Drug Dealer Simulator 2 requires you to create a successful drug cartel within the islands of Isla Sombra, shaped by your desires and work ethic (play style). It begins with cooking/crafting the drugs and creating loyal customers out of them. Then, you have to nurture the business, from sourcing employees and figuring out the supply chain. As you expand, you explore the world, unlock new islands, and make allies while facing off against gangs, police, and the dictatorship’s Militia. DDS2 is much bigger and more complicated than you would expect.
I admit that I was hesitant about Drug Dealer Simulator 2. I thought it was a gimmick that played off a titillating concept. I was also, and still am, uncomfortable with the theme of making and dealing drugs, of creating a cartel. First, I am such a ‘goody two shoes’ that I even roleplay a lawful good character in DnD. Second, Drug Cartels are evil and ruthless, and, like the drugs themselves, they destroy communities and people. That being said, DDS2 surprised me in many ways and is worth talking about despite my moral qualms.
Surprises In Shady Packages
DDS2’s Isla Sombra is a tarnished paradise, filled with pristine beaches, shabby chic houses, the occasional graffiti, and blockades that echo with some amazing music. The game makes a promise from the music in the main menu and keeps it. Rather than have a constant background score, different music plays from houses around the island, keeping you company as you navigate the world. It changes from Bossa Nova to Calypso to hip hop and even bathroom singers, except for that moment when you attract the unwanted attention of the cops or bandits. This amazing heart-pounding tune plays, keeping you company as you desperately try to run away. The track, more than anything else, creates these terrifying vibes, just like the rest of the tracks seemed to make me unaccountably happy.
DDS2 is filled with many surprising little moments that work with the broad strokes of gameplay to create a satisfying world. A great example of this is within the preset difficulty settings that skew based on common play styles rather than simply toggling all elements to be easier/harder. Isla Sombra is huge, with nine islands that have their own customer preferences and challenges. Establishing a base on an island requires you to set up hideouts and production, make allies, recruit dealers, distributors, etc. You have to do that around local banditos, the police, and the militia who will conduct raids. That is just the beginning.
Each drug has different production processes, requiring you to invest in different equipment and upgrades. Everything has a stat that impacts the world. For instance, how you dress can impact interactions, meetings, and how quickly enemies notice you or how efficiently you move. Similarly, the equipment you place in a hideout impacts its visibility, just as the hideout’s starting stats impact production. These interconnected parts make DDS2 very challenging, ensuring that you always have a lot of tasks to manage within fixed time frames.
More Reviews: INDIKA Review – A Dark, Hilarious, and Thought-Provoking Exploration of Morality
One thing that is clear from the minute you start is that you can choose to tackle this game in many different ways as long as you can handle the consequences. Since there are so many ways to build your reputation, source/make drugs, and claim territory, you can apply your play style to the world and likely still see success. There is no one way to play this game.
Lost In Translation
Getting to that end goal of being your own Drug Lord will require you to wade through a few annoyances, though. DDS2 has the foundations of a great tutorial. However, after the initial tasks, the tutorial struggled. It addressed the correct elements, but most tutorial messages told you about a gameplay element rather than how to do it. Occasionally, I got an info dump where the system triggered multiple sources of info at the same time. For example, when I had my first meeting with an ‘Influencer’ (ally), I got the tutorial narration while the ally also talked, and multiple text prompts popped up. ‘The Journal’ will only keep track of these overall prompts and larger drug-creation processes. There was no information in the journal when I had to make the smaller items, like cookies. It took a whole in-game day, and I had to click on multiple menus and look up information on DDS1 to figure out how to get the ingredients to make it.
A lot of this game, thus, requires exploration and trial and error. Considering that you are constantly balancing funds, this can get tricky, and misreading the UI has led me to make a lot of unneeded purchases. As a result, it felt like some of the elements added were extraneous, even if they were meant to symbolize the ‘hustle’ you need to have to succeed. One way to make a small amount of money is to find or craft non-drug items you can sell. Not only did I stop doing this, but it also highlighted gameplay elements that didn’t work efficiently. Both the ‘parkour’ (jump) and the ‘enviro sense’ scanning did not work consistently. They are inconsistent enough that I don’t think it is attached to a cool-down, either.
More Reviews: Lorelei and the Laser Eyes Review: Nostalgic, challenging, satisfying
DDS2 also has unfinished elements on the funnier end. Character animations aren’t clean. It is pretty noticeable that most characters have weird movements, especially with their hands or that they are hovering over the seat. On the more confusing end, the dialogues don’t match the captions, and you never know which one will give you more details or the information you need. That is, of course, before you realize that half of your activity notifications are still in Polish.
The Bigger Hurdles
Navigating Isla Sombra is irritating when you are racing against the clock. You can fast-travel by bus, car, or bike, or you can drive a boat. However, bus stops/Docks/Parking spaces are restricted and often far from most objectives. The only way to use it efficiently is to have a lot of vehicle options, but it’s exorbitantly expensive to set them up, making sprinting the only option. As I pointed out, the map is huge.
The biggest issue is that the ramp-up of demand and supply potential isn’t balanced. I am constantly struggling to meet demand, usually held back by the time it takes to make the drug. Also, the cash flow feels off; for instance, the small Island we start on consumes way more drugs but pays way less than the Archipelago. As a result, I have constantly constrained funds, tied down in bill payments, and sourced immediate substances over expanding. Upgrades and expansion only provide a short breathing room. Of course, this is also a result of my play style.
Also… You cannot pet the dogs! 🙁
More Reviews: Men of War 2 Review: Wildly Difficult, Deeply Satisfying
Is The Game Good?
Most of the glitches were annoying, and they never really broke the game. DDS2’s overall rhythm is easy to sink into and really fun. Surprisingly, despite the repetitive nature of the tasks, it never felt repetitive. Enough, I want to get friends to join me in the co-op mode because I have a feeling that would make it better. Despite my misgivings about DDS’s themes and my concerns about how detailed the drug creation process is, this is a solid game. Since I heard that DDS1 was much better, I cannot wait to get into that.
Until then, Don’t do Drugs! Just stay away from them, unless it is in this game.
GamesHorizon recieved a review copy of Drug Dealer Simulator 2 for Steam.
Drug Dealer Simulator 2 is a fun game with challenging gameplay that rewards all play styles. Despite a few glitches and some unbalanced elements, it is really fun and worth the time if you aren’t thrown off by the theme.
The Good
- Challenging and rewarding gameplay that is very strategy-heavy
- Insanely good soundtrack that makes you feel like you are in a beach town
- Massive open world, where every island comes with its own restrictions and requirements
- Beautiful Graphics
- Gameplay adapts to and rewards multiple playstyles
The Bad
- Tutorial is incomplete, requiring you to rely on trial and error instead
- Translation errors lead to half of the notifications show up in Polish
- There is a mismatch between dialogues and captions
- Certain features of the game like jumping and enviro-sense don’t work consistently or very well
- Character animations are unpolished
- Navigating the map is tricky courtesy of a restricted fast-travel system, costs for the systems, and large distances
- Some balance issues with cash flow vs production
