Have you ever dreamt of ruling with an iron fist over an empire of vice and iniquity? Maybe cruising the South American countryside in fly Hawaiian shirts while your best homies watch your back with military-grade automatic weapons? No? Well now you can do it anyway as part of Netflix’s super weird Narcos promotional tie-in, “Narcos: Cartel Wars.” That’s right, Netflix is giving you the chance to grow and maintain your own drug cartel with the release of an upcoming mobile video game based on their hit crime thriller.
This should come as no surprise to a world where Grand Theft Auto is a thing, but it is an interesting move from Netflix in the run up to Narcos’ much-anticipated second season. The big question, of course, is whether “Cartel Wars” will just be a throw-away promo or a truly addictive mobile storytelling vehicle on par with the series that inspired it.
Details released so far suggest that the free app will have players guide the decisions of an up-and-coming cartel lieutenant who receives key advice from some of Narcos’ main characters. Along the way, players will have the opportunity to refine their leadership style and opt for tactics of fear and intimidation, or loyalty and respect.
The head of business development for FTX Games, the company behind the app, expressed his excitement at immersing players in the show’s world of moral ambiguity, where “right and wrong are subjective.” Of course, the folks behind Pokémon GO probably had a similarly philosophical disposition before inadvertently turning half the world into game-consuming zombies. What’s for damn sure is that “Narcos: Cartel Wars” will be a great way to purge your latent sociopathic tendencies.
“Narcos: Cartel Wars” will be made available for mobile platforms on September 2nd, the same day that Narcos Season Two is unleashed on the world.