Let’s not beat around the bush – a drug dealer simulator is far from the most morally virtuous concept. The spin put onto it, by both the developer and publisher, is that it allows players to create a drug empire from scratch without facing the consequences of pursuing this “career” in real life. We can get our collective heads around that – GTA isn’t the biggest franchise around because it lets you escort old ladies across the street – but it isn’t long until DDS starts to show its more distasteful side, commencing with a warning that it “Isn’t For Pus*ies.”
Just so you know not to expect something comical and light-hearted, there’s an achievement titled ‘First Blood’ for causing a client to overdose. Perhaps we aren’t in the demographic DDS is aimed at, but that did leave a sour taste. Instead of calling players “pus*ies” for having a conscious, being more respectful for those who’ve seen the consequences of drug addiction would have made for a more positive first impression. A subject such as this is always better approached with a more tongue-in-cheek vibe – free the weed, and all that – and that’s also something absent.
Now the tone has been set, Drug Dealer Simulator is nevertheless reasonably in-depth and competently put together, at least in terms of structure, progression, and the rate new mechanics are introduced.
The fourth wall is broken during the tutorial with the protagonist conversing to players directly, both to detail the basics and introduce themselves. After waking up in their shabby second floor flat hideout, you’re introduced to your drug supplier and provided with a laptop connected to the dark web. The laptop is how orders and requests are made and received, meaning you’ll be heading back to the hideout often, running up the same staircases each time. Also at the hideout, drugs can be split into weighed bags – something that can’t be done on the street – and so you’ll need to carry a variety of baggies with you or prepare them in advance. It’s a needlessly tricky job, requiring several steps. The solution? Carry dozens of 1g bags, so you can give clients the right amount without having to dash to the hideout. Later, the lab bench can be used to alter drugs, creating concoctions by adding “extras” purchased from the local 24 hour garage. It’s a shame you can’t get people hooked on Twinkies instead.
The supplier will drop off dope supplies at random locations on the map, which you then need to find and retrieve. Clients meanwhile will wait patiently behind buildings and down dark alleyways, swaying on the spot until you finally arrive. The time will come to pay off the supplier, too. All of these actions occur within the surrounding area of your apartment, with the idea being to level up, unlock hideouts in new areas, and spread your empire across the open-world map by turning clients into addicts and then into potential dealers who work for you.
All the while, you’re up against police patrols. Act casually and they’ll leave you alone; choose to carry a large rucksack and run from one drop to the next and you’ll catch their eye. Should they take you down, all substances are lost and you’ll be stung with a $100 fine. At nighttime a curfew is in place, with more patrols than usual, but it’s also at night when the majority of orders are placed. Incidentally, the game world is plunged into almost darkness come dusk, with little in the way of street lighting. This makes using your mobile phone’s torch essential.
Although free to roam the surrounding area – with more locations unlocking over time – DDS’s world isn’t particularly enticing to explore. Your pharmaceutical career starts in the slums, with such sights as boarded-up buildings, squats bellowing obnoxious music, burnt out cars, and shanty towns. Later locations are meant to be wealthier, but the predominantly brown colour palette used throughout is nothing short of drab, with only splashes of colourful graffiti to liven things. It can also be an eerily quiet experience, with not much in the way of NPC chatter and music only coming from said squats and stereos when running past. One of the music tracks is a brazen imitation of ‘The Real Slim Shady’ – only with the cheesiest lyrics imaginable.
While the gameplay loop of receiving and fulfilling orders before requesting a dead drop is engaging enough, periodically reaching new ranks and unlocking something new, it isn’t all that much fun either. Having to deal with individual clients before making bigger deals with gangs is a slog, and the result of reaching a new XP milestone is usually more busywork. The story isn’t paced well enough to maintain interest for long spells either. It does however make good on its promise of creating a drug network and bustling empire, gradually expanding across the map and making more contacts along the way, going from a squalid apartment to a fancy villa that can be decorated with equally fancy furniture. This isn’t something you’ll beat in an evening.
DDS dates to 2020 and there are some telling signs of its age. It runs smoothly and there isn’t much in the way of glitches, a few bugs within the menus notwithstanding, but despite the Xbox Series version allegedly having a visual overhaul it still looks a bit dated, with ugly character models and smudgy textures. It also suffers from typos (“bupboard” instead of cupboard!) and odd capitalisation of certain words within dialogue, which makes it feel a bit sloppy.
It’s easy to imagine people downloading DDS while expecting something more action oriented and casual, when it’s actually quite a slow and methodical experience, seemingly built on the foundations of the strait-laced simulators that came before it. While that may be, it is at least functional and fully featured. It’s perhaps guilty of taking the ‘simulator’ aspect too seriously; there’s a lot of running around, searching for clients, and waiting for drops. Anyone expecting something fast-paced with a smattering of mindless violence or warped humour is in for disappointment; there are no outlandish characters, unexpectedly daft missions, and no real means of getting rich quickly. You must play by the game’s rules and adhere to its logic.
In the end, it’s a dreary experience. A rundown, predominantly brown, cityscape where society has all but collapsed, leaving you to build an illegal empire by preying on the weak-willed and desperate – all the while hoping none of your clientele overdoses, because that’ll be bad for business. The idea of playing as a bad guy isn’t inherently flawed – even Nintendo has dabbled with that concept – but never did DDS make me feel like it was good to be bad. It took a while, but eventually a realisation was made: I wasn’t the friendly neighbourhood dealer helping hard working citizens temporarily forget their troubles and chill; I was a nuisance preying on the weak. Where’s the fun in that?
Byterunners/Movie Games’ Drug Dealer Simulator is out 16th April on Xbox One and Xbox Series. The PC version launched in 2020. A PS5 release is planned.