Narcos: Rise of the Cartels Reviews
If you are a fan of the Netflix's series, the game should suit you for a few hours before all of its flaws eventually spoil the party. Narcos : Rise of the Cartels lacks depth and is not a very interesting tactical game.
Review in French | Read full review
Your enjoyment of Narcos: Rise of the Cartels is going to be heavily based on whether you can accept its strategy game conceit.
With many good turn-based strategy games available on the Nintendo Switch, you are much better off finding an alternative to Narcos: Rise of the Cartels.
Netflix’s Narcos series sucks you in and this game just literally sucks. I honestly expected a lot with how fast-paced and exciting every episode is. The video game just went the opposite direction and if the developers are going for another round at this, I suggest they make major improvements.
Rise of the Cartels presents some interesting ideas, but so far it isn't a title worth buying, especially not for the full price. Of course there are some pluses like great soundtrack or familiar faces from Netflix's show. Unfortunately, the game fails with terrible and irritating combat system, additionally, it gets boring faster than it should.
Review in Polish | Read full review
A mediocre XCOM-like in the form of a deeply worrying depiction of militarised police.
Narcos: Rise of the Cartels is a bad advertisement for the Netflix's TV-show.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Despite everything written so far, Narcos: Rise of the Cartels does exactly what it aims to. The game is not an attempt to rewrite the strategy rulebook, but rather a gateway drug for anyone not familiar with the genre who is already hooked on Narcos. In that context, the title is solid: an entry-level strategy game that eases players in. The shallowness stems from the mass appeal and, as such, is a strength. However, those concessions will not spark joy for strategy veterans or anyone looking for a meaty, engaging experience.
This could have been a good game tie-in for the Netflix show. It has source material to work with, high in-game production value, and a proven XCOM-style strategy concept. If only the game would actually let you execute some tactical strategy.
If anything, Rise of the Cartels shows that doing turn-based games in which every unit moves in its own turn instead of the traditional team-based mode is a bad idea. Tactical battles turn into a back and forth between two or three units, it lacks depth the genre is known for.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
When Fire Emblem: Three Houses released in the second half of 2019, it thrust tactical RPGs into the spotlight once again. Named in many Switch owners top three games of the last 12 months, fans new and old enjoyed all that Fire Emblem had to offer. It’s only natural then to see interest rise in similar titles that are subsequently released. Queue Narcos: Rise of the Cartels.
It should be noted that in order to be able to finish the game at all and thus "besiege" the game crashing, I had to use the trainer and literally fly through the missions without passing the NPC's turn. I can understand if someone in a single player game uses cheats/trainer to have unlimited ammo, life and just go kill NPCs and that's how they react. After all, games are made mainly for relaxation and entertainment. However, if I have to use a trainer in order to finish the game at all (because otherwise the game crashes), then something is very wrong.
Review in Czech | Read full review
Bland, boring, and uninspired, Narcos: Rise of the Cartels isn't quite the tie-in product that fans of Netflix's series would want to see. It's bogged down by flawed fundamentals, a repetitive campaign, and unengaging gameplay.
Narcos: Rise of the Cartels is the perfect example of one decision ruining any chance a game had of being reasonable.
There's simply no reason to play something so utterly bereft of thought as Narcos.
The hit Netflix show becomes a fun, if functional, turn-based strategy.
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.