What is Farming Simulator 15? Well… it’s a farming simulator. Unlike the recent trend in simulator games, Farming Simulator 15 is very straight laced. Although it is a sandbox where you can do what you want, you are not really given the means to make it ridiculous, at least in the console version.
The game gives players the choice to harvest various types of crops, from wheat to potatoes and so forth. Each has their pros and cons. Some take longer to harvest but sell on for a much higher price than something that could be a quick harvest. During the game you have to keep an eye on which of your crops are selling for the highest price too, and take advantage of that.
Crop farming is strangely therapeutic and you can lose hours just ploughing, harvesting and selling. I found this the most enjoyable aspect of the game and luckily the ability to speed up the in-game clock means that once you’ve prepped a field and have nothing to do, if you don’t want to explore the town you can just wait a minute and start again.
Selling on the crops highlights one of my biggest issues with Farming Simulator 15 and that is the physics. In a game where you transport crops in an open container, you’d expect to be losing items all over the place. Instead they just stay there unmoved. Even if you fall off a cliff or crash in to a car for the most part you’re fine. Really your biggest issue is yourself not being able to manoeuvre a vehicle.
Combine the issue of no real risks with the fact that you’re fairly limited with what you can do, despite being able to buy all types of vehicles, and the longevity of the game will come down to how much you enjoy the repetition. You can buy new land and take on the occasional mission, which adds a bit of personality to the game, but for the most part what you’ve got is a farming simulator that doesn’t feel realistic enough. There are only a few animals you can buy; the world feels like it’s hardly lived in and the physics are not realistic enough for a simulator. Multiplayer farming adds a bit more fun and allows you to speed up harvesting by being a bit more efficient. If you have friends that enjoy the Farming Simulator series then multiplayer will be a great thing to finally get your hands on, on console that is.
All in all Farming Simulator 15 is a fun game but not fun enough nor polished enough to warrant the £45 RRP on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It’s a strong base that is strangely relaxing and hopefully the developers build upon this in future releases. It fails to be enough of a simulation to live up to its namesake, but if you’re a fan of agriculture there is enjoyment to be had.