Parents' Guide to Gangstar New Orleans: Online Open World Game

Like its name, this Grand Theft Auto­-esque open-world crime game is awkward, unoriginal, and lacking any real punch. In Gangstar New Orleans: Online Open World Game, you have to run, gun, and drive around an open version of the Big Easy, committing crimes and murdering people in hopes of forming your own gang. But while this may sound like fun to some, it also sounds like a lot of other games that handle this kind of action better. For instance, while shooting is simplified to the point of you just hitting a button (no aiming required), moving around is awkward, especially if you like to look where you're going. Meanwhile, all your missions are rather pedestrian. In fact, the only mechanic that works well is driving, and that's only if you don't care how many people you run over on your way to the store.

But the biggest problem with this game is that it's nothing we haven't seen before. While the gameplay makes this feel like a low-rent Grand Theft Auto, its over-the-top characters peg this as more of a Saints Row rip-off. Even the setting isn't unique, since the recent Mafia III was also set in New Orleans. Adding insult to injury, the game is also buggy and, during this review, often crashed when starting up. All of this explains why Gangstar New Orleans: Online Open World Game, like its name, is rather dull, clunky, and uninspired.