Platform: IOS/Andriod Price: £1.50/Freenium Developer: Ndemic Creations Pros: Unique model, addictive gameplay and large and complex customisation options. Cons: Lack of graphics.
The same thing we do every night pinky!
Have you ever had grand designs of world domination? Do you perhaps have a secret lair where you practice your evil laugh or are you just a gamer who loves RTS games? Well then I believe I have the title for you and its name is Plague Inc.
As with most RTS games Plague Inc. is a top down where the gamer controls everything going on down to the last detail in order to unleash the most deadly pathogen the world has ever seen. As you take control of the virus it is in its infancy it needs warmth love and attention just to stay alive! Well actually to be quite honest it doesn’t but it does need your careful attention and DNA points in order evolve into a super virus that rivals the black plague.
The basic principle of the game is to modify you pathogen consistently using DNA points (the main form of currency in game) in order to increase the spread, infectivity and death rate of your virus all the while the little scientists of the earth will try and hamper your diseases progression by developing a cure I mean come on guys no fair!
The sheer amount that you can customize your pathogen is quite unique to this game compared to other RTS games that are available on this format and Plague INC does this with three different evolutionary trees with which the gamer can improve their pathogen: Transmission works by increasing the ways in which your disease is transmitted from one person to another be it water, air or a variety of different animals and insects. Symptoms is probably the most interesting of the three different evolutionary trees as there are over 30 different options so if you fancy your victims experiencing sneezing, coma or even insanity these options are open to you. Your third and final tree is Abilities in this is the section you will have to turn to when those foolish scientists try to develop a cure, so you can frustrate the world’s greatest minds by decreasing the affectivity of medication, creating more than one strain of your pathogen and these are to name but a few.
As you progress through the game wiping out countless worlds you unlock different forms of your pathogen that you can use to inflict further chaos on planet earth including bacteria, fungus, nano-virus or even bio-weapon. There are yet further mutations that come in the form of in app purchases which will certainly interest zombie fans with Ndemic’s Necro virus mutation which turns your victims into the walking dead and for the movie buffs there is a Simian flu virus pack available that boasts a virus based on the ALZ – 113 virus from the hit film Rise of the planet of the apes which is available to buy or you can unlock it for free if you can beat all virus forms in brutal difficulty.
Plague Inc is a great little RTS game with hundreds of different customisation options to keep you occupied game after game Ndemic have improved the replay value by adding in-app purchases of different kinds of pathogen introducing the zombie elements and the simian flu virus from Rise of the planet of the apes. This being said i think there is a great deal more Ndemic could do to jazz up Plague Inc’s appeal to the non-RTS gamers out there not least by increasing the amount of graphics within game and getting the gamer slightly more involved possibly by adding cut scenes at the start and end of each game even if it was just animated stills i believe this would reach out and draw in their audience.
3.5/5
A last word from me:
Ndemic are releasing Plague Inc evolved which has already been made available for steam and scheduled for an Xbox one release so if you like Plague Inc then check it out.