Mob Rule
Description official descriptions
A city building game similar in nature to SimCity, but with elements of real time strategy thrown in the mix.
Playing the part of a small time mobster who wants to work his way up in the organization, the goal is to take over various towns and wipe out the competition at the same time.
Gameplay involves purchasing land and placing various types of buildings on it (such as soup kitchens, drinking dens, peep shows, hospitals, factories, etc.), then selecting a tenant to live/work in the business. Tenants produce other tenants, workers or cash. As the game progresses, a gadget factory also becomes available to manufacture various gadgets necessary to upgrade businesses.
While building the city of their dreams, the player must also manage the members of their gang, who come in three different types. The Workers build the buildings and help take out the competition. The Fixers perform the upkeep on the properties so they don't fall into total disrepair or burn down, and also help eliminate the other teams as necessary. The Gangsters are enforcers sent to take over other properties and whack the poor mooks that need a beating.
The player can create teams of their own men (the only female characters in the game running the brothels) or control them individually.
Mob Rule offers solo play through 5 scenarios or online play against up to three other players.
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Screenshots
Promos
Credits (Windows version)
50 People (46 developers, 4 thanks) · View all
The Don | |
The Godfather | |
Chief Forgers | |
Consigliere | |
Mastermind | |
Scams | |
Piano Player | |
Mouth Organ | |
Squealers | |
Associates | |
Molls |
|
Executive Producer |
|
[ full credits ] |
Reviews
Critics
Average score: 73% (based on 22 ratings)
Players
Average score: 3.6 out of 5 (based on 11 ratings with 1 reviews)
The Good
The best thing about Mob Rule has to be its sense of humor. It's a pretty funny game, with lots of amusing characters and animations. It also offers a wide variety of new and unusual things to build, which raises it above the hackneyed conventions of the RTS genre.
The Bad
Mob Rule is, to put it bluntly, too hard for those without a serious methamphetamine problem. There are a staggering amount of things to take care of, and too little time to do it in. To make matters worse, the minimum speed of the game is too fast, unit selection procedures are prehistoric, and the designers opted not to include an "issue orders while paused" feature. Moreover, the AI opponents seem brutally efficient, building on your land simply because they're quick enough to beat you to it and attacking you with an abandon that is, well, inhuman.
Also, there are only five scenarios (I've never made it past the second), which must be completed in order and have very rigid victory conditions. There is no "sandbox" mode whatsoever and very little room for experimentation or freeform play.
The Bottom Line
A lighthearted romp through a fanciful world of cartoon hoodlums, Gangsters it ain't. With a few more nods toward playability and ease of use, Mob Rule could have been a great RTS game, but as it stands it's merely a humorous, frustrating diversion.
Windows · by Jim Newland (56) · 2002
Trivia
Studio 3 used mob titles (The Don, Consigliere, Molls) when crediting their team. Click on Credits for the complete listing.
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Thom Doonan.
Macintosh added by me3D31337.
Additional contributors: Terrence Bosky, Kasey Chang, tarmo888, Plok, GenesisBR.
Game added September 16, 2000. Last modified March 31, 2024.