Gangstar 2 Kings of LA

Gangstar 2 Kings of LA... A modern tale of rags to riches...

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a Mexican and fleeing the border for a better life in the US of A? No? Me neither, but I can imagine thanks to the use of American TV and a pinch of salt, Gangstar 2: Kings of LA would possibly be quite a plausible story.

In a similar vein to Grand Theft Auto and other street crime brawling games, you play the part of a Mexican who you must assist right from the start to break through immigration control, evade police, steal cars, steal just about anything else, beat up and run over innocent and not so innocent people in the game and of course get tooled up and earn the crown of King of LA by successfully completing tasks you’re set.

Although as with most of these games, these tasks are quite loosely set and you’re able to roam quite freely causing havoc and wrecking all you care to, it’s important not to get too carried away with the gratuitous violence and actually complete the objectives set. However, if like me you find it more fun running around the streets and leaving bloody tyre tracks in your wake, then you will be anything but disappointed.

I found the controls quite impressive, although the d-pad is a little too sensitive and caused numerous ‘accidents’, which in turn caused me getting a lot of police attention. This wasn’t a bad thing necessarily, but it did make completing even the simplest of tasks more difficult than desired on most occasions. Being honest though, I rather enjoyed being a lunatic and unravelling each level and progressing to the next stage.

The graphics reminded me of the classic GTA 1 and 2, being not a direct top-down, as did the controls. So if you like retro games then you will be in love with this. Equally, if you just enjoy doing little odd jobs and generally causing mayhem, again, you will utterly love this game and be sad when you manage to complete every task. Fortunately, there’s plenty of levels to get immersed in and lots of fun things to keep you playing and quirky stuff that happens to make each level random and unique.

In short, I loved this game and I’m positive you will find it just as good as I have. If there was anything bad to say about it, I’d say the camera angle you view the game from isn’t always that clear as you can’t tell if one level is higher or lower than the one next to it and you can break through bollards and traffic lights, but a chicken-wire fence is tougher than a concrete wall? But if you can overlook and forgive these little things, you will be playing for hours!

Rating: 92%

Positives

Really addictive and hilarious fun – in a killing-spree kind of way

Political Correctness is nowhere to be found here!

Steal anything and turn it into a weapon

Lots of challenges ranging from easy to tricky

Free roaming fun and missions

Negatives

Can get a little repetitive doing errands all over town

The annoying assistant who guides you from one step to the next

The camera angle isn’t always clear

Inconsistency in obstructions