The farming sub-genre of simulators has been growing in popularity quite rapidly over the past few years. The series which has made the sub-genre so popular is definitely that of Farming Simulator from GIANTS Software. As is the case with anything, when you have one top dog in town there will be others who will try and offer an ‘alternative’ while also doing things very similarly. That’s exactly what’s happened with the launch of the newest farm-sim Real Farm.
Developed by Triangle Studios, Real Farm was unveiled earlier this year and just hit Steam yesterday (October 20th). The trailers leading up to launch looked rather promising, but the reality of it all is that it’s nothing more than a poor man’s attempt at trying to copy the Farming Simulator formula.
Currently, the game is riddled with bugs and the presentation has left much to be desired. Since it’s still a very new release, there aren’t many reviews that have cropped up (pun intended) on Steam yet. The few that have been posted at the time of this writing are all negative. Checking out early playthroughs/reviews on YouTube offers the same reaction: people are not liking this. Here are a few examples:
What I find interesting about the majority of the reviews that have been posted so far is that they all show that these players weren’t even motivated enough to put a single full hour into the game. That goes to show that the actual quality just really isn’t up to par despite the trailers looking so sleek.
Seeing that Real Farm is $40, I think it’s safe to say there won’t be many people actually buying it. That’s about the same price of the much better title that it so obviously ripped off: Farming Simulator 17 (which is currently on sale right now for a limited time if you haven’t picked it up yet). But, like the old saying goes, “imitation is the best form of flattery.” Although in this case, I think it’s appropriate to conclude that Ream Farm’s flattery is as nice as the smell of a field that’s just been sprayed with a fresh bed of manure. In other words—it stinks.
As the farming-sim genre continues to grow, it does make me wonder how many more of these knock-offs will sprout up (pun intended, again!). Of course, the longer the market remains lucrative copy-cats will be inevitable. But, for now, the folks over at GIANTS Software/Focus Home Interactive don’t really have to worry about their thrown being usurped since there’s yet to be another farming sim that’s truly better than theirs (especially when you take into account the mod support for the Farming Simulator series is massive). I purchased Farming Simulator 17 a few months ago, and have currently sunk 112 hours into it. I think there’s something wrong with me… I don’t have any real-life interest in farming, but I happen to find the virtual experience rather addicting for some reason. I haven’t played it in about a month (blame Forza Motorsport 7), but I have a feeling that if and when I do go back, that playtime counter will steadily increase further in not time.
Right now, the team is gearing up to release the Switch edition of Farming Simulator 17. Ironically, Real Farm is scheduled to come to the Switch sometime next year. If it’s not in a much better condition than it is now, I think it goes without saying that the ‘real’ Farming Simulator will sit peacefully on the eShop unchallenged in the genre (unless you throw Stardew Valley into the mix).
If you’re still somehow interested, Real Farm is available now on Steam, PS4 and Xbox One.
