Escape From Paradise City

January 14,2008 - Hybridization of multiple gaming genres into one game seems to be a popular theme lately, and Escape From Paradise City from CDV reinforces the trend with a refreshing blend of real-time strategy and RPG mechanics. Paradise City's predecessor, Gangland, attempted something similar in 2004, but despite its refreshing approach was marred with a sense of poor polish and repetitive, sometimes boring gameplay. Unfortunately, though Paradise City had incredible potential to be a fabulous game, and has made some improvements over its predecessor, it is still plagued by these very same issues.

Paradise City is certainly graphically on par with most titles today, though is certainly a few steps behind “the cutting edge.” Textures and models are clear, but don't expect to see a bloom-filled, reflective-surface happy wonderland out of this thing; then again, that is not what Paradise City is about, as the player is thrust into the role of one of three characters in a smog-ridden, crime-infested city on the brink (or perhaps past the brink) of becoming a giant, run-down slum. Though the environment is visually pleasing and in keeping with the setting, it does get rather repetitive and lacks much variety as the game progresses.

One of the most fascinating parts of Paradise City is the player's perspective – that is, the player is always switching between control of one of three characters, with each “stage” of the game played as a different main character. Each has a different combat style, with a gunslinger, a melee specialist, and a master manipulator to play between. This constant switching between characters can be slightly disorienting, as each has a completely different skill tree to select from, but also brings somewhat of a welcome relief from the repetitive grind of many of the stages.

And this brings us to the main problem Paradise City suffers from, a problem that one would think the developer would have learned from after Gangland: not only is the gameplay dynamic itself very repetitive (as admittedly any RPG or RTS can get, though Paradise City is a bit worse in this regard than most due to its simplicity), but the level design is incredibly stale as well. Each stage has nearly identical objectives, with a focus on securing weaker neighborhoods until you have enough thugs on your side to launch an assault into the stronger neighborhoods and take them over. Capturing a neighborhood involves beating the local gang boss to within an inch of his life, at which point he runs around like an idiot letting all the local business owners know that you are in charge now, opening up a slew of new options for the player as they can now shop in and, for a small fee of bribing the mayor, run the neighborhood entirely. Unfortunately this process has to be repeated so often that the player may begin to feel as if they are being “Creeded” all over again. Unlike some other titles, Paradise City cannot get away with a repetitive dynamic so much due to a lack of amazing eye candy or a particularly entertaining combat system. An included multiplayer mode increases re-playability some, though the multiplayer community is ridiculously small at this point and a repetitive and oversimplified RTS dynamic hinders even multiplayer action.

All told, the gameplay is at least somewhat entertaining, if repetitive, and involves the use of skills and special abilities. The player has a health bar, focus bar for character special abilities, power bar for neighborhood-related support that one can call in, and cash to keep track of. Various abilities and of course equipment end up costing money, and hotels are available in some neighborhoods to generate extra revenue when loot from fallen NPCs isn't quite enough to fit the bill. There are two methods of view and control in the game, one more RTS (top-down with a self-scrolled camera) and the other more RPG (from behind, with a pursuing camera) styled - unfortunately, the RPG styled approach has an awkward feel and even more awkward controls, leaving most players using the more RTS-oriented control method.

There is a distinct bipolar feel to most of the voice acting and writing in Paradise City – sometimes it's hilarious, sometimes it's moody, and sometimes it is so cheesy that the player may be tempted to throttle the monitor in apoplectic fury. A particular moment of hilarity involves an NPC death cry: “I know where you live!” Regardless, it is obvious that the developers were shooting for a cheesy crime drama approach in their tone, and it does come across; the problem is that this campy approach is taken so often and so far that many players will be turned off by the sheer Limburger-level of cheese involved. The sound effects in the game are decent, crisp enough, but fairly standard, and the musical score is pleasant though nothing to write home about.

Escape from Paradise City is an enjoyable title that gets the player's hopes up that it may be something fresh and amusing, if campy. Sadly, it falls short with repetitive and sometimes unimaginative level design and a storytelling motif taken too far. The developers had their chance to learn from Gangland, and though they did manage to give this game the polish it deserves, failed to learn as much as they should. If you played Gangland and enjoyed it, Escape From Paradise City is bound to be a treat; if you love your RPGs or RTS and want a fresh experience, give it a try, but expect to be disappointed by a game fallen sadly short of its incredible potential.

Games, News, Reviews, Media and More