Previews

Hands on with Drug Lords on iPhone

We take to the streets with this controversial drug dealing sim

Hands on with Drug Lords on iPhone

Video games are a fantastic way for us ordinary folk to lose ourselves and live out our wildest dreams. If you're looking to be a rock star, grab your guitar and rock out with Guitar Hero. Those who hope to be heroes can take a swipe at Spider-Man and X-Men. Multi-taskers can manage their very own metropolis in SimCity. And now it seems there truly is something for everyone because if you're devious enough to be a dealer, A-Steroids has created Drug Lords.

The game takes its cue from '90's freeware classic Dope Wars, which found players taking on an ever-shifting narcotics stock market and travelling from city to city in order to buy and sell a range of mind-altering substances at the best prices. With a deadline to pay off a hefty loan to an irate loan shark, you had 30 days to fly across America, pay off the bad guy and make a tidy profit, too.

Starting out was always tough – the loan shark was unforgiving and interest on your debt would get higher faster than an ageing rock star with a new crack pipe. Despite its unforgiving nature, the game's blend of luck cut with your own shrewd money-management, ultimately made for an incredibly addictive experience.

Picking up where Dope Wars left off, Drug Wars eschews the virtual cities of the original narcotic trading game and brings illicit drug dealing to the real world. Using the iPhone's GPS functionality and Google Maps, wannabe pushers can play the game in real-world locations, setting their own street prices and trading with other live players.

Of course, the loan shark is still out to get you, warning that he'll be picking up body parts if his debt isn't paid off in time. So with the stage set, it's up to you to corner the market quickly as you trade in weed, coke and pills. For a game that's really all about managing numbers, the graphics add a lush, colourful sheen to your book balancing affairs. Unlike dealing with real life gangsters and street pushers, the interface isn't at all intimidating, providing easy access to key statistics.

The most exciting feature – and addition to the Dope Wars game mechanic – is being able to set your own selling price for your illegal booty. Having said that, it's also a little worrying: as, unlike the real world, one dealer's narcotic doesn't vary in quality to anybody elses, so surely this will only serve to drive the price, and value, of certain drugs down? It'll certainly be interesting to see how this plays out in the real world when the game launches and the streets are flooded with pushers.

The guys over at A-Steroids are keen to stress that Drug Lords still needs a final polish before being pushed centre-stage on to the App Store. It's worth noting however that the game, with its explicit drug references and gorgeously-styled narcotics, may not actually make it through Apple's notoriously temperamental App Store review process.

If Apple doesn't bust A-Steroids for such a controversial game, you'll be virtually dealing on the nearest street corner soon. The plan is that Drug Lords will be available on iPhone, for free, by the end of November.

Intrigued? Then check out our exclusive Drug Lords video preview.