Atomic W00dchuck - Review of Major Business Scam (PC)

Ever since I was a young fella, reading about that lovable rogue Robert Maxwell, and his financial shenanigans that culminated in a long walk off a short yacht, a dark part of me has always yearned for the opportunity to defraud innocent, hard-working civilians out of their savings.

Those people at AE Games clearly dreamt this very same dream at one time or another, and here, freshly unboxed in front of me, is a brand new copy of Major Business Scam. Available on PC and Xbox, although it might appear something of a niche title to the uninitiated, it appears set to take the gaming world by storm.

I was lucky enough to be sent a review copy, and even luckier that this review copy was the Collector's Edition, including impeccably manufactured figurines of Robert Maxwell, Nick Leeson, and an unnamed Nigerian prince, in addition to a fully functional credit card cloning kit.

The credit card cloning kit is only available for inclusion in certain regions, so you'll probably want to do some research before ordering.

Anyway, back to the game. I'm glad to say that the high production values don't end with the figurines. Right from the beginning of the introduction video, it's obvious that this product is as MAJOR as its title suggests. A bombastic soundtrack accompanies the menus, and really gets you in the mood to rip off some unwitting punters.

The game is of the "sandbox" variety, and you start from the very bottom. A well written tutorial eases you into the basics of the game, as you and your gang set about stealing hubcaps and alloy wheels from parked vehicles, and mugging a few defenceless senior citizens. As things progress, you'll find yourself moving away from the streets, and into a more "white collar" setting, where you'll begin to rely more on cerebral prowess than brute force.

There are a wide variety of different business scams you can pull, ranging from the tried and tested "sticky fingers in the pension fund" and "ghost employees on the payroll", to money laundering, counterfeit products, phishing and selling timeshares on Uranus. I won't spoil the game for you by going into too much detail, but with Steam Workshop integration just around the corner, the only limit to your scamming is likely to be your imagination.

While much of the game is graphically sparse, there are frequent cut-scenes, and periodic mini-games, which add a welcome change of pace to proceedings. In one memorable interlude, I played a competitive "match 3" knock-off against an over-zealous reporter who was threatening to expose my snake oil operation. Seconds before the buzzer sounded, I overtook him with a masterful 4-in-a-row, and duly sunk a knife through his windpipe on-screen. Aside from the obvious elation of having taken out a critical threat to my operations, I feel that this game has taught me a few valuable life skills. If I'm ever forced to play a Bejewelled clone for my life, I'm now fairly confident that I will be able to give a good account of myself.

On the negative side, the console roots are fairly obvious, and if I see another "hold down both shoulder buttons' and waggle the right stick like you're having a seizure" message during a "quick time event", I will probably tear out the WASD keys and feed them one by one into the eye sockets of the developers. Some people have made wild and utterly unfounded claims that this game breeds sociopaths, and encourages criminality. I disagree, and will happily shank anyone who can't see that there is absolutely no link between games and violence.

Anyway I digress. At this stage it's customary to give the game a score, so I'm awarding it an healthy 8/10.

Recommended!