Lately it seems that games of a gangster genre have plagued game developer's minds. Not long ago Kingpin was released which put you in a first-person perspective of a gangster, which, I believe, was a fantastic game. Nevertheless, Pure Entertainment has fired back with their version of the gangster era with Respect Inc. Although, this time round, it takes on a third-person perspective and has a rather comical feel about it like Little Big Adventure or Grim Fandango.

Well, if you wanted a simple explanation of the storyline, just look at the title. Your mission is to gain respect amongst the other mobs and gangs. Naturally, you start out at the bottom and you have to work your way to the very top, gaining control over cities like Elmer City, Las Vegas and eventually the whole of America. All this is done by one man…you. As you get further into the game, the more respect you gain from others. Small tasks like buying an expensive, new suit will get you more respect, but (as life goes) the higher you climb, the harder it gets.

When you first load into the game, you’ll notice that the interface is rather original. There are no words, just pictures and you have to figure out which pictures means “Start Game” or “Options”, but after the first time, it becomes easy. Lack of multiplayer support came as no surprise to me, but the thing that really got on my nerves was the lack of options. I always like to configure the game to my PC’s best ability before I go rushing into game itself. Regardless, I loaded up the game with ease. I figured my Celeron 450, Voodoo 2, 64 Megs RAM would easily handle the game, and it did. Considering the low system requirements, I was happy to receive a fluent and smooth look.

I was highly disappointed by the little effort put into the graphics. It all looked too raw and cheap. This is always a factor, which causes very high or extremely low sales. Pure Entertainment certainly failed in this department. I think they should possibly consider hiring a new graphics crew, but that would be only in a perfect world. I braved the graphics and moved on further into the game. I’m not sure what I did wrong, but every single gangster was trying to kill me, which I find unpleasant, especially when I did nothing to provoke them. The fighting is certainly not too action packed. I found myself fleeing from 5 or 6 mobsters chasing me with guns, because I did not dare face the “excitement” of battle. The city also seems quite empty. The only inhabitants are other gangsters. Nevertheless, Chubsy Malone (your character) had quite a bit of respect to achieve and it certainly isn’t easy to get it, especially in the 1930’s.

When considering the sound of the game, I wasn’t disappointed with it. The sound was crisp, clean and sounded like a cartoon throughout the game. This didn’t bother me though. I felt it was well done and it didn’t irritate me. Unfortunately, there is no support for any sound engine or surround sound, which for most people isn’t such a big problem because they all have regular, came-along-with-the-new-PC sound cards. I, on the other hand, feel that game developers should concentrate much more on the sound as technology nowadays allows us to experience so much more.

The controls for Respect Inc are easy enough for a child to learn. Your basic direction keys and a few action and function keys are about the sum total. Although simplicity has its positive side - the controls are easy and responsive which makes the handling of Chubsy very easy. (He also runs quite fast for a fat guy, which I found amusing). You’ll have no trouble with the controls at all.

Respect Inc, although it was not a greatly anticipated game, was a bit of a disappointment for me. When you have to contend with all-time greats like Tombraider and Little Big Adventure, it makes this genre of game tough to beat. Unfortunately, Respect Inc won’t be rated as high as Pure Entertainment would hope. Instead it falls into the “average” category. Although if you are the type of person who thrives on games that focus on the 30’s gangster era, with the exception of Kingpin, as it is has captured all types of people, then this game is a good choice for you. If comical type games are not your fancy, then don’t bother. If I consider all aspects of the game itself, I would say that it is a nice little game with a cartoony feel about it. Lots of sound and easy controls make it a pleasure to handle, but the graphics are definitely not the strong point. It seems little effort was put into it. The game is also not addictive at all and seems to me to be a bit silly.

Highs: