As with the original, Gangland, Paradise City is based around urban crime. Both games combine aspects of Real Time Strategy (RTS) gaming with Role Playing Games (RPG) in a big city environment with civilians, officials, and criminals.

In Paradise City, the player can move through the city, robbing, intimidating and killing all that stand in his way, gaining notoriety and cool cash. As the player becomes more and more notorious, his influence grows and other criminals flock to him and become the core of this gang, his own criminal organization.

Leading his small but vicious crew of hardcore criminals, the player begins to take over the neighbourhoods of the city, forcing the innocent citizens to pay him tribute and the local criminals to serve him, fighting against his rivals and defending his territories.

Using his influence, the player may call upon allied criminals organizations and corrupt officials to manipulate events in his favour: calling in extra man power to fight in vicious back alley shot outs, making the police look the other way or in other ways helping in his quest for the absolute underworld domination.