Life of a Mobster

The story is investing and is a genuine game: make poor decisions and you risk being caught by law enforcement; succeed and there is a genuine roleplaying experience of playing '4D chess'
+Frequent choices
+Choices have genuine consequences
+Several skills and skill checks which rewards experience if passed
+Very different multiple endings

Life of a mobster is an interesting beast. Unlike many choicescript games which let you pick your strong and weak skills, before putting you through a gauntlet of skill checks where you pick those you dumped points in, here, you pick a few skills, and are put through skill checks where you try to raise them. Beating a check raises said skill, and as the story progresses, these checks get harder, so constantly beating checks and raising your skills is a must. Other games by the writer also use a similar system. It’s still a pretty fun system, and a good break from the ‘usual’ way of doing things.

Despite the genre, this game is no GTA. The story and writing is actually quite lighthearted, in contrast to the sometimes violent and brutal crimes you get to perform. The skill system makes for a pretty linear story structure, although there are a good bit of choices here which can change how the storyline plays out. Despite the linearity, there is still a sense of choices having an impact, as you get to decide which characters live or die, and so on.

Most for the characters are fairly interesting, and there is also a fairly solid selection of RO characters.

There are also options to buy personal equipment, homes and so on, which adds another RPG element to the game.

There are multiple endings in the game, each of which puts you through a gauntlet of skill checks (or storyline decisions) to determine whether you get to achieve optimal results for said ending. All in all, this is a pretty interesting romp, with a good bit of choices and consequences.