Narcos: Rise of the Cartels

Narcos: Rise of the Cartels is a decently executed turn-based strategy title. Sure, sometimes it's a bit too easy, but when the enemy moves efficiently it become a dangerous game of cat and mouse. Just be warned that you'll grow attached to your squadmates, and hate if you lose them. This is for you, Ruiz!

A fun, but simplified take on the turn-based strategy genre, think "baby's first XCOM" and you're on the right lines. Its flaws are obvious but easily overlooked for newcomers to the genre. If you're a die-hard strategy fan, consider giving Narcos: Rise of the Cartels a pass, it won't have much to offer you.

During my binge-watch of Narcos on Netflix, not once did I ever wish it was a video game. Some stories — in this case, the events of Pablo Escobar’s Medellin Cartel — are simply better suited to certain mediums than others, and I was totally content with watching it all unfold with a big bowl of popcorn in my lap. Fast forward to the tail end of 2019 and developer Kuju has the challenging task of bringing the show to the video game world with Narcos: Rise of the Cartels. The result? Well, I wouldn’t call it “white gold” but it’s still a surprisingly competent game worthy of dipping into, even ...

In the very first season of Narcos, Pablo Escobar asked a very simple question of some soldiers. That question was "Plata o Plomo?" which literally translates into "silver or lead?" The very same question could be asked of Narcos: Rise of the Cartels, the game based on the hit Netflix series. If that question is asked, I'd like to add a third option: mierda.

In the timeless words of Adam Jensen, I never asked for this. When I think of TV Shows that I would like to see get a video game adaptation, Narcos was never even a consideration. Netflix clearly thought differently, so here we are. In the XCOM vein of strategy, Narcos: Rise of the Cartels roughly retells the story of the show’s first season across two campaigns. In one you play as DEA agent Steve Murphy in his war against the Medellín Cartel. The other has you take up arms as El Patrón h...

You’ll be left out with a “meh” after finishing the game. What game did we just play?

A disturbingly literal war on drugs.

Narcos: Rise of the Cartels succeeds completely at just one thing: It makes me interested in watching the Netflix series. The game had a lot of potential, and at least superficially it looked like something that may be better than the standard advertorial we’ve come to expect from this kind of tie-in game. Unfortunately, the end result is a cautionary tale about how one poor design decision can ruin just about everything else a game has going for it.