Empire of Sin

This game is the reason why Steam needs a third option beyond the thumbs up thumbs down we're given. Ultimately yes I would recommend the game, but the developers gave up on this way too early in my opinion. The concept is great and had a lot of potential that is lost. The ability to develop and manage a mafia empire was a huge draw for me. The combination of RTS and turn based strategy is equally well done in my opinion with the design of the game. Other pros that make the game worth while are a solid soundtrack and graphics.
However, the game is limited in its selection of bosses and maps. The allowance for the ability to design your own boss and select different cities would have allowed for greater variety and replay ability. A multiplayer feature would have also added a great deal of variety as well instead of being locked into only being able to go up against the AI.
All in all a worth while game, but if you purchase this I recommend getting it on sale and not at full price since it is abandoned. As a PSA I would NOT pre-order the "Coming Soon" DLC as it has been like that for years now with no change in its status.
3 out of 5 Stars

The amount of time i've spent on this game is Innumerable , as i had it cracked for a couple of years (sue me I dare you) modded for a couple of months and now have bought it out of respect for the game . Although there are some flaws, it remains a wonderful active/passive game to play, y'know, that kind of game you play for 9 hours and whisper "never again but do another one at 2 am . I deeply love this game despite the developpers abandonning it . That makes me very sad . But imagination and roleplay are incredible in this game , it's not your typical rts and it's originality must've confused many . Anyway , i'm drunk and this is a good game . love me .

Empire of Sin is a turn-based tactical/empire building “gabagool” simulator developed by Romero Games, a studio created by DOOM creator John Romero. Originally coming from the mind of John Romero’s wife Brenda Romero, whose hobbies included creating her own historical board games. This desire to create the game had lasted for around twenty years, and after the studio was formed the two then decided to approach Paradox Interactive, whose history of publishing strategy titles led to a partnership formed for the development of this game. It’s debut started I believe in 2019 E3 during the Nintendo Showcase (according to sources, as though I probably watched this showcase I don’t remember this moment) and was later released December of 2020. My personal history with this game is limited, I honestly don’t remember if I watched the Nintendo Showcase but I do remember hearing “Mafia strategy game” and wishlisting it immediately. I was cautiously excited for the game, hoping that it would be an updated version of Gangsters: Organized Crime. It was not, and debuted with Mixed reviews (almost negative on Steam). However, I picked it up after waiting for it to go on sale I believe at some point and gave it a playthrough (with cheats activated of course, thanks WeMod) to just relax, having replayed it twice or so over the past two years. My opinion on the game is that the mixed reviews are correct, but here’s how I specifically feel.
As the most important part of any tactical empire builder game, it’s important to note that the strategy aspect of the game has to be both fun and technically competent. I’ll start with the technically competent one: ehhhh kinda. Sometimes it runs perfectly fine and I can’t complain! Other times, like when I was playing Al Capone’s game, I would be told to, for example, go find Frankie Yale inside of some bar. However, I can’t do that because “the guards” won’t let me do that. I try to talk to the guards, sometimes the guards will attack and sometimes I’ll be able to talk to the guards, who will say “sure come in” and then I still won’t be able to go in. I kill them, still won’t be able to come in. The only way I’ve been able to move past this was if I were to view the inside of the building and then right click to move my guys inside but that’s kind of a hit or miss depending on the objective. Another time I would do a protection treaty with another group, and if another group was bought out but had bad relations and had declared war then the group you’re protecting would ask for your help. Click on the notification and not only does it say that this group is still alive and needs your help, but you won’t be able to close this pop up which requires a full game reset. Stuff like this didn’t occur too much but occurred enough to where after a while of playing it that I need to take a break after a bit.
As for if the gameplay is fun, I’ll go through a general description of what the game is like. First when you start up, you start as your boss and go through the tutorials of hiring specific goons (the limit is 16), from there you go to certain buildings which have random thugs and wipe them out in X-COM styled combat in order to take over the building and turn it into a racket. From there you choose between your four (or five depending on if you have DLC) rackets which vary in price depending on district conditions, and from there you grow your money in order to upgrade your rackets. Once you upgrade your main district hideout enough, you can choose between multiple different buildings for bonuses to those districts (ex. Boxing Gloves for an extra guard in that district only, a Mob Lawyer to lower police presence, etc). You can gain more of these by obtaining certain quest awards or using certain bosses (like Malting will boost your booze but can only be unlocked from a side quest outcome, or Al Capone’s Suit Shop which will boost the chances of police bribes being successful that’s unique to him only). You’ll get quests which offer semi open ended pathways which lead to different rewards sometimes (mostly money) while also dealing with a giant contention of other rival gangsters. Your specific gangsters (as well as your boss) form their own relationships with each other (off-screen) and can get perks and traits. For example, one thing I didn’t notice is that when I went AFK one time, I left all my people inside of a pub, where a whole bunch of them became alcoholics and gained negative traits. You can also gain traits and perks due to combat actions, and using perk points can upgrade their skill tree when you level them up.
In between dealing with rival gangsters, you’ll also have to deal with the game’s most important currency other than money: booze. Being the Prohibition Era and all, it’s important to establish a consistent stream of booze and supply. Different types of booze lead to different payouts and outcomes, but also lead to rival bosses trying to ride your s h i t. What I’ll say about the bosses aspect is that the way the game limits you, while it may be realistic can also be really annoying. At one point I found out the location of a rival boss's hideout, and I wanted to send a bunch of goons to go in and kill them, but I couldn’t because none of my territory surrounds them and “supply lines are cut off”. Like that hasn’t stopped people from sending in hitmen to kill bosses, and truth is I’d rather have the option to fail then get restricted like that because it’s really annoying. The only other things I can think of for the gameplay is that you’ll get certain weapons either as loot or through the black market/police contacts. It’s important to get the best hardware that you can possibly get as not only does it help with combat but also rival named goons could have really heavy firepower and could wipe you out quickly. Being a strategy game, there’s so much stuff involved with this game, between police attention/bureau raids as well as balancing diplomacy, random world events, there’s a lot of stuff in there that I know I’m probably missing.
The gameplay itself for the most part is fine, and I’ve gotten myself lost in the game’s mechanics multiple times. I personally had fun with the game, though I also messed about using WeMod Dev cheats because I wanted to have a game to chill and vibe too. However, even with the cheat codes, I can still sit there and respect certain aspects and vibes even if I’m not experiencing them due to my mod use. This game feels like a strange mix of complex and painfully simple, which depending on the type of player can be really frustrating or okay. Overall, it’s a decent time as well as a time sink, just have patience with how buggy it can be on the gameplay front at times. Also there's a very small Steam Workshop community that I Hope eventually gets expanded one day because that could add for some variation!
Links:

---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☐ Beautiful
☐ Good
☑ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it

---{ Gameplay }---
☐ Very good
☑ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't

---{ Audio }---
☐ Very good
☑ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf

---{ Audience }---
☐ Grandma
☑ Adults
☑ Teens
☐ Kids

---{ PC Requirements }---
☐ Top tier
☐ Fast
☑ Decent
☐ Potato

---{ Game Size }---
☐ Floppy Disk
☐ Old Fashioned
☑ Workable
☐ Big
☐ Call of Duty®: Black Ops Cold War (175 GB)

---{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☑ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls

---{ Grind }---
☐ Nothing to grind
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☑ Isn't necessary to progress
☐ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second life for grinding

---{ Story }---
☐ It'll replace your life
☐ Lovely
☐ Good
☑ Average
☐ Some lore
☐ No Story

---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☐ Average
☑ Long
☐ Too long

---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☐ Worth the price
☑ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money

---{ Bugs }---
☐ Never heard of
☑ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ Cyberpunk 2077

---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 10
☐ 9
☐ 8
☐ 7
☑ 6
☐ 5
☐ 4
☐ 3
☐ 2
☐ 1

TBH the mixed reviews confuse me. This game is really fun. Lots of content and I honestly think the gameplay is incredibly fun. Personally I did not experience many bugs in my time with it so far. Mind you I DID get it on sale for around $12 so maybe I would feel different otherwise but overall it is a very solid strategy game with a cool setting.

It's not terrible, like it works pretty well but overall it just hasn't been executed well. If you can pick this up for 75% off, then go for it, but full price seems too much. But it's not bad, and you will get several hours of fun out of it.

Pros:

Solid Gangster Theme
Decent Visuals
Combat is fun and exciting

Cons:

Lack of Character Customisation
Shallow Resource Management Mechanics
Repetitive Gameplay Loop
Sloppy Diplomacy Mechanics

Empire of Sin stands as a testament to what could have been, yet feels somewhat neglected by both its developers and the modding community. It's reminiscent of a game left to languish, yearning for the vibrant support seen in the old Paradox model – where DLCs introduced game-changing features and multiplayer support flourished.
Imagine a DLC offering the ability to craft custom characters, coupled with a deeper economic system, all bundled with new characters and win conditions. Perhaps even expanding the game's scope to include different cities like Montreal or New York would have breathed new life into the experience.
It's disappointing to note that ambitious mods, such as the proposed integration of the Vampire: The Masquerade IP, now seem abandoned. Despite this, Empire of Sin remains enjoyable, albeit not quite justifying its full price in its current state. However, on sale, it may be worth considering, in hopes that future expansions will capitalse on its promising foundation and enrich the overall experience.