Al Capone plays the Chicago Piano in the first Empire of Sin gameplay trailer

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Empire of Sin is a Prohibition-era strategy game from Romero Games that sets players up in the mythical Chicago of the 1920s with nothing but a Tommy gun, some booze, ambition, and an utterly non-functional moral compass. From there, it's a race to become Boss of Bosses, as you build your empire of brewers, brothels, and speakeasies, and drop the hammer on would-be rivals with old-fashioned (literally) XCOM-style combat.

The video doesn't say so explicitly but I'm guessing that Capone's wild ways with the Thompson is actually "the sweep attack," which Phil described in his July preview as one of the famed mobster's special moves. Characters can also pick up unique traits based on their in-game behaviors, which sounds very cool: Killing off too many NPCs with execution-style finishers will earn the "cruel" trait, for instance, and continuing to do it will eventually lead them to be labeled serial killers.

It's tough to get a proper feel for a strategy game based on a relatively brief trailer, especially when it's the first trailer, but so far I like what I see. Empire of Sin is set to come out in the spring of 2020, and until then there's a website with more info at empireofsingame.com.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.