Review for Narcos: Rise of the Cartels. Game for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 19/11/2019 The version for Nintendo Switch came out on 21/11/2019 The version for Xbox One came out on 22/11/2019
Narcos is, to date, one of the TV shows most popular available on Netflix. Inspired by real events, he tells, through the eyes of an agent of the DEA - the American Drug Department - the story of Pablo Escobar, who with the international trafficking of cocaine in the 80s, had managed to become one of the richest and most powerful men in the world. Kuju Entertainment and Curve Digital offer us a videogame transposition of the homonymous series by exploiting official licenses and releasing Narcos: Rise of the Cartels one turn-based strategy for PC set in Colombia about 40 years ago.
The introductory movie features scenes taken directly from the TV series and it will be a kind of summary of the context in which, shortly, you will find yourself. To the delight of fans of the television series there is also the evocative original soundtrack. Narcos: Rise of the Cartels will give you a chance to face the main story in two different ways based on the faction you choose. You will be able to manage both the faction of the police force and that of the drug traffickers of Pablo Escobar. This last choice, however, will be unlocked only after reaching an initial checkpoint of the main story which, among other things, will always remain very faithful to the Netflix production from which it is inspired and not offering, consequently, much space for twists especially for those who have already seen the television series.
The game, from the beginning, shows a certain linearity and it is a succession of missions, primary and secondary, to be completed. The primary missions present in Narcos: Rise of the Cartels are very often preceded by cinematic-style scenes shot with the game engine and correspond, in practice, to key moments in the main story. The secondary missions, on the other hand, although not shining in originality, are useful for earning money and experience to enhance your group of fighters and it will also be necessary to complete a certain number of them before having access to the connected primary mission.
Before each mission you will have to choose a group of men - at most 5 at a time - to be sent to the battlefield. For each faction, there are various types of characters that can be used each with their own main skill, their own special abilities and their own weapon. In the game, in fact, each type of character will have its own - and very specific - ability as well as its own personal weapon. The weapons will thus be directly linked to the various characters and it will not be possible to change their assignment. On the other hand, with the completion of the various missions, you will also earn experience points that will allow you to unlock new skill levels later on.
However, everything will not always go smoothly and some members of your team could be injured or even killed in combat. In the latter case, you can replace each member of your team by hiring new elements through the use of the money earned from the various missions. Even when your account approaches zero you won't have to worry: your mission will proceed thanks to the money of the American government or those of El Patròn Pablo.
The fights, in Narcos: Rise of the Cartels, are the focus of the game and can take place in various contexts such as cities, small rural villages or portions of forest and will use the classic isometric view that can be rotated at will. It will not be possible to move or perform actions with multiple characters at the same time e the game turn will be completed using only one character at a time and the same thing will happen to your enemies. This choice made by programmers in terms of gameplay will sometimes prove to be penalizing as it will not make you think in terms of the team but will very often be limited to 1 vs 1 close combat.
In practice, everything will be reduced to a game of chess in which every move must be carefully studied, otherwise the members of your team will be eliminated prematurely. You can take advantage of the covers that the various objects in the game will offer you but it will not always be enough. In fact, very often, despite excellent coverage, your men can still be hit even from prohibitive distances.
Your enemies, moreover, will very often launch into incomprehensible open assaults - kamikaze style - paying no attention to cover. and obsessively trying to get as close to your men as possible to try and eliminate them as soon as possible. It should be remembered that killing your squad leader will end the mission and it will still be possible to start over at any time. The only interesting novelty proposed by Narcos: Rise of the Cartels in terms of gameplay is the introduction of the so-called Kill Cam. Your enemies, moving from one point of the map to another, will sometimes end up in the line of fire of your men; at that point the game will switch to a slowed third person view and, through a viewfinder, you can hit the opponent inflicting as much damage as possible.
This feature, however, turns out to be spectacular only from the scenic point of view and not from the simulation point of view. Aiming and shooting in the head rather than a leg will have the same effect - simply reducing the enemy's health bar. Do not expect the enemy to be eliminated by a well-placed blow in the front. The Kill Cam mode will also come into operation to give the so-called coup de grace to the enemies now dying. In our opinion, this feature, albeit spectacular, could have been better exploited, perhaps giving an extra touch of realism to the general gameplay.
La graphics of Narcos: Rise of the Cartels is all in all good and the settings where the various fights take place are excellently recreated by proposing a remarkable level of detail. Too bad, however, that the surrounding environment is an end in itself, not offering any possibility to modify it even using explosives, for example.
The Unreal game engine, used by the developers, recreates realistic movements of the various characters making them very similar to their real counterparts. The various main characters of the game, as well as of the TV series, are faithfully reproduced and help to convey, in part, the typical feeling of the television series. The original voices of the actors were also used for the various dialogues even if they are not dubbed in Spanish. Excellent choice, as already mentioned, the presence of the original soundtrack of the series broadcast on TV. There will also be versions of the game for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One soon.
Narcos: Rise of the Cartels is a turn-based strategy game that adds few innovations to a genre already widely present on the gaming market. The game, while enjoying the official licenses of the Netflix series of the same name, fails to convey a high level of involvement. The primary missions are varied and interesting while the secondary ones, very often, are too similar to each other. An artificial intelligence that is sometimes not up to par is compensated, only in part, by the presence of the spectacular Kill Cam mode. Narcos: Rise of the Cartels, turns out to be addressed especially for those who have already seen the TV series and are already familiar with the story and with the various main characters. Surely the game, for them, is able to convey a greater feeling at least from the point of view of the story that has certainly been well recreated. For all the others, unfortunately, it could turn out to be a turn-based strategy like many others.
► Narcos: Rise of the Cartels is a Tactical-Shooter game developed and published by Scary Curve Digital for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 19/11/2019 The version for Nintendo Switch came out on 21/11/2019 The version for Xbox One came out on 22/11/2019
