Farming Simulator 2013

Farming Simulator 2013 is the 4th edition of the famous series by Giants Software, a perfect agrarian management videogame, strong from funny and deep gameplay: a good example for the German videogame industry.

The market for simulation games is bigger than one might expect. Farming Simulator 2013 built an active and respectable fan base in mere weeks. The game is guided by how you want to play it. It goes from peaceful to stressful, from attaining goals to being open ended, but Farming Simulator 2013 mostly offers a lot of fun and appreciation.

The combination of the excellent community, unwavering focus on running the business, and the simplicity of the controls and your responsibilities creates a unique business simulation that rewards you proportionally to the amount of work you put into it.

Farming Simulator 2013 follows last year's version with a wide assortment of new content from hundreds of licensed vehicles and equipment to a massive map with support for raising animals. Players other than farming or simulation enthusiasts will be frustrated by the lack of in-game guidance beyond a few brief tutorials that ultimately results in a game that can only be recommended to series fans.

Farming Simulator 2013 is the ideal game for whom love the agriculture and the agricultural machinery.

The new farming-simulator-game is overall more of the same. You'll expand your farm, buy new vehicles and go for random missions like lawn mowing at the golf-court. Unfortunately the time-limit in those missions is horrible. The farming-gameplay is easy to learn and there are more than 100 vehicles to buy, modeled with rich detail. The game could be much better, if the developer would have focused on a smooth interface and more realistic physics.

You can find a lot of educational value in this simulation, but as entertainment, it just doesn’t work – it's more edutainment than a game. [Jan 2013]

This is not a product for a typical gamer and has plenty of shortcomings but it does fit lazy afternoons pretty well. But on the other hand so does blowing into ocarina… [1/2013, p.74]

What sounds as a simple idea, ends up being a complex game that simulates agricultural life from many perspectives and in the best way possible. Just do not look for perfection nor a revolution in it.

It seems that the Giant Software team has prepared the field to be cultivated but forgot to plant some seeds. A handful of new things and a new batch of machines and tools isn't enough to cover up lots of bugs in the mechanics and physics engine. Of course - Farming Simulator 2013 is being patched up, but is has too few interesting changes and too many old problems. Fans will play this game, but I believe everyone expected something more.