Drug Dealer Simulator 2 is developed by Byterunners and published by Movie Games S.A. with a focus on simulating what it would be like to be a drug dealer. The game, itself, is all in first person staying true to the simulation portion of the game, yet borrowing some elements commonly found in strategy games. The game overall feels a little rough around the corners due to the speed of the game at times being overwhelming and at other times very little engagement. However, the game tries its best in trying to be a simulator while having some minor graphical issues occurring possibly from rendering issues in the file program. These issues can be fixed over time, yet there are more pressing matters to go into such as the gameplay, story, and overall feel of the game.
The gameplay is quite the ordeal especially in regards to the various management systems in game from dealing with economic based objectives with some incentives on upgrading the player’s base over time. With the game all being in first person to fulfill the criteria of a simulation game the rest of it however can be seen linked to strategy games. The most common feature found in strategy games would be the focus on item management which this game has in spades. Moreover, the level of depth presented in the game is quite detailed encouraging the player to think more critically on their character’s appearance and economic management. To go into some perspective as to the various clothes the player can equip can often provide beneficial stat bonuses that increase inventory space while offering some other negative attributes that can make the player more likely to be spotted as suspicious. Aside from that, the player is responsible for managing funds for production such as water, fertilizer, etc. for growing various plants in game. Moreover, the player also needs to provide some form of tribute to local leaders on islands to appease them in the long run and make some money. Money is important to the game itself as it serves 2 purposes a marker of the player’s progress and for purchasing various utilities that can improve the rate of how the player will gain currency. While all these systems in place are overwhelming at the start, the game tries its best to take it slow, but it feels like it skims over some issues especially when discussing the base inventory management. The main issue that occurs stems from what feels like a lack of polish in the mechanics in place feeling overbearing.
In regards to the story, it feels slow at the start and only gains traction over time with some small nuances that try to focus on simulating the experience with a laxer form of storytelling. This is possibly stemming from a focus on letting players dictate their own story either alone or in a group. While this form of storytelling can be seen as lackluster due to relying on player preference it does have some benefits as the player has a lot more agency to do what they want. While this is by no means nothing to the gaming sphere, yet a more reactive world provides a more immersive experience. A more immersive experience will help in retaining the player’s attention in the long run of the game’s playtime. Furthermore, this will serve for a better quality of life in game as a reactive world will make the player feel more involved and ultimately serve a better experience. This is especially true in the opening of the game where it is by far the most important in grabbing the attention of a player.
This all culminates into an unpolished gem in the rough that needs some further updates to fix the game. One major issue that occurs are some soft locking glitches that occur, but have been addressed in the emergency teleport button. This has occurred during multiple runs in the game when the player is trying to utilize the parkour function of the game to access different areas of the map. Another key issue that is more common in open world games is texture mapping errors where one texture overlaps another.
While this is a shared issue for open world games, the ones in Drug Dealer Simulator 2 are more annoying in comparison to the games like GTA Online, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon, and the Borderlands series. The one key issue that makes this overlapping texture error is due to the fact that there are certain items that are on the ground exclusively for the player to pick up. If the player is unable to pick up and item it and especially if it were an important item needed it can ruin the entire experience.
Overall, Drug Dealer Simulator 2 is an okay game to be fair, however the various memes that could possibly spawn from the game would make it garner attention. Aside from that the game is a gem in the rough, all it needs is some quality player feedback to encourage the developers to make a better game overall. However, what the developers have already made is quite a decent game it can become better and should become the game it should have meant to be. Overall, the game needs some polish to really shine so for now this game is a 6/10 that desperately needs to be fixed.
Related: Reviews by Kyle Manila
I would describe myself when interacting with games as a strategist with a pension for stealth and loud explosions.
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