Immoral but tedious
Dope Wars does almost exactly what you'd expect from its title and provides players with a thoroughly immoral and pretty tedious low-key experience which might just entertain you for a few minutes. This update to the original Dope Wars adds in a few new elements but remains largely the same, so if you have played the first version, don't expect anything radically different here. The player takes the role of a drug dealer up to his ears in debt. You've got a couple of grand in your pocket but you're in the hole to the tune of $5000 to a local loan shark, so you've got to figure out how to get the money and fast. This basically revolves around cannily buying up various forms of drug and then moving around different locations to sell it on at a ridiculous profit. Different drugs are en vogue in different cities, so you have to figure out where the demand is and take into account traveling costs before making your moves. There are also random events like muggers, cops and angry loan sharks to worry about, and which make your life even more difficult. Dope Wars is certainly not a complex or visually flashy game, and tells its story in largely text-based fashion, with stats and numbers forming the basis of your graphical experience. The gameplay isn't exactly complex and it certainly isn't going to keep you going for a long time, as it's mostly a case of buying up some drugs and then selling them on and it doesn't really take a lot to figure out how to do it. Overall, the game is too simple for its own good and provides little more than vague amusement.
