. Simply find their safehouse, get through a tougher than average fight, and take over. Rinse and repeat until Chicago is yours.
Empire of Sin has a very period-appropriate look, filled with all the tropes about Prohibition that gamers might be familiar with. The bosses look the part. The higher-level view is very informative. There's also beauty to be found when zooming closer in. Some weirdness pops up when going for close-ups, especially during the cutscenes and the sit-down scenes, but it still has style to spare. The voice work and music are also solid, if not stellar, and they tend to become repetitive very quickly. I suggest replacing them with a playlist of old 20’s standards and some modern re-interpretations.
The Good
- Intriguing mix of genres
- Mobster interactions and relationships
- Cool mob bosses to play as
The Bad
- Combat gets repetitive
- No auto-resolve
- Overpowered weapons and abilities
Conclusion
But the current implementation, especially that of the battles, is frustrating. Romero Games needs to make management more important and to bring the characters to the front more. Patches also should include auto-resolve and a big balance update. Empire of Sin needs all of this to begin to realize its clear potential.
