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Paradise City demo available

Strategical gangster role-play.

Danish developer Sirius Games has cobbled together a playable version of its gangster game Escape From Paradise City.

The package is just 502MB, and will give you a couple of missions to play around with. First you will be fiddling around with controlling neighbourhoods, gang members and tweaking your abilities, before moving into the thick of the action as your crew makes an assault on rival boss The Rat; probably not Splinter.

Escape From Paradise City is a blend of role-playing and real-time strategy set against the backdrop of Grand Theft Auto, where the idea is to take over control of the streets.

As you progress you will need to manage neighbourhoods now occupied by your cronies, making sure they are protected and turning you a profit; essentials if you want to stage huge assaults on other areas to expand your influence.

Each of the main characters has a skill progression tree you can enhance your abilities with, as well as a spattering of strategical trumps you can call in to play to tilt the tables in your favour.

There's also the lure of online multiplayer for up to eight of you once you get bored of going alone.

We found it a little rough around the edges when we got our hands on it recently, although it wasn't without a large dose of potential. You can find out much more over in our preview of Escape From Paradise City.

The full game is due out for PC in Europe on 26th October.