The good old days
of gangsters, to some, would be 1920’s. Before pop culture had the Sopranos,
Godfather, Goodfellas or any other mob related media, there really was a big
crime boss; Al Capone. Besides not paying taxes, creating a “secret” vault, Al
Capone ruled the streets of Chicago in the 20’s. Mob Enforcer gives players the
opportunity to travel back in time and work for Al Capone as his top muscle.
You play the role
of Jimmy “Machine Gun” DeMora, Al Capone’s newest and #1 enforcer. The game is
a first person shooter (FPS) and is set in the roaring 20’s. Everything from
the cars to the character outfits is from the 20’s. Most of the locations
within the game try to be close to authentic; in fact the game even includes
replicas of the old time billboard. You will be advertisement for companies
that have long since disappeared throughout the city and the billboards are
painted to the side of the buildings.
The game plays out
similar to other FPS games; you run around, shoot people and finish missions to
clear the stage. The missions vary depending on the level but are usually very
simplistic such as take out a shop, or take out a specific person. For gamers
looking for the next thought provoking FPS, look elsewhere. The developers
tried to give you a little bit more to do than just running around blowing
things up with the mission. But the essential gameplay is tied specifically to
shooting but the missions can be a little non-linear. You won’t have to take
out specific shops in a set order, as long as all of the shops are destroyed
then you can clear the mission.
At first
everything seems to be OK with Mob Enforcer: you have a mission to accomplish
and enemies to destroy. But then you notice the AI and a constant pattern in
how the enemy attacks. The computer-controlled characters seem to have their
own customized move sets and are resilient to bullets. You will notice some
character dropping like flies after you hit them with your gun and other
characters standing right in front you taking shot after shot. This didn’t
happen occasionally but it happened all the time. The enemies even had special
moves they would perform such as rolling around on the ground to avoid getting
hit. Other characters would lie on the ground and fire. Great moves, but it
would have been nice if your character had the same abilities.
The other big
issue with the gameplay was the enemy encounters. As I mentioned earlier the
game is somewhat non-linear, where you can usually finish different missions in
no set order. Usually you would start out in a stage with no enemies near you.
But once you get close to an area that you need to clear, the enemies would
attack. Now this isn’t anything new when it comes to games but what Mob
Enforcer does is something that old school players are familiar with. The
enemies would seemingly appear out of nowhere and start attacking you. Now when
I say out of nowhere, I literally mean out of nowhere. I ran through several
stages where I checked out every room and there were no enemies to be found.
But once I triggered a specific event within the game (by usually completing
part of a mission) all of the rooms were now populated with the enemy. Why
didn’t I see them 30 seconds ago when I checked the rooms out? Were they hiding
under the bed, in the closet?
Mob Enforcer is an
entertaining game that, however, will leave some players with a fat lip. The
gameplay does what it’s supposed to do and the graphics replicate the look and
feel of the 20’s. But after a while the game gets repetitive and frustrating.
You have other enforcers popping up out of nowhere to take you out, even after
you cleaned out a room. If you’re looking for another FPS to hold you over
until the next big title comes out than Mob Enforcer might be the game. Beware,
once you’re in debt to the Mob you’re always in debt.
Gameplay 5.5
The controls are
well done for a FPS game; you move the character with the “A, W, S, and D” keys
and fire with the mouse button. I did notice a slight lag when I would press
the fire button to the game responding. It was marginal and soon I noticed the
game giving me some extra shots that I don’t remember pressing. On occasion the
aiming system would seem to have a mind of it’s own where some enemies were hit
straight on, while others were being missed by a mile.
You do have an
option to crouch and jump in the game along with the ability to lean left or
right. But none of these options seemed to matter because the enemy would
always rush after you, even if they haven’t spotted you at all. I noticed the
best option when taking out the enemy was to use the shotgun and stand right in
front of them. Most of the time it would take out an enemy with one blast.
During most of the shootouts you’re up against two to three enemies at the same
time. The best strategy was to find a place to hide, usually a door and then
fire once the enemy would stop and reload. The game includes 10 different
levels and 9 different weapons.
Graphics 6.0
The first thing I
noticed about the graphics was how impressive they were for a budget title.
Some budget title games usually skip on the extra frills of the graphics and try
to stick with the gameplay. Mob Enforcer looks really good with a nice amount
of detail in the graphics. The stages all looked great, with their own unique
look and impressive textures. During some of the missions though I would notice
that each stage would become repetitive with the textures used. It was hard to
distinguish which building was which from time to time because they looked
similar to each other. The stages would show some damage because of the
bullets, but not enough to really impress. In fact I would notice that some
items would blow up and show damage, while other similar items couldn’t be
harmed. For example if you tried to shoot a car, it wouldn’t show any damage.
The character
animations were nicely done as well, but you will notice the same characters
appearing through out the game. The frame rate was solid for most of the game
but I did notice that the game would stutter a little when turning with the
mouse. Another problem would be that from time to time the game would get very
foggy in order to prevent any pop-ups. But this would usually occur after
you’ve already been through that section of the stage. Now please be aware that
this isn’t Half-Life 2 or Doom III when it comes to the graphics. If there was
a little more variety with the graphics you could add an additional point to the
score.
Sound 6.0
The sound effects
for the weapons will be the first thing a gamer will notice. The weapons
sounded great and came across loud & clear. You will even hear the bullet
shells hitting the ground after they left the gun’s chamber. Before each level
you are presented with a cut-scene that explains the mission(s) of the level.
The voice acting during the cut-scenes were good, with your character and the
person giving you the information sounding great. However there is no music
during the game and the only music you will hear is during the menus. The music
sounds like something from an old police show. One area that was interesting
with the sound actually effects the gameplay as well. When you hear the enemy
yelling out then you better be on your toes because the enemy would appear is
just a few seconds. I was always listening for the enemy in order to prepare
myself in the game. Now this became a benefit of the game but I’m sure it might
not have been intentional. The phrases voiced by the enemy were very repetitive
and limited.
Difficulty
Medium to Hard
The difficulty in
Mob Enforcer can be very frustrating for some gamers. The majority of the game
isn’t that difficult, you are presented with a few areas that are very
aggravating. Most of the aggravation stems from the gameplay itself, not with
the difficulty. As you move closer to a key area in a level, the enemy attacks
you. But the part that bumps up the difficulty is the fact that the enemies
appear out of nowhere and will consistently rush after you. A common scenario
within the game is you destroy 6 or 7 enemies and you’re running low on health.
As you keep moving through the level, you find a bulletproof vest. But the
bulletproof vest is near a key area in the level and soon another 6 or 7 enemies
appear out of thin air. So be prepared to replay the missions over and over
again before completing them. Luckily the game allows you to save anywhere and
resume from that save.
Multiplayer
N/A
This is a single
player only game.
Concept 5.5
How many more
mob-related games will be released this year? How many First Person Shooters
will be released this year? The answer to both of those questions is more then
most gamers will have time to play. Unfortunately there isn’t much that
distinguishes Mob Enforcer from all of the other games that have been and will
be released. It’s a solid FPS game that has a mob based story line, so it’s the
best of both worlds for some gamers. The one interesting part of the setting is
the fact that you’re working for Al Capone, a key figure in history. The
gameplay and graphics bring nothing new to the world of gaming that hasn’t been
already been done.
Overall 5.8
In summary, Mob
Enforcer isn’t a bad game. In fact there are some great features about the
game: the graphics are nice and the sound effects well done. However the crazy
AI and repetitive gameplay outweighs all of the positives. I’m in favor of
keeping the player challenged and on his/her toes, but the way the enemy attacks
is a test in player’s patience. This type of gameplay worked years ago but in
today’s market it will be hard for anyone to be impressed with this type of
gameplay. But considering the price tag of the game, there might be enough to
warrant the purchase of Mob Enforcer. If you want a fast paced, violent and
solid looking FPS then give the game a try.
