Over the course of a couple of decades, immigrants from Italy created the most powerful criminal organization in the world. Criminal gangs that emerged in the slums of New York were able to cover almost all spheres of American society. And in this blog we will talk about games where the developers offer us to create our own criminal empire.
Oki-doki boss.
Bouncer, Legal Crime
In 1996 it comes out Legal Crime – an isometric strategy game where we lead a group of gangsters through various institutions in early 20th century Chicago. In the future, these establishments can be reorganized into illegal businesses: bootlegging, underground casinos, brothels, etc.n. There are also other criminal groups in the city that love to attack our couriers and expand their territory. But we will not remain in their debt. We’ll give the local police a hard time so that they turn a blind eye to a couple of corpses in the gateway, and the military so that they send a professional sniper, and we’ll pay an unfriendly visit to the rival’s don, putting an end to his claims to our area.
District by district this city will be yours
In Russian localization the game had the name Chicago, 1932: Don Capone, which described the main plot of the strategy much better. Over the course of 21 missions, Al Capone will work his way to the top of the criminal world. Not disdaining to give bribes and kill enemies, the young Neapolitan will become the head of the mafia “family” and destroy all his competitors in Chicago.
Alfonso Gabriel "Big Al" Capone (January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947) was an American gangster and Chicago don since 1925. Famous for his explosive character and love of luxury.
Alfonso Capone
Born into a family of Neapolitan immigrants in 1899 in Brooklyn, New York. As a teenager, he joined a street gang led by Johnny Torrio. In 1917, he worked as a bouncer at Frank Yale’s billiard club, a mafioso in the service of Giuseppe Masseria. There he received his famous scar on his left cheek in a fight with Gallucci, which earned him the nickname "Scarface".
In 1919, "Big Jimmy" Colosimo invited his nephew Johnny Torrio to Chicago to help him in his pimping and racketeering business. Johnny took with him his faithful Alya, who was then sought by the New York police on suspicion of committing murder. At first, Capone worked as a bouncer in one of Colosimo’s brothels, where, most likely, he contracted syphilis. Since the beginning of the Prohibition era, Torrio wanted to start bootlegging, but his uncle “Big Jimmy” forbade him to engage in new business, fearing competition with other gangs. This led to the organization of his assassination on May 11, 1920.
Funeral procession for Jimmy Colosimo’s funeral
“Papa Johnny” Torrio immediately after his uncle’s funeral became the head of an Italian group in Chicago and began smuggling alcohol. This brought him into conflict with the Irish gang of the "beer king" Deion O’Banion. Deion was killed on November 10, 1924 in his flower shop, which marked the beginning of a bloody war between the Italians and the Irish. In revenge, Bugs Moran, O’Banion’s successor, assassinates Johnny Torrio in January 1925. Wounded in the stomach, lung and groin, Torrio survives and hands over the reins of the “family” to 26-year-old Alfonso Capone. And here lies one interesting fact: it was Torrio who brought the old traditions of Cosa Nostra to America and he also appointed the Neapolitan as don of the Sicilian “family”.
“Big Al” was already continuing the war with the Irish. The most famous episode of this gangster conflict occurred on February 14, 1929. Disguised as police officers, Capone’s men shot and killed seven Irishmen at their warehouse containing smuggled alcohol. This massacre is now known to us as the Valentine’s Day Massacre.
"Valentine’s Day Massacre" makes headlines in Chicago newspapers
Having put an end to the Irish gang and his other competitors in the alcohol market, "Big Al" ruled the Chicago criminal world with an iron fist. He was one of the initiators of the meeting of bosses and the creation of the “Commission” in Atlantic City. Continued to lead the Chicago "family" until his eleven-year sentence for tax evasion in 1931. Having been released early in 1939 due to an incurable form of syphilis, he retired. He spent the rest of his life in his villa in Miami, where he died in 1947.
Al was a vain man – reporters were constantly hovering around him
The plot is somewhat different from the events of those years, but the game very well showed the war for territory between mafia clans before the creation of the “Commission” and widespread corruption among local officials and ordinary guardians of the law. Unfortunately, this game was the first and last from the Finnish developer Byte Enchanters.
The plot is presented in the form of a text briefing
Gangsters: Organized Crime
Organized crime has swept the country.
Gangsters: https://pink-casino-online.co.uk/ Organized Crime
Gangsters: Organized Crime 1998’s intimidating interface hides rich opportunities for managing your criminal empire. Developers from Hothouse Creations created a unique cocktail of turn-based strategy with an economic twist and RTS in a gangster setting.
Let me introduce you to the city of New Temperance
The first half of the gameplay is planning, where you get an unlimited amount of time to plan and give orders for the upcoming week to all your mafiosi. Here you expand your territory, acquire and improve establishments, accept new people into your “family,” establish diplomatic relations with other factions, bribe police officers, promote your candidate for mayor, etc.d.
Production, sale and smuggling of alcohol
I’m the same person as everyone else. All I do is satisfy the demand.
Alfonso Capone
Contrary to popular belief, the mafia was involved in the illegal transportation of alcohol even before the introduction of Prohibition, only it did not import contraband into America, but exported it from it to Canada. During the First World War, some Canadian provinces banned the sale of alcohol under the War Measures Act. But the war ended and the ban was lifted. The adoption of the 18th Amendment to the US Constitution on January 16, 1920, prohibiting the production, transportation and sale of alcohol, contributed to the rapid growth of this illegal business in America.
Demand always creates supply
There are two terms to distinguish: bootlegging and rum-running. The first was used for smuggling alcohol by land, the second by sea. By land, smuggling, no matter how ironic it may be, was carried out from Canada; by sea, rum was mainly supplied from Cuba. There were also supplies of wines and other drinks from Europe, but local sellers often passed off cheap sparkling wines for expensive French champagne, thereby deceiving their customers. The production of alcoholic beverages was also established within America, mainly making cheap beer. The sale of alcohol took place in speakeasies (from English. speak easy – speak more quietly) – in top-level underground bars combined with restaurants or cabarets, and in blind pigs (from English. blind pig – blind pig) – establishments for the poorer public with appropriate product quality.
Almost all criminal groups were engaged in this criminal business, and America in those years was rocked by gang wars for control of the smuggling and alcohol sales market. It was during Prohibition that the Sicilian "families" rose so strongly and by 1933, when the 18th Amendment was repealed, Cosa Nostra had become the most powerful criminal organization in America.
This is where one of the existing Chamley speakeasies, open since the 20s, is hidden
Extortion and racketeering
Fari vagnari u pizzu.
To wet the beak.Sicilian proverb
Mafiosi from southern Italy began to extort part of the income from ordinary peasants and small entrepreneurs for their “protection” back in the 18th century. In local jargon, this practice is called pizzo (derived from Sicilian. pizzu – bird’s beak). This is where the saying comes from: “To wet the beak” – t.e. share a glass of wine with the person doing you the favor. With the flow of Italian immigrants, this type of business based on such “mutual assistance” appeared in the USA. It began with the extortion of funds from small shopkeepers in Italian ghettos at the end of the 19th century. The more familiar term “racketeering” appeared during the time of Al Capone. It was coined by the Chicago Employers Association in its 1927 report on the influence of organized crime on the Teamsters’ Union. The word comes from the English word racket.e. racket, the production of which was then located in Chicago.
Ignazio Lupo – one of the leaders of the Black Hand
The greatest success in this area has been achieved by the organization “Black Hand” (in Italian. La Mano Nera), which appeared in southern Italy from the mid-18th century. In America, the Black Hand has practically monopolized this type of criminal business in New York, New Orleans, Chicago and San Francisco since the 1880s. It is rumored that more than 90% of Italian immigrants paid tribute to the Black Hand for protection. A typical tactic of the organization was to send letters to victims of blackmail threatening violence, arson, kidnapping or even murder with the image of a black hand as a signature. Such methods displeased ordinary immigrants, and from the mid-20s, the Black Hand ceased its activities in the United States and the Italian-American mafia began to look for more subtle ways of extortion. In the 70s, thanks to the RICO law, gangsters in the USA practically abandoned this type of business.
A letter of happiness to you from southern Italy
In Italy, the practice of pizzo still exists today. In 1991, Libero Grassi, a shop owner from Palermo, wrote an open letter to "Anonymous Extortionist" in a local newspaper refusing to pay tribute to the mafia. Instead of being supported by his fellow entrepreneurs, he faced criticism from them for "washing dirty dishes" in the public eye. 8 months after the letter was published, Grassi was shot dead near his home and all his neighbors were afraid to testify to the police.
In 2004, five young people organized a community of entrepreneurs who refused to pay money to the mafia, “Addiopizzo” (from Italian. – “goodbye, pizzo”). The organization is engaged in distributing leaflets calling on local businessmen to refuse the “protection” of gangsters, legal assistance to victims of them and other “anti-mafia” activities. At the moment, the organization includes more than a thousand enterprises, but still 80% of Sicilian entrepreneurs, according to research from the University of Palermo, continue to “wet the beak” of the mafia.
Such stickers are available on all establishments of “Addiopizzo” supporters
Our job is to control trade unions.
John Joseph Gotti
Voluntary public associations of people of the same profession began to appear in America in the second half of the 19th century. It is difficult to say exactly when the Italian mafia began to lead the leading labor unions in the United States, but what is certain is that during the Prohibition era, gangsters already controlled the unions of port workers in large cities along the East Coast to ensure a constant supply of smuggled alcohol to them.
There is a legend about the levels of mafia control over everything that happens at the cargo docks. During World War II, the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence became concerned about German agents illegally sailing into the United States through the ports of New York, and turned to the then-serving fifty-year prisoner Charles "Lucky" Luciano for help. So every dock worker became the eyes and ears of American intelligence, and 8 foreign spies were caught. Whether the legend is true or not is up to you to judge. But it is known that in 1942 “Laki” was transferred to another prison with an individual cell, and in 1946 he was released early, although he was deported to his homeland.
Luciano’s arrival in Sicily after deportation
Since the 60s, US authorities began to actively fight against organized crime. The RICO Act passed in 1970 played a major role in the arrest of the top members of entire “families.”. Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations – The influence of Racketeer and Corruption on Organizations). Its adoption allowed the US judicial system to connect ordinary members of the mafia with the bosses of the “families” and bring them to justice for racketeering and corruption in trade unions. A number of sensational investigations of those years shocked the American public with the extent of the connections between the mafia and trade unions. The influence of gangsters on the largest trade unions in the USA and Canada, such as: International Trucking Union (IBT), Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA), International Hospitality Employees Union (HERE), International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) has been proven.
Frank "Funzi" Thierry became the first don to be convicted under RICO in 1981
To be continued in the next blog
The second part of the game takes place in real time. During the “work week” you will observe how your subordinates carry out your instructions and how they interact with civilian and enemy units on the city map. Ideally, the game will not require your intervention in the process, but sudden police raids on your establishments and attempts by competitors to seize the territory force the Don to take retaliatory measures.
And this is a more familiar look
How are things going with the plot?? And he’s just not there. All we know is that the player leads his "family" in the fictional city of New Temperance. But the city itself is generated randomly every time, which increases the replay value of the game. Also, we are not limited to only one condition for our victory. The player can not only destroy all competitors, but also enter into an alliance with them or organize the election of his protégé as mayor of the city.
There is more than one strategy that allows you to become a mafia boss and build your own illegal business, but to the depth of elaboration Gangsters they are far away. Exceptional attention to detail and a rich set of features have made it the most sophisticated and, as a result, difficult to master mafia-themed economic strategy.
After each week we can learn about the situation in the city from newspaper headlines
Gangsters 2: Vendetta
Your father’s death has been avenged, your vendetta is over.
Gangsters 2: Vendetta
In 2001, a sequel entitled Gangsters 2: Vendetta from the same studio Hothouse Creations. In the second part, the developers shifted the emphasis towards RTS and added a simple plot. Our protagonist will be Joe Bane, whose father was killed by the people of Frankie "The Hammer" Constantine. To get to the New temperance boss and avenge our father, we will have to go through twenty levels. Despite the fact that we are given various tasks in missions, basically the player will adhere to standard tactics of gradually seizing the territory of the city for his “business” and eliminating enemy groups.
Constantine’s numerous guards will not save him
In the sequel, the planning phase has been completely removed and all actions now take place in real time on the streets of several cities. Now the Don is not just a certain person sitting in an office leading a “family”, but a specific unit on the map. In addition to him, we can also manage up to four capos and add up to four bodyguards to them. The game interface has been simplified as much as possible, for example, instead of eleven parameters, gangsters in the prequel now have only two ordinary ones and up to two unique ones. Due to the abandonment of the step-by-step approach and simplification of the gameplay, the game was much less coolly received by fans of the first part and did not gain the cult status of its ancestor.