COVID: The Outbreak
- May 29, 2020
- Jujubee S.A.
- 24h median play time
Get on SteamIn COVID: The Outbreak, you are the leader of the Global Health Organization, tasked with managing a global coronavirus pandemic. Through crisis management and education on safety measures, you aim to save humanity from the rapidly spreading virus. This game addresses the current and serious topic of global health crises.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game offers a complex and strategic simulation experience, allowing players to understand the seriousness of pandemic management.
- It provides a unique perspective on global health challenges, making it educational for those unfamiliar with epidemiology.
- The developers are committed to improving the game and supporting charitable causes related to the pandemic.
- The game suffers from numerous bugs and unfinished mechanics, leading to frustrating gameplay experiences.
- The user interface is confusing and lacks clear instructions, making it difficult for players to understand how to effectively manage the game.
- Many players feel like they are reduced to spectators rather than active participants, as the game does not allow for meaningful implementation of policies.
- gameplay6 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by a steep learning curve and a lack of comprehensive tutorials, making it challenging for players to grasp the mechanics. While the game offers depth and an intriguing premise, many users find the mechanics flawed and the resource management overly demanding, leading to frustration despite the potential for fun once mastered.
“This game has a huge learning curve, and there isn't much information available to help learn, but once you grasp the mechanics of the game, it is fun.”
“It has a ton of depth, a huge amount of mechanics, and very interesting balancing. You play as the gho, and the worse the pandemic gets, the more money you get, so it incentivizes you to balance panic and your budget.”
“At the risk of sounding like a 'sore loser,' I think the game mechanics are flawed despite a very actual and interesting premise.”
“The mechanics of the game are a balancing act that is ridiculous; you need massive resources for research (or to even draft a decree!?) and then more resources to coherently implement said research.”
“There's only a descriptive tutorial to learn the game UI, but no real explanations on how to proceed in the gameplay.”
- grinding2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and boring, with some describing it as excessively repetitive and unenjoyable.
“Honestly, I find the game tedious and boring.”
“Tedious doesn't begin to describe it.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The optimization of the game has been widely criticized, with users reporting significant performance issues that result in long loading times and overall poor efficiency. Many players find the game's optimization to be a major drawback, detracting from the overall experience.
“Everything else stayed exactly the same, from the confusing buildings to confusing research trees to terrible optimization that still takes half a minute to load the game.”
“The optimization is terrible.”
- monetization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Many users perceive the monetization strategy of the game as exploitative, likening it to a cash grab that capitalizes on the coronavirus theme.
“Honestly, when I first saw this, I immediately thought, 'Well, looks like another cash grab riding on the coronavirus theme.'”
“The monetization strategy feels overly aggressive, making it hard to enjoy the game without spending money.”
“It seems like every feature is locked behind a paywall, which really detracts from the overall experience.”
- graphics1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Users have mixed feelings about the graphics, with some expressing frustration over optimization issues, while others report being able to run the game smoothly on lower-end hardware at maximum settings. Overall, the graphics performance seems to vary significantly depending on the system configuration.
“It gave me the impression of 'Oh come on, how poorly did you optimize this so it needs those?' I run it on Intel HD 5500 with a 2.4 GHz processor on maximum graphics settings just fine.”
