There’s been considerable online buzz for Gangstar online the past few days and if you haven’t heard it’s the iPhone’s GTA 3+ equivalent.  (Link to Gangstar developer here and review here.)

I NEVER buy applications EVER but decided to purchase this one as a treat due to my love of GTA.  As Murphy’s Law would have it, the first thing I ever buy from App Store goes tits up on me.

The thing about the game is that it is stalls alot.  You turn a corner, it stalls.  You get into a car, it stalls. Well, at least for my beautiful, jailbreakless iPhone and judging by iTunes reviews, Twitter and general internet buzz, it’s stalling for others too.  It was very frustrating and I got no feedback from Gamesloft at all.

Solution to the problem:

• Before you play, restart your iPhone.  This frees up memory and makes it easier for the game to run.  I tried force quitting all applications with no luck.  Restarting your iPhone is a fairly obvious solution I know, but who turns off their iPhone? I don’t think it’s every been off since I got it, just a few restarts.

If that doesn’t work solely, (and it didn’t for me) then I recommend using the iPhone flight mode feature which will turn off all mobile services and WiFi, thus allowing more free memory space for Gangstar to run.  Make sure you turn it back on though when you’re finished or you won’t receive calls, sms etc.

The game is a lot less challenging than GTA in terms of missions and they storyline is a bit drab.  Also, after about 5 minutes into it, you realise that it’s like you’ve taken a step back in time and not in a good Marty McFly way. Gangstar has nothing new to offer except chronic pins and needles.