Homemademech - PSP Gangs of London reviews

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First Look at Gangs of London

Oh, joy, what could this possibly be! Gee, I wonder!! Could it possibly be a… SHOOTER?!?
Sony Entertainment Europe’s London Studio (duh), who is best known for The Getaway franchise (remember The Getaway : Black Monday?) have come up with their latest offering in Gangs of London, and yes, thankfully it is not a spinoff of Leonardo Di Capprio’s Gangs of New York (because nobody wants anymore products based on gangs that actually allow Leonardo Di Capprio to be a member of said gang).

Just reading this description I feel as I should be allergic to this game… and yet it has potential, really, it does have potential (I.e. please send me a free copy to review just so I have a reason to be somewhat hopeful for the future of this game, people of Sony)! The game will be “presented in stunning graphic novel style narratives”, with “dynamic storylines” that “enables each player to experience their own unique progression in nearly 60 different missions that immerse gamers in an elite criminal underworld in modern day London”…. uh, I hope that is actually cool and not just made to sound cool, please let this be cool.

The game promises new gameplay modes… but for the life of me it seems to be screaming “Let’s get rid of our old “Realism” mode and embrace the “realism” of “Hey let’s make ANOTHER Grand Theft Auto clone!” logic“! I don’t know if that will be true, I.e. I hope this is not true since Grand Theft Auto : Liberty City Stories was great but could have been better in terms of control issues due to a missing analog stick, but a game that promises “intense free-roaming gameplay perfectly tailored for a handheld system” may very well be screaming “I saw GTA : Liberty City Stories, and here’s our version!”… except that I’m sure the game will be based on London and not Liberty City. If so somebody please send me a map of London for the review, so I don’t get lost while playing… thanks.

Well even if the premise seems to ring with a sound that echoes old then here’s a promised breath of fresh air that’ll make you forget that, and provide the hook to get players into this game (possibly).
Gangs of London promises a completely unique Game Share mode that will take into account, of all things, the identity of your personal PSP system! Depending on the serial number encoded into the individual PSP, each Gangs of London game will (in turn) use that information as the “recipe” which will generate a completely original game experience. Each original game’s recipe of mission objectives, environments, characters and weaponry will be mixed, sliced, baked and served in a unique fashion depending on the “recipe” each PSP holds within it’s frame via the personal PSP serial number.
That is good, and something we have never seen in a game to date. I, for one, hope this succeeds because it will mean a possible breakthrough in gaming that will create a game that will change with each system it’s played on, providing an individualized game for each and every player (something we should embrace if it works out the way it is promised). Heck, if this can be modified so that each time you play it can mix and form new individualized gameplay each time that will definitely crank up the replay value of these games right through the roof!

So, in the end, with a possible good game supporting 1 to 5 players, this shooter is tentatively slated for Fall of 2006 with a possible M for Mature rating (duh). Stay tuned for more info.

PSP - Gangs of London

PSP Gangs of London Reviews

First Look at Gangs of London

PSP Gangs of London Images