Do you love simulators? Have you always wanted to manage your own farm? Look no further than Farm Manager 2022 for the PS4/PS5. Ported over from the PC, Farm Manager brings a lot to the table when it comes to farming and cultivation. With a top-down view and some well-done graphics, Farm Manager gives off a lot of good vibes right off the bat. As for gameplay, players will run into some minor issues, but most can be overcome with persistence and online guides. Plus, players have a few options to choose from when it comes to game modes.
Three different game modes are available for players to choose from: a tutorial, a campaign mode, and a free mode. The campaign mode takes up most of the game; it guides the player through building and expanding their very own farm. A few cows and a few fields are enough to get things started, but soon there are dozens of animals, fields that stretch for miles, a ton of employees (and housing for them), and factories that produce certain materials. Players may buy and sell, upgrade, repair, develop roads and power grids, and more, so there is a lot to keep in mind.
Although the campaign mode of the game is not particularly challenging, it does not leave us much room for maneuver because players are occasionally required to do foolish things that are outside of their budget in an effort to fulfill objectives. The workers’ artificial intelligence is rather subpar. Additionally, adapting duties through proximity or qualified employees requires an almost impossible amount of work. Having difficulty performing basic duties like running a slaughterhouse because the AI can’t tell how many cattle we have or when a greenhouse isn’t cultivated because the employee doesn’t know how to get it is also quite annoying.
Some issues carry a little more weight. For instance, the inability to delete buildings that are inactive because the employees lack intelligence until the duties are finished puts players at a dead end where some areas of the farm are unproductive because of the workers’ low artificial intelligence. In rare cases, even due to a problem, players won’t be able to manually save and will instead have to wait for the autosave to finish without losing their work. Beyond that, there are a huge number of manufacturing choices, which allows players to apply their standards and creativity.
The game can sometimes seem complex. Numerous factors contribute to this, starting with the fact that the lessons only cover a portion of what players need to know, leaving the remainder up to them to figure out or fail. Some mistakes will be made, and players may be forced to restart their games because of some of the fields. Such fields include learning about electricity and caring for animals. It never explains how to control time. For example, even when players have more than enough food for their animals, it doesn’t explain what to do in that situation where you are just waiting. It does not instruct you on how to remove structures like roads, buildings, or power lines. The player’s chances of succeeding in the campaign aren’t the best because it’s only a very basic instruction structure.
The main farmhouse and a few outbuildings serve as the starting point of the campaign. Players are given a respectable amount of money to work with at first and give them plenty to do until they begin to lose money at a faster rate. New components were added at precisely the proper times to begin recovering that money. Of course, players have to pay close enough attention to the figures to avoid becoming bankrupt. Every structure has a monthly operating expense that is specific. All things including buildings, roads, animals, and equipment cost actual, hard dollars. Should something fail, to fix it, players will need the money. Additionally, the equipment will malfunction. For the sake of gameplay, realism is stretched in some respects. For example, all of the pricing is fair and never prohibitive.
The process of buying and selling is rather simple. Triggers cycle through buy/sell options while bumpers scroll across categories. Other than that, the d-pad is utilized for everything. However, in this scenario there is one issue: players never get to see what is being purchased until it is clicked on. Usually, it’s the wrong item, so players will continue browsing until they locate what they want. At which point players delete the remaining items from their cart.
The game’s controls are really challenging. I realize it’s challenging to convert a game made for a mouse to work with a joystick. Despite the fact that the outcome was successful, it may have been improved upon to be a bit more intuitive and prevent the exploitation of some buttons while others remain essentially inactive. The touchpad has a lot of nice functions to it, but there are no clear instructions on using it or what it is for. Once again, can easily be fixed if the tutorial was drawn up better.
Farm Manager 2022 is a fantastic addition to your simulation game library for long-time fans of the series. For those who are newcomers, compared to other agricultural games available on the market, this one offers a distinctive design and experience. There are numerous ways to play thanks to the variety of game types and settings. The graphics look nice in the distinctive top-down perspective, and disasters give the genre a fresh perspective. There will always be something to do in Farm Manager 2022 thanks to the inclusion of a free-play option. Minus a few issues that can be fixed over time, Farm Manager 2022 is definitely a sim worth trying.
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