Of all of the games that came out in 2012, one of the ones that stuck out the most to me was a rather unusual title – Farming Simulator 2013. Oh, how I loved this game. I felt very much at peace as I rode around on my tractor, harvesting fields. The subtle rumble of that motor had a calming effect. I would just bask in the afternoon sun on my virtual farm, raking in the money. It was a beautiful sandbox where I could do whatever I wanted and live that farmer life without draining myself physically like my fellow Oklahoma-ians (note- I’m sure that’s what you guys call us, right?).
Fast forward almost a year, and I’m still anticipating the Playstation 3 version of the game. Based on my last review (Hotline Miami), I’d rather play with my Playstation controller rather than the mouse and keyboard alternative. But to hold us over another month or two, GIANTS Software has brought the mobile port of Farming Simulator over to the Vita. Color me excited!! Except, instead of an enhanced port of the mobile version, this is a direct port.
I knew something was strange when I saw the price of $9.99 on the Playstation Store. My initial excitement wasn’t curbed, though. Instead, I gleefully downloaded the very small file (taking up less than 100MB) and fired it up moments later.
The first thing I noticed was that there was no multiplayer. Farming Simulator is one of those games you play with friends, where you can have people tell you that they think your tractor is sexy. Mostly, though, to help work the multiple fields you have going at once. Sure you can hire workers in the game that automatically run equipment for you, whether it be cleaning up your mess after you harvest something, or planting new crops. That costs precious money though, whereas your friends work for free.
After working my first field, I decided to check out the equipment store. In the PC version, it’s a little overwhelming, but I had adjusted after some time. On the Vita, it is starkly different. I mean, the complete opposite; a bare-bones store with two sowers, two fertilizers, two tractors, etc. etc. The Vita is capable of holding many more than that. After less than a dozen hours, I had the best vehicles in half of the categories.
One of the most memorable things about playing Farming Simulator 2013 on the PC was the side jobs that randomly popped up, requiring me to go do a task for the townsfolk. This also required some piece of farming equipment, like a forklift adapter on a front-load tractor or a lawnmower. Since the store is so limited in what it carries, the events have been reduced to said-event popping up, you accepting, and racing off to some random location on the map to find the merchandise. It’s an easy $20K, but the amount of thought put into them is so low I was baffled after a few occurrences. On Easy, the $20K you get for this one minute trip can keep you afloat by fueling your equipment and buying seeds while everything you harvest goes into the silos, making the random events easy profit.
Most of these are minor annoyances coming from someone who played the PC version, which is vast and grossly addicting. The main, serious issue with the design that frustrates me beyond belief is the map. There is no indicator to which fields are ready to harvest, which kept me from expanding much. Nothing is more irritating than a wasted crop. Nothing.
Thankfully, the trophies are there to keep me persistently plowing fields. There is nothing tricky about them, and anyone can grind their way to a platinum trophy. This is really the main reason to play, as there is no narrative and Farming Simulator is essentially just a large sandbox to play in (alone).
Farming Simulator does still do a mild job at satisfying the urge to grow crops in a more realistic manner than Farmville, and it is a good “pick up and play” title that should easily appease trophy hunters. It could also be a gateway drug into the Farming Simulation addiction for future console or PC players. I’ll keep on tractoring on the Vita because I want that platinum, but I can’t help but feel underwhelmed by the lack of effort on GIANTS Software’s behalf when they brought their big title to the Vita.
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