Get ready to have a hoedown, because Farming Simulator 17 is here and it’s the best version of the Farming Simulator games yet, thanks to the addition of small, but crucial changes.
Things may look similar to Farming Simulator 15, but small improvements have made the gameplay experience much nicer. Probably the biggest addition to your basic day-to-day play is the inclusion of an in-game radio. Sure, the track selection isn’t very big and you certainly will not recognize any of the songs, but some music to break up the monotonous droning of farm equipment goes a long way.
The radio has four stations: country, rock, pop and electronic. I thought it funny that there are more radio stations in Farming Simulator 17 than in the recently released Mafia 3. Sure, the song quality and overall song numbers are better in Mafia 3, but it’s still amusing to me.
The other major addition that puts Farming Simulator 17 above the rest is the inclusion of mods on consoles. Unfortunately, there are only 14 available mods as of right now, but once the community starts populating the mods menu, things will be even more exciting.
Speaking of mods, developers need to allow a small, trusted group of modders to make content for games like this before release. When mods on consoles become a selling point, but at launch there are only a small handful of options for extra farm equipment parts, it makes excitement run a little thin. With a group of gamers working ahead of time, this could have been populated a little more with some more exciting mods to download.
Outside of those two major changes, pretty much everything else is identical from Farming Simulator 15. You still control a farmer looking to raise as much money as possible. To do so, you’ll need to grow crops, tend to animals and find other sources of income like logging and even building beehives and solar panels.
Another way to earn some money is by completing new challenges. These challenges are given at the same locations where you would be buying other plots of land. Typically, a challenge involves caring for the plot of land, be it harvesting, fertilizing or whatever needs to get done. These challenges also have a time limit, and if completed on time, the farmer giving the challenge will reward you with money and a reduced cost for buying the plot of land.
While all of these changes are exciting and make for a better game, Farming Simulator 17 is still at its core a very niche product. It’s difficult to recommend this to gamers outside of existing fans of the franchise, because in the broad spectrum of gaming, literally watching the digital grass grow is hardly an enticing proposition.
That being said, Farming Simulator 17 is far from the worst way to pass a few hours, and it’s oddly fulfilling to finish harvesting one of your fields and drop off your crops for a big pay day. If you’ve ever been curious to see what virtual farming all about, Farming Simulator 17 is the best place to start.
Farming Simulator 17 is now available on PS4, Xbox One and PC.
So what do you think? Are you excited about the changes made to this year’s Farming Simulator game? Do you wish there were more mods to download right away? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
