Empire Of Sin is one of the newest strategy games coming from developer Paradox Interactive. Paradox is no stranger to the strategy genre, with such titles under its belt as Imperator: Rome and the Europa Universalis series. Stepping into uncharted territory with the Roaring Twenties gangster setting of Empire Of Sin, it's interesting to note the unique way Paradox Interactive tackles XCOM-like gameplay mixed with a Godfather feel.
Going somewhere very few strategy games have gone before, Empire Of Sin puts the players in the shoes of a 1920's gangster stepping foot into Chicago for the first time with a small crime family. The player's goal is to raise their notoriety in Empire of Sin and become the most powerful and respected crime boss in Chicago - and eliminate any competition along the way. However, most games under Paradox Interactive's publishing belt and in the strategy genre have players leading huge empires with thousands of civilians and soldiers to manage. Paradox Interactive understandably had to scale back to make this game's concept work, but it's in the way this is done that makes it so interesting.
Empire Of Sin takes some inspiration from the older Godfather video game when it comes to territory management. Expansion is accomplished by buying, building, taking over, and then managing businesses, both legal and illegal. Players can run casinos, brothels, and more, assigning gang members to watch over them and keep them profitable. Each gang member has unique traits that make them better at running a player's business; for example, Frankie Donovon in Empire of Sin has stats that make him great for booze running, so he's better to put there than in a casino.
Much like a 4x game, managing territory is all about using resources to generate more resources; spending money to make money. 4x stands for Explore, Expand, Exploit, Exterminate, and Empire Of Sin sticks to these gameplay principles pretty well. Exploring, Expanding and Exploiting is accomplished mostly through business and family management and is accomplished using menus and sending goons out to do various tasks. "Exterminate" is where the game takes its main departure from other Paradox Interactive IPs and games like XCOM.
While one of the main goals in Empire Of Sin is to make as much money as possible, players will find that more often than not their perfectly legitimate business will run into some competition in the form of other crime families. The player's family is new to Chicago, and plenty of other established crime families already run the city's streets, cornering or coveting most business opportunities the player has access to. When these families clash, it's done in turn-based XCOM-style battles.
Scaling down the massive army versus army battles typical of the genre, Empire Of Sin takes inspiration from turn-based tactics king XCOM with small scale (usually 5v5 or less) strategic combat gameplay. Each battle feels like the player is controlling a scene in their own mafia movie like the Godfather, leaving the territory control screen of the overworld to take part in battles localized in warehouses, docks, and even the city streets. Cover is important in Empire Of Sin's combat system, as well as the stats and gear of each individual character involved, allowing for a great deal of customization not present in the combat of a lot of other 4x games. The smaller scale of the combat also allows for boss battles, with every Empire of Sin boss having their own unique strength and weakness. The XCOM style turn-based combat is new territory for Paradox Interactive, with a lot of their games featuring an RNG dice-rolling mechanic to resolve combat.
Empire Of Sin takes inspiration from the two best games it could have. The clever combination of mechanics serves the game and its setting well, where poorer choices might have made the already difficult merge of strategy and 1920s gangsters a bust. The territory and business management similar to the Godfather game makes players truly feel like a crime boss, while the XCOM turn-based combat puts players in direct control of intense mafia-movie gunfights, reminding them of the tension of having rival crime families while also serving as a fun break from the resource management gameplay.
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