12 Terrible Video Games That Actually Had Great Ideas

8. Omerta: City Of Gangsters - Be A True Mob Overlord

Viking battle for asgard
Kalypso Media

The young 'uns may not remember it, but there was once an excellent 90s strategy-simulation game called Gangsters on the PC, where you intricately had to manage a Mafia empire - organising extortion rackets, bribing the right people to stay off your back, and arranging hits.

Omerta, from the developers of Tropico, aimed to be the spiritual successor - a thinking person's gangster sim in the same way Football Manager was for its genre. But the end result was a tame turn-based combat game that played like X-COM were it made by a teenager. There were no turf wars, AI gangs, nor shrewd micro-management of your criminal empire, just dull missions propelling a dull story.

It feels like the framework for an excellent game was put in place here, but nothing was done to actually fill it out and unleash its potential.

Contributor
Contributor

Gamer, Researcher of strange things. I'm a writer-editor hybrid whose writings on video games, technology and movies can be found across the internet. I've even ventured into the realm of current affairs on occasion but, unable to face reality, have retreated into expatiating on things on screens instead.