For the people who have Steam and were unfortunate enough to get the original version of Merchants of Brooklyn, they probably noticed that their copy was renamed Drug Wars. It’s the new patch to the main game and multiplayer component. The question is, is it really worth it?
Looks cool, plays poorly in the main game.
The story is the biggest and only pull that the main game has. It’s a perfect mix of sci-fi and film noir/crime game presentation. Basically to help the world, after global warming truly screwed the world, a corporation started cloning slaves that help with constructing the world. Since too many were produced, many of them were taken in by the Merchants of Brooklyn. You’re one of these excesses produced slaves on the warpath for revenge against your former criminal owners.
Having played through the first edition of the game, there really isn’t that much difference between the two. One of the problems with the game is that it’s pretty demanding, possibly even more than the infamous PC staller Crysis. Even with how high the processing needs are, it really isn’t that great in terms of look until you get into the multiplayer beta. To show you how bad things get with the processing needs I’m able to run Crysis with most things at medium and a couple things set at high without lag to the point that it hinders gameplay. Even Stalker: Clear Sky I can play with nothing going lower than medium. M.O.B/Drug Wars I have to play with most things set at low and a couple of things set at medium before the lag really gets to be a problem. The computer I’m working off of really isn’t bad sporting a dual-core processor, 4GB of RAM and a Radeon HD3000 series graphics.
Playing the main game can feel a lot like this.
Speaking of multiplayer, either I have really bad timing or the multiplayer is unpopular anyway. Sure it’s a beta, but most betas of multiplayer have people on at almost anytime. Schedules are different for people but people should be on at sometime. I usually have trouble finding one person on the multiplayer component, which makes it rather boring. Sure you can still blow up random stuff, but there’s only so many idle vehicles that you can blow up before you get bored and settle for the main game.
Yes, I mean settle. They only revamped parts of the unfinished game to make a more realistic world. The controls are still pretty bad. Sometimes they’re just not that responsive. The only time they really are responsive is when you’re driving in multiplayer. The graphics still aren’t quite what they were hoping for. The physics still aren’t up to par. It’s just improved enough to still not passable.
Despite the currently underpopulated world in multiplayer, it’s really is where the game shines. It controls better. The world is more believable. Oddly enough, it’s also not as demanding as the main game. Then again, I could be wrong since at most I’ve seen only 1-3 other players on while playing. If there were more people on regularly, the multiplayer would actually be more fun.
If you’re going to get the game, have some friends buy into it on Steam. You’d have an assured crowd to game with. If you’re able find a group playing then you have a team that you already know to play with.
Grade for the main game with the new patch: 3/10 Grade for multiplayer: 7/10
Overall grade: 4/10
