Organized Crime Takes On The iPhone With iMob Online

The mark of a good cell phone game is one that will bring you back several times in one day just for small blasts of gameplay and news feeds. This makes it more than just a videogame, but also the option for an entire personal profile and virtual identity. The Sims built the framework, Myspace created the need, and Second Life provided a taste of obsession, but now the iPhone has brought a similar mentality to a population that can barely go for a commercial break without checking their phones. iMob Online acts less as a traditional videogame and more as a chronic bout of schizoid paranoia that haunts you anytime your iPhone is more than an arms reach away.

Getting Started

iMob is the definition of “old school role playing game” in that you run numbers, not sprites on a map. You are asked to first create a name and profile, selecting one of three mobster classes. This can be things such as the Hustler, which regains monetary amount faster than the other classes. Now you begin the game, which is more of an all out competition for superiority among criminal phone masters. On your home page you are given a number of different options for play. The first are Missions, which is one of the primary ways you get money in the beginning. Here you go in and select a certain mission, such as Purse Snatching or Liquor Store Break In. To do these “jobs” you have to have a few different things. First you need Energy points, which are listed among your stats at all times on the top of your viewable screen. These slowly regenerate as you use them because they are used as a currency buying the ability to do a said job. Along with this you may be asked to have a certain weapon, vehicle, or number of people in your mob. The weapon and vehicle issues are an easy solution as on your home screen you have a shop that will sell both. Here you have the kind of selection that would even make Charleton Heston proud, including sawed off shotguns and armored SUVs. Just to sprinkle a little sugar on your bloodlust they give you the option to purchase them in bulk.

The more complicated part of this equation is gaining a mob, which requires people to actually befriend you. On the lower task bar there is an Invite tab that when you selects provides a host of options for requesting new friends. You can do a GPS search of people in your area, invite people from your contact list, or enter in someone’s “friend code” directly. These are listed in your profile, and it seems to be an infectious internet phenomenon where entire forums are dedicated to hundreds of people posting their digits to find anyone that will join their mob. A certain sized mob is required to complete later missions, as well as to assist you when battling other mobsters.

Gameplay – Mob Wars and Missions

The competition between mobsters may be one of the more cautionary parts of this ego machine. You can choose to fight certain players after viewing their stats, or look at a list of players who have a financial bounty on their head. This may or may not work in your favor, but know that having a reputation for starting a lot of fights is bound to get you attacked at some point.

Each mission has a certain amount of experience points it will award you once you have completed, along with a randomly generated amount of money set by the parameters of the mission. Once you get a certain number of experience points you are allowed to move up a level and can choose to increase your stats in areas like hit points, attack abilities, defense, and possible energy points.

The most persistent way to gain money continually is through the purchase and development of property. You can buy areas like land fills and build fast food franchises on them, or head downtown and sink a large sum of money into a lucrative investment. These then give you money increases after set periods of time have passed.

The main thing to remember about this game is that there is no visual “action” taking place, and instead it is really just number transferring. The interface and the communication aspects make this appear more like Facebook than Final Fantasy, but it remains as engaging as both. Do not let the fact that the construct of this game hails from another generation.

Right now there are a number of ways to bypass the systems set up in the game for gaining experience and energy. You immediately come with ten “respect” points that you can use to buy things like mobsters and energy points from the Don. You only get ten, but can buy more from iTunes. This is an unnecessary inclusion to the game that helps promote classist stratification, but very few people out there are sinking their paychecks into imaginary respect points.

Success in the game relies on the kind of commitment usually seen only by computer programmers and drug addicts. Along with that is the fervent rush to get as many friends as possible. My friend code rings out 118081495, and feel free to post a comment below listing yours.

• iMob Online – Free [app store]

 

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