Gameloft is the best "bootlegger, remixer, sampler, adapter, whatever you want to call it when you borrow freely from another game" in the biz. They can take practically any popular franchise, boil it down to the good stuff, then plunge that with a syringe and inject it into your cell phone. What differentiates Gameloft from so many imitators however is their catalogues sheer quality; their games rarely disappoint and even occasionally outdo their inspiration.
I'll step out on a limb and say companies and studios should recognize Gameloft's competence in the mobile space and hand over an IP rather than leave it in the hands of developers that might not have the necessary mobile experience. Just look at Avatar as a test of this kooky theory, Ubisoft's property on the console, will be Gameloft's on the mobile.
Good for them. After all, Shakespeare borrowed most of his stories - not that Gameloft's Shakespeare, but surely you get my point.
This is all obviously build-up to Gang$tar, as it's sparked firey forum discussions about its similarities to Grand Theft Auto. Let me say this, Gang$tar is no more like GTA than its other competitor, Saint's Row. It does feature a gang storyline and an open-world urban environment, but the story's much zanier, the gameplay's much goofier and the overall feel's much looser than anything Rockstar's released in years.
So let's break it down. What you're getting here is an open world to shoot up whomever you want, whenever you want.
The graphics are some of the best I've seen on the iPhone, yet. They're rich and colorful, and, surprisingly, the system doesn't chug pushing them onto the screen.
The gameplay is slightly less polished. Missions are typical, not wildly innovative, but fun. Expect lots of delivering, collecting and other various point A to point B activities. Control is also a minor issue. You have three different driving controls to choose from. All work nice enough, but the more I play 3D games on the iPhone, the more I want an alternative to the virtual joypad.
The story's absurd, and surprisingly well conceived. I could live without the racial stereotypes, but that seems to be a staple of the sandbox game. You can thank Rockstar for that.
The audio's up to you. The game includes a handful of radio stations, but you also have the option to play your own music. You'll probably use that the most, unless you have the ability to tune out the game's music after a couple hours of play.
If you like the genre, give it a spin. For $6.99, it's a steal.
