Gangstar

Gangstar is a series of open-world action-adventure video games published by video game company Gameloft and developed by its subsidiaries.

Games in the Gangstar series are generally set in American cities (although Gangstar Rio: City of Saints is set in Rio de Janeiro, a Brazilian city). Gameplay focuses on an open world where the player can choose missions at their own leisure to progress an overall story, as well as engaging in side-activities consisting of action-adventure, driving, shooting, occasional role-playing, stealth and racing elements. The series focuses on many different protagonists who attempt to rise through the ranks of the criminal underworld, although their motives for doing so vary in each game. The games in the series are heavily inspired by the gameplay of the Grand Theft Auto franchise by Rockstar Games.

Gangstar: Crime City (2006)
Gangstar: Crime City is a top-down, open-world action-adventure video game published by Gameloft and developed by at least one of its subsidiaries. It is about a gangster who explores the fictional town of Crime City looking for money, power, and occupation of other gangs.

Gangstar 2: Kings of LA (2008)
Gangstar 2: Kings of L.A. (spelled as Gangstar 2 Kings of LA in the BlackBerry OS version ) is a video game published by Gameloft and developed by at least one of its subsidiaries. The version for button-operated/keypad-based mobile phones was released in November 2008, the BlackBerry OS version on August 5, 2009, the Ninte version on August 5, 2009 and the Nintendo DSi version on April 12, 2010. The game is about gangster cousins Pedro (nicknamed Chico) and Juan, who have recently escaped from Mexico due to a pursuit from the police. They arrive in Los Angeles looking for money and power, alongside their cousin Luis "L.C." Custodio. A three-dimensional (3D) version of the game was released for the iPhone (App Store) and Android (Android Market) platforms in 2009, titled Gangstar: West Coast Hustle.

Gangstar: Samurai (2009)
Gangstar: Samurai is an open-world action-adventure video game published by Gameloft and developed by Gameloft Tokyo. It was released for BREW and DoJa only in Japan. The protagonist is Masato and the setting is Tokyo, Japan. The game had radio stations like Toshi Beat. Masato stole a banned drug from a smuggling organization due to a slight mistake in stealing. After being chased by the organization, Masato is saved by a shadowy beauty named Yuri who claims to be a special agent. In order for Yuri to destroy the organization and Masato to escape from it, the two work together to carry out various operations against it. The player can use a sword as a weapon, as well as various firearms such as pistols, submachine guns, shotguns, grenades, and bazookas. There are 45 types of missions, from simple mobile missions to defeating enemies and infiltration.

Gangstar: West Coast Hustle (2009)
Gangstar: West Coast Hustle is an open-world action-adventure video game published by Gameloft and developed by at least one of its subsidiaries. It was released for Android, iPhone, iPod Touch and webOS. Gangstar: West Coast Hustle HD is the version for Android and iPad, and Gangstar: West Coast Hustle - FREE is the free version for iPhone and iPod Touch. It is a 3D version of Gangstar 2: Kings of L.A.. It is the first game in the series to be 3D. A 'sequel' to the game entitled Gangstar: Miami Vindication was released in September 2010. In 2017, the game was removed from the Apple App Store. It was released on August 20, 2009, for iOS, on November 25, 2010, for Android, and June 10, 2010, for iPad.

Gangstar: Miami Vindication (2010)
Gangstar: Miami Vindication is an open-world action-adventure video game published by Gameloft and developed by at least one of its subsidiaries. It consists of a two-dimensional (2D) version and a 3D version, and was released for iOS, Mac OS X and Android. It follows Gangstar 2: Kings of L.A. and Gangstar: West Coast Hustle and is the third main game in the Gangstar series. The story follows Johnny Gainsville (spelled "Gainesville" in the 3D version), a middle-aged man in search for his younger brother Joey, who was last seen in Miami, who is driven into a life of crime.

Gangstar: Miami Vindication features helicopters, motorboats/boats/jet skis, and motorcycles. Police vehicles can be customized as well. The 3D version is the first game in the series to feature voice acting instead of only textual dialogues (albeit lacking any facial animations). The 3D version features more profanity than West Coast Hustle. Other than people, alligators can be killed, but do not give any benefit. According to the preview of the 3D version by Gameloft, the map is 1.5 times larger than West Coast Hustle. Although it is the successor to Kings of L.A. and West Coast Hustle, the only connections between the games are L.C.'s appearance, news flashes from Kings of L.A., and a reference to Eddie Fallon (in the 3D version's case). In 2012, a spin-off titled Urban Crime was released; it follows the aftermath of the departure of Johnny Gainesville from Miami. As of early 2018, the game has suddenly disappeared from the Apple App Store for unknown reasons.

Gangstar Rio: City of Saints (2011)
Gangstar Rio: City of Saints is an open-world action-adventure video game published by Gameloft and developed by at least one of its subsidiaries. It consists of a 2D version and a 3D version, and was released for button-operated/keypad-based mobile phones, Android, and iOS in 2011. The 3D version is set in modern-day Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was released on November 10, 2011. It was followed by a sequel, Gangstar Vegas, in 2013. The game is currently not on the Apple App Store in the United Kingdom.

The story revolves around Assassinos gang member Raul. 3D and 2D versions have completely different plots, but a set of shared characters.

2D
In the 2D version, Raul leaves a party he was enjoying with his girlfriend Ana in order to do an urgent job for his boss. Ana scolds Raul for doing criminal jobs and urges him to find legal ones. Under orders of his boss, Raul enters a company car, but it explodes, making him fall into a coma; a month later he wakes in front of a hospital with a different face, and decides to go undercover in his gang to find out who planted the bomb. He got known and attracted to Laryssa, who now occupies his position in the gang. She introduces him into the gang under a false name of Angel. After doing some basic jobs for the boss, Raul asks his gang underboss to find out what happened to Raul. Because of that, the gang boss starts suspecting the underboss in an attempt to explode him and orders Angel/Raul to kill him. Raul executes the underboss despite knowing he is innocent. Then, Raul is tasked to acquire a package of documents related to the "Wet Package", a stock of blood diamonds supposedly being shipped. He finds the information implicating the boss in exploding the car instead. Raul decides to explode his boss as revenge, finds other gang doing that, kills the other gang, does it himself, and is immediately caught by police.

Laryssa turns out to be a police undercover agent. The police blackmail Raul into cooperation. After doing some jobs for police on acquiring info about "Wet Package" - a powerful malware from the rival gang they reveal that it was the police (and not the boss) who destroyed the car and did plastic surgery on Raul in order to manipulate him. Raul coerces a person into cooperation and giving him information on Ana. After doing some investigative missions, Raul kills the suspect he deems responsible, and gets parts of a "Wet Package", a fake dirty kompromat on President of Brazil, though its fakeness is obvious to everyone within the elite. The killed suspect turns to be innocent and the nephew of the president of Brazil.

The President makes police have them wanted and sends hitmen to avenge the nephew and acquire the kompromat. Raul learns that Ana is alive and taken by the revolutionary group. Raul and his new collaborator kill the hitmen and escape the police. The colleague contacts a journalist who has some clue how to contact the group, a famous journalist. The journalist demands Raul to place surveillance cameras on certain buildings in the city in exchange for her help. The journalist manages to help Raul attract attention to the group by drawing its signs all over the city. As result the group got into trouble and Raul has to save its cruel, sadistic and authoritarian leader, Diablo. Raul learns that Diablo is Ana. To prove Ana that he is Raul, Raul has to massacre the city with a bazooka, get $10000 for the group, and get rid of the gangsters wanting $5000. It turn the group is also looking for a "Wet Package" - a powerful mass-scale mind-control technology developed by the state of Brazil.

Raul hits the core scientist in the project, accidentally meets Laryssa on a beach, and exchanges a few words with her. Raul gets the parts of the "Wet Package" and the group assembles the device in its secret base. The device is actually a tracker, informing the military of the group's location. Most of the group is exterminated. The journalist manipulated the factions into war by sending them misinformation about the nature of "Wet Package", which was a complete hoax, in order to boost her career. Raul and Ana hit the police officer who has manipulated Raul and the leaders of two gangs. When they come to avenge the journalist, she was already killed by other gangs who want to kill the witnesses, including Ana and Raul. After that, Ana is jealous of Raul exchanging few words with Laryssa, suspects him to be commiting infidelity, and orders to kill both him and Laryssa. Raul kills Ana without any attempt to settle her down and leaves the city with Laryssa.

3D
In the 3D version, after attempting to leave the gang with his girlfriend Ana, a car bomb seriously injures Raul and kills Ana. The 3D version features "open world" gameplay that gives the player more control over their playing experience.

Gangstar City (2013)
Gangstar City is an open-world action-adventure video game published by Gameloft and developed by at least one of its subsidiaries. It is a sequel to Kings of L.A. and West Coast Hustle, with the story focusing on Garcia, Kings of L.A. and West Coast Hustle protagonist Pedro's brother, who has recently escaped from Mexico. Not long after the beginning of the story, Pedro goes missing; Garcia, along with Luis, his teammates, and friends, must defeat all gangs who have been suspected to be involved in his disappearance. It was released for button-operated/keypad-based mobile phones and Android in 2013. Unlike other games in the series, this is primarily an interaction-based "city"-building installment that mostly feels like an idle video game.

Gangstar: Vegas (2013)
Gangstar Vegas (also known as Gangstar Vegas: City of Sin and Gangstar Vegas: World of Crime) is an open-world action-adventure video game published by Gameloft and developed by its Montreal-based subsidiary. The story revolves around Jason Malone, a skilled mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter who is targeted by Frank Veliano after winning in a match (as Veliano wanted Jason to be part of his crime family). Gangstar Vegas features "open-world" gameplay that gives the player more control over their playing experience and also slight graphical improvements in the cutscenes and gameplay.

Gangstar: New Orleans (2017)
Gangstar: New Orleans is an open-world action-adventure video game published by Gameloft and developed by at least one of its subsidiaries for iOS and Android. Gameplay is similar to its predecessor; it is set in New Orleans and normally requires a persistent Internet connection to run. Vehicles are the same compared to the previous installment but there are a few new cars. There are online events that anyone can participate in to win awards. There are also many rewards that can be achieved by watching advertisements.