This is Vegas

To consider This is Vegas to be little more than a GTA-clone would be selling the game way too short. While there is some degree of driving and on-foot fighting and shooting missions, these only encompass a small element of what the game has to offer. There are ways that you can thrive in Sin City, befriending the various people and archetypes that live there and performing helpful tasks. The Party portion of the game was on display at a recent Gamer’s Day event held by Midway in the city itself, and showcased a surprising amount of depth.

The portion of the Party element took place at an empty club, where the lead character’s friend DJs. She tasks you with getting the party started, so you then must figure out a way to draw in a good crowd. You can do this by performing a reflex and combo-based dancing minigame, where you can do a variety of dance moves in order to keep drawing a bigger crowd.

However, getting a lot of people to come in means you’re going to get a couple of losers. Therefore, you can bounce jerks out of the club, effectively beating and kicking them out, while getting the crowd to cheer you on.

The segment then moved on to the bartending portion, where you have to help out at the bar, lighting cigarettes, pouring drinks, and sorting out more jerks in order to keep the line moving and the patrons happy.

And last but certainly not least, there is the, ahem, Wet T-Shirt Contest. This mode is pretty self-explanatory, so I won’t go into it too much…Just think “first-person shooting mechanics” and let your mind wander.

Aside from the Party stuff, there’s still a ton of stuff to do in Vegas. You can hone your hand-to-hand fighting skills (even moving on to cage fighting), become a serious gambler, or hit the pavement in the Las Vegas street racing underground. The preview build showcased by Midway showed some tremendous potential, so gamers will want to keep an eye out for this one this holiday season.