Today we are talking about a rather particular title that combines the mechanics of a management to those of one turn-based strategy. The game in question is called Pest Control and is developed by the independent Polish studio EON46, based in Krakow. Available in early access su Steam from 5 November 2020, Pest Control puts us in the shoes of a exterminator novice who will have to take over the reins of the family business. The tools that we will be able to exploit will be mainly traps and insecticides while our most bitter enemies will range from giant rats to not so friendly spiders, up to lethal wasps and very disreputable raccoons. The purpose of our adventure will be to revive our work activity, trying to complete all the tasks that our customers will ask us to solve.
A rather accessible strategic one
Playfully speaking, Pest Control is structured as a turn based strategy game with an isometric view. At each turn we will have one available energy bar that will go down with every action we perform. Both the movement of our character that the use of gadgets or weapons are bound by this parameter. It is therefore necessary to measure one's actions and study winning strategies in order not to get entangled in unpleasant situations. Our enemies will also be subject to the same mechanism and, consequently, it will be possible to exploit everything to our advantage. Each animal to be killed has one life bar to be brought down to zero and a level of aggression which changes his behavior towards the player. Also there are several state conditions, such as fear (which prevents damage) or confusion (which forces you to stand still for a few turns), which can affect both enemies and the player. Every insect or rodent to be exterminated has various strengths and weaknesses to our gadgets and tools; for example, a pesticide is more effective against a spider or a certain type of trap trumps raccoons. It is therefore necessary to study every type of mission and, based on the enemies present, prepare accordingly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9W60pQdEwo
The exterminator's headquarters
THEGame hub it is nothing more than the headquarters of our small business from killing bugs & co. From here we can select the missions that best suit us and carry out all the typical functions of a management software to prepare ourselves in the best possible way. The crafting is one of the pillars of Pest Control since in order to face our enemies we will need different tools of the trade: for example various types of sprays, mechanical devices for capturing animals and more direct weapons such as hammers. In order to do this we will have a ampio shop where to buy all the material we need for the construction of our death contraptions. Through the section dedicated to player profile you can spend the experience points, earned by completing missions, to obtain passive power-ups of various types, such as increasing your health or increasing the damage of certain weapons.
In the Map instead we find the various areas of the city where our alter ego carries out his duties. At the beginning of the game, only one section is available, with the others that will be unlockable as you progress through the game. Each portion of the map corresponds to different missions (called contracts), all different from each other and with certain requests to satisfy. In addition to eliminate a number of insects and other unwanted animals, we may also be required to clean the various play areas, action possible thanks to special substances that can always be purchased in the shop. Furthermore, in the various levels we will be able to find items of more or less value to be able to resell in a special section always present in the Hub, called Black Market.
Problems with missions
One downside that made us turn up our noses is the fact of not being able to know in advance all the objectives of a given mission. In fact, in the screen dedicated to the selection of levels, only some of the objectives present in that specific mission are displayed. This results in a tedious and avoidable problem of lack of resources necessary for the completion of our tasks which will force, in the worst case, to abandon the incomplete scenario and start over. An example experienced by us was that of having to disinfect a house from mice as written in the information of the mission, but once the game started we realized that there were also spiders. This led us to abandon the contract, as we did not have what we needed to deal with that certain type of enemies.
Conclusions
In essence Pest Control it is a game that, despite the obvious limitations of an independent production, still succeeds in its primary aim: amuse. If you are passionate about management and want to experience something more hybrid and particular, this title could easily be for you. For now we don't know when the title will come out of Early Access but the development team has promised us that will be added, for the launch, various contents aimed at enriching the gaming experience, like new enemies and different scenarios. We just have to wait for the release of the full game and hope for some filings to the game interface and the removal of sporadic interpenetration of models found during our test.
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