Experience the challenges of managing a virtual farm with realistic agricultural tasks and economic strategies
Experience the challenges of managing a virtual farm with realistic agricultural tasks and economic strategies
Vote (4,572 votes)
Program license Trial version
Developer astragon
Version 1.0.0.1
Works under Windows
Vote
(4,572 votes)
Developer
astragon
Works under
Windows
Program license
Trial version
Version
1.0.0.1
Pros
- The game play is very focused
- The inadequacy of the game can be rather funny
Cons
- The graphics are very bad
- The tutorials are confusing rather than instructive
Get Down and Dirty on the Farm
Have you ever wanted the chance to work on a real farm? If so, then Farming Simulator 2013 might be the game for you. Players are given the chance to manage their very own farm and complete a wide range of tasks. Read the review to discover if this game delivers the fun that it promises.
Players are put in charge with their very own farm in a country town. The aim of the game, and in fact the only real goal, is to grow crops and make as much money as possible. However, there is no final objective to the game and after a few minutes the goal of making money may seem rather pointless.
Unlike most games of this type, players are not presented with new types of houses or other elements that they can buy with their game money and add to their farm. Without much else to do, gamers are simply pushed to complete the same tasks over and over again, much as they would have to do if they actually owned a farm. Is this play, or just pure work?
The storyline of the game is also strangely missing. Players are not really told anything about their character or why they are working on the farm. At the star of the game players are simply instructed to choose a crop from a selection of four different types of seeds. They then plant the seeds in their field, wait for them to grow, harvest their new crop and then sell it. Then they repeat these steps, again and again and again.
Despite this realistic element of work, work, work, there are no real obstacles for players to avoid. The crop cannot become damaged and players always receive a good harvest. There are so many ways that the game could have been made more interesting, but the creators carefully manage to avoid each and every one of them to keep the game flat and directionless.
One of the things that all simulators have in common is that they offer gamers the chance to step inside a different world and even help to create that world. While this works well with theme park and zoo simulators, being on a farm simply isn’t that exciting. One of the saving graces of most simulators is that they offer great graphics, but that simply isn’t the case here. The graphics are so bad that they actually make the game worse and playing may feel like a punishment rather than a joy.
It feels like the creators of Farming Simulator 2013 had to cut some serious corners to get the game out on time and under budget. There are no slick effects or anything else exciting about the game and even things such as driving your combine harvester through a field has been given a dose of realism that takes all of the excitement, if indeed there was any excitement to begin with, out of the experience.
Farming is not the dream occupation of many people and although this game tries to present it in a fun way, ultimately it is rather dull. Even if you have your heart set on being a future farmer, you are sure to be put off by the bad graphics and even worse tutorials. Playing Farming Simulator 2013 is more of an experience to endure rather than enjoy.
Pros
- The game play is very focused
- The inadequacy of the game can be rather funny
Cons
- The graphics are very bad
- The tutorials are confusing rather than instructive
Farming Simulator 2013 follows its predecessors as a new and improved game with a wide range of farming activities such as the use of licensed farm tools and vehicles. You manage your farm as you try to make a more profitable farm. The chief goal of the game is to earn money to improve your farm. On the downside, the graphics have more of a functional feel than a realistic one, and the vehicles will only leave marks on the ground when you are plowing. You have a lot of real farming manufacturers in the game like:
- Case IH
- Lamborghini
- Deutz-Fahr
- Amazone
- Horsch
While the farm vehicles are slow as you might expect, they still lack in the level of realism. For example, you can crash your tractor into the barn without damage to the barn, and the environment still needs greater diversity. As a simulator for farming, the adoption of a more dynamic environment would improve the game. The way that it works now you have grinding and dull work. You never feel like you are taming the elements. Ultimately, you are just going through the motions.
Farming Simulator 2013 has improved on some level, but the graphics still need more work, and the overall experience feels somewhat hollow. Still, if you enjoyed the previous installments of the Farming Simulator series, then this will have a lot of the same elements. This farm simulator is one of the most focused games on the business side of farming that you will ever play. Your goal is to grow crops and make money, but there are no final objectives, and there are no story lines or cosmetic money sinks. You choose a seed to plant, harvest it and sell it. Finally, you invest the cash back into growing your farm.
What makes the game feel somewhat unrealistic is how it can be almost impossible to damage your crops. Unless you don't pay attention, you cannot fail or run into a no-win situation. The game needs a little better challenge than what it offers. When it comes to investments, you have dozens of possible investments that you can make like more than forty different plots of land, dozens of licensed vehicles and additional buildings. To give you an idea, you only start with a single plot of land. The additional buildings that you can buy include greenhouses and solar collectors.
After you have bought multiple plots of land, you can take a dozen tractors to coordinate your efforts and lower the downtime. While it can take hundreds of hours of work to own everything, that could be said to be the ultimate goal of the game. You also have different directions that you can take your farm. For example, you can choose livestock or build your farm upon the foundation of faster machines. You have to think about what suits your strategy the best. If you select a more valuable crop, it will take more work and extra machinery.
