We here at GamingShogun.com love all kinds of games and that includes simulators. There are all kinds of simulators for every taste from ones based on a city sim to ones that are first person experiences, the subjects covering just about anything you want from flying a military aircraft to Facebook friending. For those into farming there are a particularly wide variety, most of which you can get with the Professional Farmer 2014 Coolector’s Edition. Since the set consists of three very different games we’ll break them down one by one.

Professional Farmer 2014 Description:
The PC simulator “Professional Farmer 2014” takes the player to the countryside and gives hobby farmers full control in the comfort of their home. Farm management, cultivating fields, planting crops, animal husbandry and buying and selling produce are just a few of the major game elements this simulator offers.

Starting out with a small estate, the player begins their career as an up-and-coming farmer and little by little acquires new fields, tractors, machines and animals, and can either specialize or make use of all options that farming has to offer. The key to success lies in good planning by season, expert knowledge that you acquire throughout the game, and skill and good old-fashioned hard work. As a farmer, the player learns to live with the forces of nature, accept the weather and respond so as to perfect the yield from fields, care for the animals and prepare the budget for new investments. Many tractors and farm machines (combine harvesters, field choppers, attaching parts and trailers, etc.) by renowned manufacturers are available to cultivate the farm and manage all the work. Only good planning and hard work will turn fallow earth into a flourishing and fertile soil. Of course, you can drive and control all machines yourself, be it hooking up the plough, re-filling the tractor or unloading the harvest.

“Professional Farmer 2014” has a broad variety of crops, depending on the environment and climate, with which the farmer can cultivate the fields diversely, effectively and with a high yield. Even crop rotation plays an important role in planning! The integrated seasons influence the game and provide the player with a constant stream of tasks and jobs.

Features:
– For the first time ever in a farming simulator: Different seasons and yearly planning
– Countless original tractors
– Campaign mode contains a plethora of missions for hours of engrossing fun. It has it all, from short tasks to extensive missions
– Sandbox mode lets the hobby farmer enjoy the game without restrictions – no time pressure or to-do lists

Hands On:
This game is probably as close to actuall farming as you can get without going out on a field and doing it yourself. You play from a first person perspective, you drive real life versions of farming vehicles, use real farming equipment. You also go step by step through the process of growing your crops and taking care of your livestock from gassing up your vehicles and buying seed to trying to drive a straight line when out in your fields. Buying seed is even realistic since you have to travel pretty far down the road to get to the general store. I was fairly ignorant of the many steps it takes just to prep the field and plant the seed yet alone what was involved with animal husbandry. Luckily the game takes you step by step through the process to the point that you almost expect to have calluses on your hands at the end of the night. At one point I found myself on the way back from the store looking at my gas tank hoping I have enough juice to make it back to the farm since I forgot to check my tractor’s tank after cultivating one of my fields. You even have a budget to work within which can feel a bit tight when you are trying to grow not just more crops but your farm size.

Once you get the hang of the farm there is a sandbox feature so you can make the farm you want without any instructions. Don’t care about growing wheat but love animal husbandry? Here’s your chance! This game gets a particularly realistic feel since it is first person perspective (the camera can be changed when in a vehicle but defaults first person) and there is no music just the sounds of nature and engines. Speaking of first person perspective farming the next game is Agricultural Simulator: Historic Farming

Agricultural Simulator: Historic Farming Description:
Enjoy being a farmer between 1950 and 1970 in the „Agricultural Simulator Historical Farming“. The game takes you to the good old days and you will experience the charming farming of the 60s and 70s. Fans of nostalgia and history will be glad to work with original designed machines and to till a field with well known Oldtimer Tractors. With the new feature – the dynamic ground Agrar Simulator – Historical Farming presents the first real furrows which will be left when working at the fields with strong machines. The furrows will have impact on the driving behavior of the tractors and guarantee pure realism. It is up to the player to decide in which region he would like to cultivate his farm. There are two amazing scenarios – idyllic highlands, valleys and woods in the alp-region or the fascinating Toscana region with measured climate.

Features:
– Experience the charming farming in between 1950 and 1970
– Original drafted Oldtimer tractors of well known brands like John Deere, Lanz Bulldog etc.
– Pure Realism due to features like the dynamic ground with furrows.
– Two different scenarios – Toskana and the northern Alp-Region

Hands On:
This game threw me off for a moment because it let me start it as if I had played all the other Agricultural Simulator titles, I was standing next to a well with no instructions or directions. If you know what you are doing from the previous games this is just how you would want to start, for me I looked in the menu until I found the tutorial which explains the process a lot better, at least enough to get started. The game is setup very sandbox style, just you in the beautiful nature trying to learn how to farm. The graphics are particularly nice and realistic and the farm is yours to run as you like without step by step objectives. The detail in the tractors in particular is exceptional and worth a good look over.

Most hardcore sim players prefer to go without instructions or objectives, just left to their whims but this game struck me as one of the few that might at least have benefited from a campaign mode or extremely detailed tutorial. The sandbox is a huge draw for this game but unless you actually know how to farm figuring things out might be a bit frustrating. Going from a first person sandbox to a city sim style of play and interface next we go to the third and last game of the collector’s edition, Farming Giant.

Giant Farming Description:
The legacy of the critically acclaimed Giant games, already continued by the successful “Train Giant“, highlights now the popular theme Agriculture up to a new level in “Farming Giant”, presented by UIG. In the best tradition of the giants-series the player will get a first-class business simulation crafted with a lot of details. The player will build farms, maintain and upgrade his properties. Whether farming or ranching, the experience covers all parts of agriculture. With the right strategy and the courage for expansion, international success is guaranteed. A huge game world, a variety of production processes and trade opportunities and various game modes as well as achievements provide long-lasting fun. Furthermore the agricultural giant impresses with wide range of management options (from seed to distribution – the players takes decisions by himself) and an extensive fleet of vehicles. A detailed skill tree provides RPG elements and offers the opportunity to specialize more and more!

Features:
– Tremendous game world with farming areas all over Europe
– Exciting scenarios with varying tasks
– Four different playing modes for long lasting fun
– From growing to breeding many economy circulations are provided
– Many possibilities of management, from seeds to distribution everything can be decided individually
– Extensive vehicle fleet with machines from renowned manufacturers
– Countless Plants including sugar beet, corn or hops
– Numerous buildings like sugar mills, breweries, stables, warehouses or bakeries
– Freely placeable items like kennels, fountains, fences, rocks or scarecrows
– Vehicles for all goods and raw materials

Hands On:
This is the game for the player who is more into the economic simulators such as city or theme park sims. You are given a large section of land and you stamp down your different buildings and fields where you want from a top-down point of view. You are given objectives to achieve as well as trying to make the most successful farm you can. Farming Giant is a building strategy game where the right planning wins the scenario. The game has a traditional city sim feel to it and if you have ever played anything like Sim City or Rollercoaster Tycoon you will pick up the gameplay quickly and be able to jump right into the action.

One of the less common features in the game is an RPG style skill tree that you unlock as you advance through the campaign, allowing you to customize and specialize you gameplay experience even more. This also increases replayability since you can play through again using not just different strategies but different unlocked skills. If you like traditional strategy sim games this has everything you would want with a little extra.

Last Call:
Professional Farmer 2014 Collector’s Edition fills all your agricultural hopes and dreams by giving you three games with different gameplay styles. You get a total sandbox, a first person detailed simulator and a traditional strategy sim game all in one package, which is very unusual since most packs tend to put very similar games together rather than diverse. If you love the challenge of a sim or just love the thought of working with the earth without getting your hands dirty, this is the perfect set for you.

[easyreview title=”Professional Farmer 2014 Collector’s Edition Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”4″ ]