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Massive, action-packed shooter experience.
Chicago Enforcer
Console
Xbox
Publisher
Kemco
Genre
Action
Developer
Kemco
Release Date
Q2 2005
ESRB Rating
Mature
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Chicago Enforcer
February 24, 2005 | 11:46 AM PST

by: Jamil Matheny

In the 1930s, there was the Great Depression. Now there's a game to represent that era, in more ways than one. In the Xbox-exclusive low-budget title Chicago Enforcer, you will fight your way through the 1930's gangster scene which features many weapons and plenty of thugs to test them out on, as a mobster's work is never done. Set in the windy city, Chicago Enforcer really blows. Read on to see why.

Gameplay:

To begin Chicago Enforcer, which is presented by Kemco, is a low-budget game that contains a low-budget quality style of gameplay. You'll be able to master the gameplay quite easily. Heck, even a violence-loving 5 year old could get the hang of this. For most of the time spent while playing the game, you'll be doing jobs for the Mafia . Your jobs are meant to be done at your own pace, a la Grand Theft Auto. In that game, the time between missions was just as fun as the missions themselves. In Chicago Enforcer you really feel like you're wasting precious time killing off unimportant enemies, police officers and other random people. Kill any civilians, though, and the game will end. Now, how stupid is that? Perhaps the only redeeming factor is that the game is extremely short, taking less than a day for this reviewer to complete.

Graphics:

Chicago Enforcer is a very non-graphical game with a barely 3D styled environment. I'm not even sure if it's been used before, but this graphics engine looks aged. The characters, lighting and even the scenery are totally unrepresentative of the realistic Xbox quality. The cinematics are poor and the body movements are unnatural. If any part of the graphics are okay, it would have to be the fast framerate, though it may just be a way to hide the ugly by making things quick.

Sound

Please, let's not go to the sound. Do we have go there? As you can probably guess by now, the sound quality is not up to par. The main characters and even the civilians speak unnaturaly. In the mob, you would think that you're really doing something bad, but the tone of voice of the characters in the game doesn't come close to conveying that. There's absolutely none of the trash-talking you'd expect from a gangster. The gunfire sounds like someone is banging on a aluminum trash with a drumstick. It also seems like the developers didn't have enough time to use sound editing to clean up the clips. Your ears deserve much better.

Overall:

If you like mindless first-person shooting , you may want to at least rent this game. It may be enjoyable in extremely, extremely brief spurts, but the game doesn't have the any of the modern features of today's top first person shooters. Hardcore gamers will likely be very disappointed in the graphics, gameplay and sound. Folks looking for a history lesson may get a portion of their money's worth, but even then I'd recommend reading a book. The setting and story could have been interesting, but the rest of the game bogs it down. Chicago Enforcer isn't deserving of a name that references one of America's greatest cities.
Visuals
Sorry, but the graphics are terrible even for a low-budget game.
3.8
Sound
The sound quality seems like it's both horribly outdated, yet bearing the quality of a last-minute rush-job.
3.4
Control
Control was alright, easily the best aspect of the game, though it was a bit hard to kill the enemies.
6.2
Gameplay
Completely off the mark in comparison to every other FPS game on the market.
2.1
Lasting Appeal
Let's put it this way- you can beat in in a day, but even that is too long.
3.9
Verdict
Chicago Enforcer is a finished Xbox game in that it's in one of those green DVD cases on store shelves. Everything else makes the game seems rushed. What, were they trying to beat the wave of Great Depression nostalgia or something?
3.8
[not an average]
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