A few weeks before the end of this school year, students start preparing their plans for the upcoming holidays, but the well-known studio Gameloft decided to adapt these plans according to themselves. On Friday night, this studio decided to release the fourth installment of the Gangstar title, which these days intends to take us to the city of sin, Las Vegas. The well-known clone of the Grand Theft Auto series should this time offer a map up to 9 times larger than all previous installments, offering more than 80 story missions and much more.
At the outset, the price and compatibility will surprise you. As with several key titles, Gameloft has now decided to price Gangstar: Vegas at €5,99 on European iTunes App Store. The game is only available for devices with 512 MB and more RAM, and therefore at the limit miniwe can find small requests iPhone 4, iPad mini and the new iPod touch. Minia minor requirement is an operating system iOS 5.0 or later, compatibility with iPhone 5 is a matter of course. However, the game will suffer from your capacity iOS devices. You can only dominate Vegas by sacrificing 2,6GB of free space on your device. This is a significant increase compared to the previous part, which took up 1,7 GB of storage on the respective device.
Remarks at the beginning
The developers decided this time to build the physics of the game on a completely new engine. Already at launch we can see the logo of the well-known computer engine Havok, which we can recognize for example from The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim or the Killz seriesone. The use of the new engine was probably also reflected in the requirements, and therefore it is not surprising that the new Gangstar will be played only by users of the aforementioned devices. The game surprises us with several licensed tracks, including "Bangarang" by Skrillex. The opening menu of the game is also attractive, which has gotten rid of its previous simple appearance. I don't just mean that it offers a completely new design, but also that it could have been more uniform. You will recognize this deficiency especially during the gameplay, when you will realize that you can open the possibility of repeating missions via GPS, you can make a quick purchase of weapons by tapping on the weapon in the upper corner. What struck me as very strange is the fact that while the iPad's display mini offers a display with a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels, Gangstar Vegas uses its own resolution of 1020 x 764. However, this will not cause the game to blur, but will bring a thin black border around the game.
As usual, Gangstar Vegas also offers service integration Game Center. Thanks to it, users have a total of 50 trophies at their disposal, which add a total of 1000 points to the player. These trophies are inspired by the possibilities offered by the game, and that is why among them we find interesting trophies with interesting tasks, such as buying all real estate or destroying a police helicopter with a rocket launcher.
Las Vegas - Crime scene
As the name of the game suggests, the fourth Gangstar takes place in the city of Las Vegas. Gameloft promises that the map of this game is up to 9 times larger than the maps of the previous installments, which can really be seen on the map. The game world playfully reaches the dimensions of the fictional city of Los Santos from the game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and partly even exceeds it. The map is really vast for a mobile game, but after a while one stops being aware of its size. The fact that the map is really bigger is also confirmed by the times it took to complete the highway around the map:
- Gangstar Rio - 2:24
- Gangstar Vegas - 04:55
While the real Las Vegas is located in the middle of the desert and the nearest lake is a few kilometers away, Gameloft decided to plant their own Vegas on three islands in the middle of the lake. The presence of the lake and rivers is the reason why we will encounter the world-famous Hoover Dam and missions that require, for example, stealing a ship or a seaplane. In addition, water can save your life a few times, but that already interferes with the storyline of the game. However, there is one thing that bothers me about the city, and that thing is Draw distanceance. If you decide to play the game on a device with 512MB of RAM, you have to deal with a smaller rendering distance, which can make buildings 100 meters away from you look pretty ugly. On the other hand, if it weren't for this limitation, the game could lag significantly on these devices.
A huge world offers huge possibilities. In addition to the standard fulfillment of missions, the user has at his disposal various types of races, riots and unique jumps. You say that Las Vegas is the center? Gameloft didn't forget about them either, and that's why even in the fictitious, 2.6-gigabyte Vegas, we can find detailed interiors of casinos with the possibility of playing games. Whether it is blackjack, video poker or slot machine, once you start winning, it's hard to break away. Gambling games are very enjoyable to play on a tablet screen, but they become even more enjoyable when you win. Gambling is gambling, but that's what Las Vegas is all about.
Physics, controls, vehicles
As usual, with a new engine comes a new question, which primarily concerns physics. Is it worse or better than in the past? The answer is: better. The new physics engine helped push the game forward, and thanks to the presence of the ragdoll, characters can perform various body movements. This is especially noticeable if you knock someone over or fall. Falls from motorbikes look much more realistic, but sometimes a bug can occur that temporarily mutates the main character's neck. Players who have played GTA on the iPad until now will encounter slightly problematic controls. This is mainly due to the fact that the "cover" button is located in a rather bad position, and therefore you may end up taking cover behind a wall or something instead of shooting. Even controlling cars cannot be considered a big win. Turning to the sides and adding gas is no problem, but a player of GTA and other games may confuse the position of the buttons for braking and for getting out of the vehicle. This can cause you to get off the plane in the middle of a mission where you aim to steal a seaplane.
It cannot be said that Gamelofťácke's Las Vegas fleet is lagging behind. In the city we can find a relatively large number of vehicles that imitate real cars. Thanks to this, we can find a fairly realistic Honda CRX or Mercedes-Benz S-Class on the streets. In addition, however, players also have at their disposal vehicles that combine elements of several cars. It is therefore not surprising that we will drive in a Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang hybrid, or a Porsche 918 and a Bugatti Veyron. However, the damage model is not at the same level as the controversial competitor, the resistance of the cars to impacts will definitely please. Controlling the planes in Gangstar Vegas is the work of a perfectionist, as is controlling the ships. But if you decide to ride the boat and have the sound on, in the case of the iPad mini you will certainly be pleased to be able to cover the stereo speaker with your hand. The growling of the engine on boats will start to bother you over time.
Story line
What kind of gangster game would it be if it didn't have a plot? Gangstar Vegas offers quite a long storyline, which consists of more than 80 different missions, divided into chapters. It all starts with Jason Mal's memoriesonehim for an MMA match, on which mafia boss Frank Veliano bet a considerable amount of money. But the match doesn't end as expected, and there's a big bounty on Jason's head. Overnight, Jason becomes the most wanted man in Las Vegas. The very concept of the missions is purposeful in most cases, but you will definitely be surprised by the help of a slightly drugged E-Man or a funny argument between Frank and his ex-wife, Vera.
The length of the story line will surely surprise you, but if you are interested in repeating them, you don't have to start the game from the beginning. Gameloft allows you to repeat the missions directly through the PDA, or the main menu, in the Quick Play item. To avoid revealing the storyline, players will only be able to play the missions they have completed, no others. This brings us to the next point and that is the transfer between missions. While in competitive games the user has to go to the place where the mission starts, in Gangstar IV it is simply enough to open the PDA, tap on the mission icon and confirm the action with the Start button. This will especially please those who are in a hurry or want to finish the game as soon as possible. I am of the opinion that the developers took care with the plot of the game, but the introduction may slightly remind the well-known film Pulp Fiction by the director Quentin Tarantino.
Jason Malone and everyday life
Gameloft has decided to incorporate certain elements of regular Free-2-play titles into the game, but in no case can we talk about advertising or the need to purchase additional in-app buying. Instead, we encounter the presence of leveling and the possibility of purchasing various improvements. The player gets a certain amount of Skill Points for each new level, which he can use in mini-exchange trades for the appropriate ability. Whether he decides to invest in a longer sprint, larger weapon magazines or higher fire resistance is up to him. There are so many options here. The method of purchasing weapons is also a similar innovation. While in GTA the player could only rely on gun shops and weapons that had victims with them, Gameloft decided to incorporate the direct purchase of weapons and ammo, without the need to leave the mission. If the player has no ammo, they simply need to click on the weapon icon in the upper right corner, search for the appropriate weapon and purchase the required amount of ammo. In this way, he can purchase a bulletproof vest and first aid kits, which are used to heal the player in the event that he is only one bullet away from death. I only used this option while playing minihardly, as a long-term player I relied on my own skills.
Summary
Like a bolt from the blue, Gameloft just on Friday released the App Store the fourth sequel to his gangster game Gangstar. After Los Angeles, Miami and Rio de Janeiro, we enter the streets of the city of sin, Las Vegas. The game replica of the city is really big, which will probably please every player. Thanks to this, it can be playfully compared to the fictional cities of Las Venturas and Los Santos from the title GTA San Andreas, from which the latest Gangstar seems to have been inspired by its possibilities. In addition to the standard story line and various side missions, the player can repeat all missions as many times as he wants, can participate in street, boat and air races, create riots and, last but not least, visit casinos. It is the casinos that offer a significant amount of gambling, specifically in the form of slot machines, video poker and blackjackjackat. Likewise, players can expect a fairly comprehensive list of vehicles, weapons and other options they can think of - including flying with a parachute. Players also have the option to quickly purchase weapons, thanks to which they can always complete missions very quickly. Are you bored with the current mission? Simply pause the game, tap Gambling and start playing Blackjack. Gangstar Vegas really has a lot to offer and the only game that can top it will be the official port of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas if Rockstar decides to release it.
The biggest problem with this game is the bad position of some controls on the screen, especially the ability to get out of the vehicle and the ability to brake the vehicle. Another drawback is the weaker rendering distance on devices with 512MB RAM. These are the overwhelming majority today, and it seems quite bad to me that these devices have to suffer for less detailed buildings at a distance of 100 meters from the player. Third, and perhaps the last problem with this game is storage. The game has 2,6 GB, so we can talk about a really comprehensive game. This is not such a big problem for users of 32 and 64GB devices, but for users of 8 and 16GB devices, this problem is more obvious. It therefore depends only on the user whether he decides to pay €5,99 to the developers or wait for a discount.
