The fourth entry in Gameloft’s Gangstar series, Gangstar Vegas is, for all intents and purposes, a GTA clone. That’s not to say that it is entirely without merit, only that it takes the familiar open-world crime genre and runs with it, and much of the criticism levelled at it pertains to this perceived lack of originality.

You play Jason Malone, a rising MMA star who gets paid to take a dive by bigwig gangster Frank Valieno. Predictably, everything goes pear shaped and Jason soon finds himself on the run. Alone in Sin City, Jason turns to Vera and Karen, who control what little criminal activities Frank doesn’t have a hand in, and soon finds himself running errands and immersing himself deeper into the seedy criminal underbelly of Las Vegas.

Admittedly the story is generic, but it’s really just a flimsy framework to justify the myriad of unsavoury shenanigans you can get up to in the game, both story related and as optional side missions. These include the prerequisite taxi missions, rampages, street races, horde modes and much, much more; Gameloft’s depiction of Vegas is absolutely huge and packed to the brim with things to do.

The campaign engages enough to give an incentive to play through the 80 missions, and the voice-overs are of a good standard, but, aside from a few shining moments of insanity, it’s the usual “work your way up the criminal ladder to become a Made Man” fare we’ve seen a thousand times before.

Getting around Vegas is, unfortunately, an arduous process due to terrible controls. You do eventually learn to compensate for them, but controlling Jason’s movements whilst on foot is akin to roller-blading on an ice rink. There’s an annoying sliding animation that occurs every time you come to a halt, even whilst walking, and you’ll often find yourself running in the opposite direction when trying to use the on-screen thumb stick. Another bone of contention is every time you get near an object whilst running Jason will try to climb or vault over it, making on foot chase missions and context sensitive actions a true chore to complete.

The vehicles handle slightly better, at least once you turn off the tilt controls, but you’ll sometimes have your trajectory radically altered for no good reason. As I said, you do eventually learn to contend with these issues, but it’s a bit of a shame that the same attention afforded to the graphics wasn’t carried over to the control scheme.

Gunplay is remarkably easy; whilst behind cover you can select your target with a touch of the screen and automatically switch between the most present danger. Hand to hand combat is also quite robust yet easy to use, putting Jason’s MMA skills to good use. The customisation options are truly staggering -  practically every aspect of the game can be upgraded with skill points earned by completing certain tasks and you can always gamble at one of the many casinos or participate in a fighting tournament if you’re running low on cash. Pawn shops are dotted around the city and offer unique items, providing that you have the components required, which can be obtained by hunting down high value targets.

Properties are also available to buy, though strangely you can’t have a crib of your own; although there is the option to purchase IAPs to speed up the process of building up your stats, cash supply and items, I’ve never once felt like this was a necessity, just a shortcut for those who like such things.

Another nice touch is the option to directly select missions and stores from the menu, alleviating the monotonous task of driving from location to location, although personally I felt like I was kind of cheating each time I opted to do this.

Graphics and Audio

Graphically, Gangstar Vegas is one of the prettiest iOS games on the market. Las Vegas is as glitzy and dazzlingly vibrant as the real thing, with the gaudy neon glow of the strip at night a true beauty to behold. Often you’ll find yourself just wandering around and soaking up the sights; Gameloft’s attention to detail in crafting this world retains the sexiness of the graphics without compromising the size of your playing area. Character models are also well done and their movement feels natural and relaxed. That’s not to say that there aren’t some issues present, such as poor collision detection leading to some amusing instances where cars and people become stuck within buildings and trees and some annoying pop up, where you’ll be tearing down the street and suddenly plough into a car or shop that wasn’t there seconds before.

Another small issue is with the cutscenes; although animated proficiently, characters mouths don’t move. Like, at all. There also doesn’t seem to be any noticeable visual indication of damage to the vehicles, which is odd for a game of this sort. Sound is handled exceptionally well, and the small selection of licensed music on the radio stations is diverse and will cater to a large audience, although I personally only recognised the band Kasabian. The talkback radio stations and advertisements hark back to those in the early GTA and Saints Row games, with subtle and satirical humour hiding amongst the barrage of puerile jokes, both of which are as equally effective in eliciting the laughs.

Final Level

Despite some glaring flaws, Gangstar Vegas is a fun entry into the open world crime genre and is easily the best game of its sort currently available. Vice City, its closest competition, may control better but it hasn’t aged very well in many other areas. Some may write Gangstar Vegas off as an derivative knock off, and in some respects it is, but when it’s handled as competently as this it’s easy to overlook these flaws and enjoy the game for what it is – A massive sandbox (The map is nine times bigger than the previous entry, Gangstar Rio) on your mobile that you can dive into at your leisure. The control issues should be easily rectified by an update in the future and the slightly underwhelming story does little to distract from the gleeful destruction and chaos that forms the crux of the title.