Midway's Controversial NARC Update Ups Drug Intake

Thanks to IGN PS2 for its hands-on preview of Midway's PS2/Xbox action title NARC, an update of the classic '80s anti-drug arcade title of the same name. This game, which Game Informer notes has been "built on VIS Entertainment's State of Emergency engine", takes the "good cop/bad cop" gameplay concept to an extreme, as GameSpot explains: "You'll actually be able to use the illegal drugs you confiscate throughout the game. In fact, they'll actually give you short-term benefits." The drugs include "pot, speed, LSD, crack, and the newly invented Liquid Soul", and effects vary - for example, IGN notes: "Smoking marijuana in NARC slows time down and makes the screen blur, but also gives incredible focus", and GameSpot mentions: "Dropping acid fills the screen with crazy colors, but it also gives innocent citizens large jester heads while giving criminals large devil heads, for easy identification." But GI also cautions: "By taking one of the addictive drugs... the controller vibrations will get longer and longer until the player will literally have to fight to keep the shakes at bay."

Comments

Re:How about some realism?

[The Evil Couch]

From the article: As for the marijuana and LSD, since they're not addictive drugs, the only drawback that we saw was that the badge meter slipped down a few numbers.

There ya go. No apparent physical drawback for pot or acid, but you get a notch closer to losing your badge.

Re:How about some realism?

[metrazol]

In other news, "the shakes"? From Pot and LSD? LSD and Pot are physically addictive? Since when? I don't know about anyone else, but after 10-12 hours of an LSD, I am more than done for the duration.

Actually, somebody hasn't been reading their literature. Marijuana has been found to be addictive for a certain part of the population. Not a huge percentage, but a fair bit. Don't know the exact numbers. Nasty withdrawals symptoms include severe depression. Thankfully, withdrawal does not include, ya know, raping and murdering your entire extended family, like the 'Just Say No' crowd wants to make you think.

Now, LSD just causes long term brain damage. No biggy. We all know that, combined, video games and the internet make you stupid, anyhow.

And in another sidebar, NARC was only fun for the Porsche that fired rockets. That was sweet.