FARMING SIMULATOR 15
Made by - Giants Software
The beauty of working where I do is the fact I know for an absolute fact that Farming Simulator sells. I see it being snapped up by loads of people around the land and I could never really understand why. It wasn't like I was itching to get stuck into ploughing a field, look after chickens and steal their eggs and perhaps grow the odd crop here and there. I then got a copy of Farming Simulator 2015 through the letterbox and thought it might be a good time to find out exactly what all the fuss is about. Please keep reading to find out just what a non farming person thought of such whimsical endeavour.
Well, as with all of the "Simulator" franchise games, even with an overhaul, the graphics are never anything to shout about. I don't know what it is, but the visuals always seem to be a generation behind and this is no exception. It has new physics included in it, according to the blurb anyway, but I decided to drive my shiny new tractor onto the road whilst exploring to see what you could do. In the distance I saw a car driving along this said road and my first thought, like most people I'm sure was "I wanna hit that and see what happens." So with a steely eye and gritted determination I set off on my destiny with this nameless car, all in the name of entertainment in a video game. I got there only for me to bounce off like the vehicles were made of rubber and old Johnny Motorist just carried on as if nothing had happened. I know we're not really looking to get involved in causing accidents, but it proved to me the simple thing that physics may well be right in some areas, but not necessarily in others.
The game starts you off with a nice enough tutorial, showing you how to plough fields, cut crops and sow the seeds ready for the next set of crops to grow, so it gives you a minimal amount of skills to really just get you up and running. You can buy other things as time goes on, but you need to sustain your business acumen to be able to afford these things. The thing that slightly bugs me is that even with the best will in the world to get a lot of little quirky missions done to add more XP and money to you, you simply cannot do it. One example is that I had just finished the tutorial, sold a tractor I didn't need for a few coins and then went to the missions board to get something done that would get me more cash. The problem was that I needed a frontloaded tractor and a pallet fork, which I simply could not afford (well, I had a pallet fork, but it doesn't do much good just sitting in the middle of the shop car park and nothing to move it with).
I have to say though, the control system is pretty decent once you get used to it. It isn't too alien and maps the controller reasonably well. Better than I would have imagined in fact, but once you have gone past that tutorial it then simply throws you out on your ass, in the hope that the other, more obscure things will come to you over time. Don't get me wrong, there are descriptions of the other things to do in the game, but you at least want a bit of guidance when you're doing stuff like this, especially in a sim, as it isn't exactly Call of Duty: Farm Handler is it?
This results in a game that can get boring and tedious rather quickly, which is annoying if you're not a complete fan of the series. For those that know what to expect then this may well be like fitting into a new pair of slippers and as a sim it seems to do enough to keep you occupied. The casual gamer however may have other ideas, as it just seems to get dull all too quickly if you don't have your heart and soul in it. You will soon be hiring others to grind up the dirt so you can move on to something more exciting. It doesn't seem to have that gripping effect that some simulations can have on you and I soon became bored too quickly.
There is so much that this game could offer, but I fear it will only be able to do that to a select few people. It doesn't keep the non farming people intrigued and entertained enough to get them interested and seems to just plod too much for those that have an idea of what they are doing and want it because of what it is. This leaves it stranded between good and bad, as it isn't exactly a bad title, just dull.
I can see where the appeal could come from in Farming Simulator 15, but you have to dig very deep to get it. The down side is that I don't think enough people will be prepared to grab their shovel and get enough turf turned to get that far in the first place. I'd probably have more fun making crop circles and not taking the game seriously than trying hard to make the money required to buy a hay bale maker.
At the end of the day though it IS a simulator and should only really be looked at by those who are really wanting to get into the farming life. For those who are more of the gaming persuasion I would maybe suggest something else, as this won't exactly set your world on fire. It is hard to recommend something which is not so much a game, but more a way of life, especially as not being a farmer means I can't say how accurate it is, but I don't think my life would be any worse without it. One really for those who play with tractors and dream of making dairy and wheat, rather than kills and XP.
BLAND