Five years after a fizzled release that earned it a place on our list of the worst game launches of 2020—and, more notably, four years after its last update—the mob management sim Empire of Sin has received a surprise new expansion featuring a new boss, gangster class, racket, guns, and 14 all-new missions.
We had high hopes for Empire of Sin, developed by Romero Games and published by Paradox, but it just didn’t come together.
“There’s definitely a version of it in there somewhere that’s good, and the allure of all those dense and malleable systems is strong, but they all come with massive caveats that dwarf what it does well,” PC Gamer’s Fraser Brown wrote in his 49% review. “It’s just a bit of a mess. It’s frustrating. The potential is obvious, but it hasn’t been realised.”
There was hope that potential would be realized in patches, but the release of the Precinct Patch in 2021 appeared to be the end of the road. No further updates followed, and neither did the second expansion promised in the Empire of Sin expansion pass, which was also included with the premium edition of the game. There’s been no movement on the Empire of Sin social media accounts since then either.
That led to questions: As far back as three years ago, and as recently as last year, people were wondering why Empire of Sin’s second expansion was still being offered for preorder given the seemingly abandoned condition of Empire of Sin itself.
But rather like Boris the Blade, Empire of Sin wasn’t quite as dead as it appeared, although there has been a notable change. Romero Games is out: Hunt for Aurora was developed by Moonmana, whose previous releases include Pirates of Everseas and Ultimate Pirates, an “official abandonware” MMO that you can still play and cannot pay for.
So what’s the new expansion all about? Hunt for Aurora will see British (I assume, he’s “from across the pond”) mob boss Robin Kray and his partner Sylvia Taylor come to Chicago in search of the famous Aurora diamond. New features include:
- The new Vanguard gangster class, specialists in melee and frontline combat, with versatile builds to suit your strategy.
- The Dance Club racket, a new way to grow your empire.
- The Lucky Companion, a loyal dog with uncanny good luck!
- New Weapons including the High-power Prototype Pistol, Plains Rifle, Model 21 Shotgun, M1886 Sniper Fusil, Irma Submachine Gun, MP 28 Submachine Gun, and Brn. Vz. 26 Machine Gun – and new melee weapons such as the Chef’s Knife, Hunting Knife, Balisong, and more
- Four New Mission Chains comprising 14 missions in total, sending players on the hunt for the Aurora Diamond!
Whether or not Hunt for Aurora is any good remains to be seen: There are currently no Steam user reviews or opinions being expressed in the Empire of Sin subreddit, possibly because all of this happened so quietly—and also because not a whole lot of people are actually playing it right now. Hopefully it is—after five years of waiting, I think patient fans deserve it.
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