Unlike recent crime stories, Gangland makes a quick exit out of the third person action motif. Instead, Gangland is actually a real time strategy game, complete with camera controls and unit selections that could fit comfortably in a Warcraft or Command and Conquer clone. At the onset of each mission, the title states how many sides are involved, which sides are locked, what game type it is - the traditional real time strategy game. But it's inside Gangland where things begin to look very different.

To power all of your guns, you'll need cash and ammunition. Interestingly, the economic model is less hands-on than in other real time strategy titles. You don't exactly go harvest any resources. Instead, you go to extort money from shop owners and force them to pay protection fees. But these shopkeepers aren't stupid either. They'll require some up front investment before they start sending part of their funds your way. And some of the neutral storefronts have protection of their own. Once you have some assets in the city, they will begin supplying you with ammunition, health packs and revenue in a steady stream. While you're conducting missions in enemy territories and infringing on their space, the enemy can do the same to you so it's a balance between going on the offensive and protecting your own turf.

The only rough patch I found was the lack of an on screen tutorial. In the beginning of the game, for example, I didn't know exactly how to purchase weapons. I did eventually figure it out but some introductory guides would have helped once I extorted my first weapons store. When new units are added, it would have been nice for the game to notify you what this particular unit is good for. As I mentioned before, some of the units are melee only. Unbeknownst to me, I spent quite a bit of time trying to buy up other weapons stores hoping to find something other than a baseball bat for the guy. These features, however, should be easy to polish and add to the final product.