Turmoil, the oil-rigging strategy sim from developer Gamious, became an underground hit when it was first released on Steam. Because of that, the developers knew that they had struck gold – or, oil if you will. As the game quickly picked up steam, Gamious quickly got to work on crafting some DLC for the game, which is where Turmoil: The Heat Is On comes in.
Adding a host of new features, as well as upgrading and improving core mechanics, The Heat Is On brings a whole new level of addictiveness to the core game, as well as a new campaign. Players already familiar with the title will already be used to some of the core mechanics; build a plot of land, set out to drill for oil and hopefully make money. As simple as the premise is, it’s surprisingly effective and pretty addictive.
Story
The Heat Is On doesn’t delve too much into an actual plot, similar to how the core game didn’t have much of a story to begin with. Instead of focusing on a narrative, the game focuses on the player starting off with next to nothing, and slowly working their way to becoming an oil baron, navigating the political and sociological system in order to do so. Though it might seem simple, it harks back to the days of Theme Park, where the only goal is to become the best at what you do.
The Heat Is On adds to Turmoil‘s original campaign, and adds more, bringing with it a new mayor to overcome, as well as new characters to get onto your side – or get past, depending on the character. While simple, the game is quite addictive and what the DLC lacks in an actual story, it more than makes up for in gameplay.
Mechanics
However, Turmoil: The Heat Is On brings a number of new features and mechanics to the game. On top of the mechanics of the core game – buying land, looking for oil, bribing politicians etc – The Heat Is On adds an extra element of excitement to the game; namely, having to navigate around lava pits buried underground (hence the ‘Heat’ in the title).
The simplicity of the game’s mechanics work in its favor; after all, nobody remembers Theme Park for its complexity. Turmoil: The Heat Is On works in much the same fashion; simple, effective and quite addictive.
Conclusion
Turmoil: The Heat Is On is quite a simple sim, but utilizes that to its advantage; players can easily pick up everything they need to become a successful oil baron while still spending hours improving their strategy and making their way to the top. At this point, the only thing lacking would be the DLCs graphics; one would expect that with any kind of DLC or expansion, players would get an improvement in the overall look of a game. However, like most aspects, The Heat Is On keeps things simple, staying with the look of the core game and making very few tweaks.