Narcos: Rise of the Cartels

 Xbox One
User Score
2.6

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 10 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 10
  3. Negative: 7 out of 10
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  1. Xbox_Alive
    Nov 25, 2019
    8
    Narcos: Rise Of The Cartels - Netflix has produced many hit shows over its existence but there is always one TV show that sticks out the most for me, and that show is Narcos. From start to finish Narcos always seemed to keep me hooked throughout and to say I binged through it would be a massive understatement. As you can imagine then when I first learnt that there was a game coming out onNarcos: Rise Of The Cartels - Netflix has produced many hit shows over its existence but there is always one TV show that sticks out the most for me, and that show is Narcos. From start to finish Narcos always seemed to keep me hooked throughout and to say I binged through it would be a massive understatement. As you can imagine then when I first learnt that there was a game coming out on consoles with the Narcos theme I was very interested and thankfully Narcos: Rise of the Cartels is actually pretty decent even if it doesn’t get everything quite right. This game is about the first season of the show which happens to be my favorite (many times this is the case in any franchise), because after all there’s no one as famous as Pablo Escobar when it comes to the drugs industry. You get to play as the Cartel as well and this is a nice twist on things because it’s always fun to experience both the good side and bad side and you can do both in this game. For me this was a very good idea from the developers because it makes the game feel very much like the TV series because we get to look inside the minds of both factions so to speak. Basically this game is all about strategy and whilst the strategy elements are a little on the simple side I often found them to be executed extremely well. I would however recommend that you play the game in short bursts though because it can get repetitive quite quickly. Thankfully though when played for short amounts of time you’ll often find that deploying your units in the various missions is very fun to say the least and in the end you do get quite attached to the events that are occurring whether your a good guy or bad guy. Like I said earlier the gameplay can be a little too repetitive for its own good at times, which may be off-putting for some. This however isn’t the biggest problem in my opinion because that has to be reserved for the AI. You expect the enemy you face to be realistic and smart but quite a lot of the time you find the enemies in this game to be dumb which makes the game less challenging than it should be. This in turn then makes each win feel not as important as it should which unfortunately was a little disappointing. There have been many games over the years that I’ve tried to capture the TV or film magic that the original managed to capture but ultimately failed and whilst Narcos: Rise of the Cartels does feature some of them issues I wouldn’t call it a failure by any means. In fact I would go as far to say that this game has managed to capture the true essence of the TV show extremely well and if you go into playing this game expecting some sort of limitations then I definitely guarantee that fans of the TV show will throughly enjoy Narcos: Rise of the Cartels because I certainly did. So if your a fan of the show or the genre I would definitely suggest you check it out for your Xbox One!… Expand
  2. jkss97
    Nov 25, 2019
    0
    This is one of the by far worst games ever done, you play 1 player out of 5 the rest of your squad just watches you die as the enemy has supernatural speed.....it makes no sense. how can anyone sit there and play this?

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
63

Mixed or average reviews - based on 8 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. GameGrin
    Dec 30, 2019
    65
    A fun, but simplified take on the turn-based strategy genre, think "baby's first XCOM" and you're on the right lines. Its flaws are obvious but easily overlooked for newcomers to the genre. If you're a die-hard strategy fan, consider giving Narcos: Rise of the Cartels a pass, it won't have much to offer you.
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  2. XBLA Fans
    Dec 11, 2019
    60
    There’s a lot of good but sometimes the bad can outweigh it. This can be an extremely difficult game only because of the seemingly unfair advantage your opponent has. The upgrade system can be annoying especially when someone you invested in gets wasted. Is it fun? Yeah, but a lot of games do it better. This is for fans of the series for sure, and if it didn’t have the show giving its appeal, then this would be a poor entry into strategy-based combat.
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  3. TheXboxHub
    Dec 5, 2019
    60
    A proper storyline from the perspectives of both the DEA and Narcos could’ve elevated the base game into something far more sumptuously involving too, but what’s here is serviceable and will readily satisfy anyone who wants to sink their teeth into a quick-fix strategy game.
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