Big Pharma is the next simulation/strategy game getting a port on all current consoles. Simulation games feel more at home on a computer but now an then a well thought out port can hit it big time on console too. British studio Twice Circled thought 4 years after releasing the original game, now was the time.
Threat not cure
Big Pharma is all about making your own pharmaceutical business thrive as much as it can. The main focus of a pharma company is off course to make useful drugs so people will buy your products. Developing drugs with beneficial effects and as little bad side effects as possible could mean a big difference to your earnings. In Big Pharma, you try to accomplish that by altering the concentration of your ingredients by using specialized machines. Machines like evaporators, dissolvers, ionizers, and even cryogenic condensers can all help you become the next Big Pharma company. Don’t go overboard though… Since you make money from sick people, you can’t just start making drugs that cure everything too efficiently. Threat the disease but don’t cure it too fast or you could become obsolete.
Manage the assembly
In Big Pharma, you start out with a small space with supply entries in some walls. These are the ports where ingrediënts enter your business. By using conveyor belts and some machines you can make a supply line to produce drugs. Linking the end of the supply line to an exit space in the wall lets you unleash your concoction on the world. If the market feels the need for your drug, your business could be thriving in no time. Keeping an eye on what the market wants and what it already has, is key for success in Big Pharma. The goal is, of course, to expand and make more drugs but space doesn’t come cheap. You better start developing that missing drug to start your Big Pharma career with a bang.
Logistics puzzle
The space available in Big Pharma is mostly pretty limited. The clunky machines and conveyor belts all take in a lot of space. Managing this space to work as efficiently as possible will be a big part of the game. Using the space given to its full potential looks easy but is in fact a big hurdle during the course of this game. Leaving enough room for new development while also trying to maximize the benefits of an already big seller, will have to be constantly on your mind. Placing machines costs money but destroying machines in order to rebuild them isn’t cheap either. Think ahead and plan for the future.
Develop your reading
Big Pharma can be played as a “free-roaming” game but also offers about 35 scenarios to test your abilities. The first ones are absolutely recommended to play because they act as a tutorial. Since most concepts of this game go pretty deep, a word of explanation is definitely needed. The problem is these tutorials are quite hefty on the reading part but fail to explain each concept with enough clarity. I often re-read a certain tutorial multiple times before I finally figured out what I should be doing. The learning curve for Big Pharma is quite steep to be enjoyed right from the start. This kind of limits the potential fanbase of this game towards Sim/strategy savvy people instead.
Skilltree
As you develop more types of drugs, your opponents will do so also. As the market becomes more and more saturated, you’ll still need to be ahead of the opposition. This is where the skill trees come into play. Researching new ingredients and new methods can make all the difference in besting the opposition. Hiring scientists come at a price so choose wisely. The skill tree is quite daunting because of the many possibilities. Classic Sim fans will likely enjoy this part of the game the most because this can really influence the way you play the game.
Conclusion
Big Pharma feels quite clunky on a console. The port doesn’t feel really adapted to the use of a controller. I feel this should be enjoyed with a keyboard and mouse. If you are a sim fan you probably own a computer anyway, so I would recommend getting it in the original version instead.
