Big Pharma (Steam) - Review

Big Pharma is available now on Steam and is priced at £18.99.

In Big Pharma you are tasked with running a drug company. You have to create the pills, balance the books and basically make sure you turn a profit from selling your drugs. Which sounds like it'd be fairly simple, but watch the side effects of your drugs - too many and it isn't going to sell. Similarly if your drug is too perfect, you're gonna kill the market. It's a tough balancing act. 

I am a massive fan of Theme Hospital and every year or so I replay it and start looking for a game that comes close to its greatness. If, like me, you came to Big Pharma hoping for that I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed.

That's not to say Big Pharma is a bad game. It isn't, it's actually alright. But for me it just isn't in depth enough where it matters. You do have to put a lot of thought into creating the right drugs and working out which machines you need in order to do so yes, but the act of doing this is what cheapens the game. You end up with rooms full of winding conveyor belts that change your pill from one colour to another (increasing its abilities/side effects) before it reaches the end of the line. But it's just not very satisfying.

The magic of Theme Hospital was in the humour and Big Pharma sorely lacks in that department. It wants to take itself seriously but the game play is just too gimmicky in places for that to happen. I wanted FULL management, building, placing of rooms etc. not just pills and profit. The business management side of the game is quite good and will see you making some pretty questionable decisions ethics-wise, but for the most part the game just feels pretty lacking. 

The game works beautifully, I haven't yet encountered a bug. Controls are great and the interface is intuitive. At first it feels really complicated - the tutorials feel never-ending and aren't worded very well in my opinion, but it quickly becomes quite simple and repetitive. And in this price range I just don't think that's acceptable. Wait for a sale guys.

5/10 TRY IT!

A code was provided for the purpose of this review. 

80 Days (Steam) - Review

80 Days is available now on Steam and is priced at £6.99.

I've spent all day playing this game - well a good seven hours of my day - which considering I own Fallout 4 and Star Wars Battlefront is a pretty big deal. Something about it just kept me going.

80 days sees you become Philes Fogg's valet, Passepartout, as you try and circumnavigate the globe in 80 days. You must find routes from place to place, look after Fogg's health and make the money necessary for your travels as you try and win the Fogg's bet.

I have yet to do it in the required 80 days. On my 1st attempt I did it in 95 days which I didn't think was too bad for a first run. On my second play through I had gotten to Yokohama in 25 days, but then had to wait for ages for a bank loan and then the bank to re-open after the weekend. Gutted. I managed that in 93 days.

I think what is just so addictive about this game is the need to do it in 80 days. I feel compelled to do it now, and can't imagine I will leave this game alone until I have done. The writing in the game is brilliant, I honestly didn't expect to find it as entertaining as I did. The story is great and takes loads of different paths. At times it reminded me of the 'create your own adventure' books I had as a child - no bad thing - and I half expected to be told I was stabbed in the street the moment I turned my back if I picked the wrong dialogue option.

The game tracks all of your attempts too and shows the routes you have taken on a globe in the menu. When you do go in for another try (which you will!) you are shown your previous routes. At first this confused me and I didn't realise I hadn't opened that route in this game yet, leading to a few wasted days. But once you realise what is happening it's a great way to maximise the amount of cities you've visited.

In my opinion 80 Days is really pretty cheap for the amount of fun you can have it with it. If you're hankering for a challenge then grab it now. But everyone should at least put this in their Steam Wishlist and wait for a sale. You won't regret it.

9/10 BUY IT!

A code was provided for the purpose of this review. 

Hi Everyone!

My name is Danielle and I’m a 24 year-old student from Manchester, England. I’ve been given the opportunity to write about one of my main passions in life…gaming! And I can’t wait! I’ve been a ‘gamer’ since I was about 4 when my parents bought a Sega Mega Drive and from that moment I was hooked. Sonic was my childhood, I played it all the time, even managing to get my techno-phobe mum addicted. Thankfully gaming has progressed massively since then and luckily enough my dad was always keeping on top of the consoles released so growing up we had every console pass through our house. When I was 13 I started my own personal collection of consoles. It started with the Gamecube, mainly just because my little brother wanted one and I wanted to beat him to it. I played Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker to death and it is still one of my most loved games despite it’s flaws. Graphically the Gamecube never quite did it for me so I soon progressed and in a short amount of time I ended up with a PS2, XBox, PSP and a DS (the big old silver one, I’m pretty sure it’s still hanging around here somewhere!).

Anyway long story short at one point I ended up owning all of the main consoles by the time the next generation was coming out. The improved graphics, immersive stories and online playing got me even more hooked and I haven’t looked back since. I cannot imagine not having games in my life, which is, unfortunately, a great disappointment to my mother.

I have to admit that for many years I looked past the FPS genre, preferring RPG’s, racing or general simulation games. The first time I picked up an FPS was in 2008 and it was Halo 3. A game I had heard a lot of hype about and it served it’s purpose in that it brought me to love FPS’s but unfortunately I could not come to love Halo. For me the physics in it are all a little arcade-y.

My current set-up (with which I am very happy with) is a 47inch LCD TV with PS3, XBox 360 Elite with Kinect. I also own a Mac and a PC (although I’m still yet to go past simulation games on these) a 3DS and a Windows Phone. I love playing any games I can get my hands on, be it a free download on the Xbox or phone or a massively hyped release on the PS3. My main console is the Xbox, I love it dearly and have cultivated my new account Dannie Kitten in the last year to what I feel is an impressive Gamerscore of 45000 ish. It’s not brilliant by any means, but it’s mine and I’m proud of it.