''Empire of Sin'' is a
strategy
Strategy (from Greek στρατηγία ''stratēgia'', "art of troop leader; office of general, command, generalship") is a general plan to achieve one or more long-term or overall goals under conditions of uncertainty. In the sense of the "art ...
and
role-playing video game developed by
Romero Games
Romero Games Ltd. is an independent video game development studio that was established on 11 August 2015 by husband-and-wife team John Romero and Brenda Romero and is located in Galway, Ireland. This is the ninth game studio Romero has establis ...
and published by
Paradox Interactive. It was released on December 1, 2020 for
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
,
macOS
macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...
,
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
,
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
, and
Nintendo Switch
The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...
. In the game, the player takes the role of one of several
mob boss
A crime boss, also known as a crime lord, Don, gang lord, gang boss, mob boss, kingpin, godfather, crime mentor or criminal mastermind, is a person in charge of a criminal organization.
Description
A crime boss typically has absolute or nearl ...
es inspired by real-life figures in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
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, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
during the
Prohibition era. The player, acting through their boss character, must decide and direct the actions of their underlings to take over rival businesses such as clubs and brothels, recruit new members to their cause, and defend their empire against other bosses and the law in a bid to take complete control of Chicago's underworld.
Gameplay
''Empire of Sin'' is a real-time strategy game with the player taking the role of a crime boss in the
Prohibition era starting in 1920, one year after the passage of the
Eighteenth Amendment, and trying to gain control of
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
by 1933 (when Prohibition is abolished).
The game starts with the player selecting a boss character, several of which are directly modelled on Prohibition-era criminals such as
Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel Capone (; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the ...
,
Dean O'Banion
Charles Dean O'Banion (July 8, 1892 – November 10, 1924) was an American mobster who was the main rival of Johnny Torrio and Al Capone during the brutal Chicago bootlegging wars of the 1920s. The newspapers of his day made him better known a ...
, and
Stephanie St. Clair
Stephanie St. Clair (December 24, 1897 in Guadalupe West Indies(French Caribbean) – December 1969) was a prominent black woman of African descent and racketeer who ran numerous enterprises in Harlem, New York, in the early 20th century. St. ...
, while others, such as Goldie Garneau, are fictional but take inspiration from the era. Each boss can form a "crew" of up to 16 underlings from 60 potential ones to help manage their empire of criminal
rackets
Racket may refer to:
* Racket (crime), a systematised element of organized crime
** Protection racket, a scheme whereby a group provides protection to businesses or other groups through violence outside the sanction of the law
* Racket (sports equ ...
, such as
speakeasies,
casino
A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...
s, and
brothel
A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...
s, protect them from the law and rival mafia gangs, deal with unforeseen problems (such as protestors shutting down a brothel or an undercover federal agent visiting a speakeasy), and work to extend their gang's influence by taking over the rackets of other bosses.
Rackets can be upgraded with cash to improve their security, increase their profits, and better conceal themselves from potential enemies. Bosses must regularly consult their business ledgers through the in-game menu to track how well their rackets are operating and whether any adjustments or upgrades need to be made.
The city of Chicago is divided into neighbourhoods, each of which has rackets controlled by other gangs, vacant properties that can be purchased and converted into rackets, and decrepit buildings occupied by small criminal gangs who must be wiped out in combat before the building can be put to use, ransacked for profit, smashed up to temporarily make it unusable, or razed to the ground so that no one can use it. As the boss steadily increases their control over a neighbourhood, they will attract the attention of rival bosses, who may try to extort money from the boss or attempt to seize their rackets. Deciding how to handle rivals - whether that involves forming alliances with them, paying or threatening them into backing off, or simply killing them and assuming control of their empires - is an important aspect of ''Empire of Sin''.
Alcohol is the most vital component of any boss' empire; without enough to sell, rackets will be unable to generate substantial profits. Each neighborhood has locations where speakeasies and breweries can be established to produce and sell alcohol, and the boss must invest considerable sums to protect them and increase their production capabilities. Alcohol can also be given to the player by allies or received as part of a reward for completing certain missions. Alcohol is graded by its quality, from low-quality "swill" that can be made cheaply but will not sell for much to "premium" and "top-shelf" alcohol that is more expensive and riskier to manufacture but can be sold for high prices.
Taking over rackets or occupied buildings, as well as getting into shootouts with rival gangs or law enforcement officers, enters the boss and their crew into a
turn-based strategy game
A turn-based strategy (TBS) game is a strategy game (usually some type of wargame, especially a strategic-level wargame) where players take turns when playing. This is distinguished from real-time strategy (RTS), in which all players play simu ...
similar to ''
X-Com''. Members of the crew must be positioned before they can attack or accept any of the player's orders, and can be armed with a variety of weapons, body armor, explosives, and healing items purchased from
black market
A black market, underground economy, or shadow economy is a clandestine market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality or is characterized by noncompliance with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the se ...
dealers. Combat is also impacted by various traits and perks the characters have, and may cause them to act differently from the player's orders. For example, a character with the "Hair Trigger" trait may fire their weapon out in the open rather than moving to cover when ordered. These traits can change over the course of a game; for example, an underling may become more accustomed to solving problems through violent means the more they are put in such conditions.
The primary focus of ''Empire of Sin'' is to grow the boss' empire through conquest and effective management. Funds earned from rackets can be used to pay off cops, hire lawyers to keep underlings out of trouble, recruit
advisors and
underboss
Underboss ( it, sottocapo) is a position within the leadership structure of certain organized crime groups, particularly in Sicilian, Greek, and Italian-American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the boss. The underbo ...
es who can reduce the player's workload by assuming some responsibilities of managing the empire, and plant moles in other gangs to disrupt their operations. The game is partially
roguelike in nature as the rackets on the game's map reallocate for each playthrough, and new characters are generated with different perks each time.
Some have compared ''Empire of Sin'' and its gameplay as a successor to the 1999 game ''
Mob Rule
Mob rule or ochlocracy ( el, ὀχλοκρατία, translit=okhlokratía; la, ochlocratia) is the rule of government by a mob or mass of people and the intimidation of legitimate authorities. Insofar as it represents a pejorative for majori ...
''.
In addition to empire-building, each boss character has their own unique storyline and missions that can be completed up until the end of the game. These offer insight into the characters and can enable them to earn special rewards.
Development
''Empire of Sin'' was developed by
Romero Games
Romero Games Ltd. is an independent video game development studio that was established on 11 August 2015 by husband-and-wife team John Romero and Brenda Romero and is located in Galway, Ireland. This is the ninth game studio Romero has establis ...
with
Brenda Romero as the lead designer. Brenda's past game development history which included the ''
Wizardry'' video game series and board games based on historical scenarios, had given her great insights into
role-playing games (RPG) and creating gameplay systems that focused on character interactions. The Prohibition era ideas behind ''Empire of Sin'' had been something she wanted to do for 20 years.
This led to the pair seeking Paradox Interactive as their publishing partner given that Paradox is well known for historical simulation games.
The game was first revealed as part of
Nintendo
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles.
Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...
's
Direct
Direct may refer to:
Mathematics
* Directed set, in order theory
* Direct limit of (pre), sheaves
* Direct sum of modules, a construction in abstract algebra which combines several vector spaces
Computing
* Direct access (disambiguation), a ...
presentation at
E3 2019. It was released on
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
,
macOS
macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...
,
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
,
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
,
Nintendo Switch
The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...
.
While its initial release was planned for the second quarter of 2020, Romero Games announced the game would be delayed until December 1, 2020 for additional polish.
Reception
Critical response
''Empire of Sin'' received "mixed or average" reviews on the PC, Xbox, and Switch versions and "generally unfavorable reviews" for the PlayStation 4 version, according to Metacritic.
References
External links
* {{Official website, https://www.empireofsingame.com/
Official wiki 2020 video games
Strategy video games
MacOS games
Nintendo Switch games
PlayStation 4 games
Xbox Cloud Gaming games
Xbox One games
Windows games
Video games developed in Ireland
Organized crime video games
Video games set in Chicago
Video games set in the 1920s
Paradox Interactive games
Single-player video games
Works about prohibition in the United States
Video games set in the 1930s
Video games designed by Brenda Romero
Romero Games games