Greetings, all! Our friends over at UIG have given me the privilege to review their latest simulation game. Professional Farmer – American Dream grants you the opportunity to strike your own industrial-scale tools into the unforgiving soil. Gain insight into what lies behind and goes into those products we so easily take for granted, both at the dinner table and the drive-thru. Yes, you too can experience the joy that such thankless labor has to provide, all from the comfort of your living space.
There are a number of options displayed on the opening menu of the game, along with some cheerful avatars.
In the tutorial, there are many helpful and bright indicators directly on the landscape to show the hopeful farmer where to go and what to do. Unfortunately, some younger, aspiring farmers among us that might lack the finer skills of reading and comprehension may need some assistance on occasion.
(See, I just wanted to look at the pretty flowers instead.)
After completion of the tutorial, a few things stood out for me as a gamepad user on my PC. I was unable to navigate the Cattle Dealer shop effectively. I was unable to purchase anything at all. I’m assuming it’s because I stuck primarily with the gamepad only and not the trusted mouse and keyboard controls. The game also tests the user’s ability to back up when driving. Very handy for those of us that need practice doing such things! The graphics are immersive, and I really want the game to do so many more things than it actually does – like get penalized for driving too fast. I find myself trying to play the game like GTA, which it does not and will never do. I cannot yet set anything on fire, and I doubt that we will ever see anything like that with this game. I do look forward to an opportunity to mod this game, as I have yet to experience the satisfaction of watching the sun set behind a glorious, gently waving field of cactaur.
But I get ahead of myself. I know I will hop into this game again. I also know that my five pigs are stocked with enough hay and water to last them at least 45 more days, if the animals in-game are anything like Tamagotchi of years past.
Remember that craze?
Bandai America has just released a 20th anniversary limited edition of their handheld pets just in time for the holidays.
Meanwhile, back at the farm,
I have come back after a few days to check on the status of my pigs, this will answer the question – do they continue eating, breathing, drinking, excreting as pigs do in real-time?
Let’s check:
Nope, they’re just fine, doing things that pigs do.
My dog just kind of sits there while I climb to the top of the swingset to stare up at the sky.
I admit, I do have hold an affinity for this game. It performs exactly as advertised and leaves just enough wiggle room to let you explore, to play as leisurely as you wish or just as serious, to manage your farming empire.
I shall leave you with an excerpt from Edwin Markham’s famous words today.
The Man With the Hoe
By Edwin Markham
Bowed by the weight of centuries he leans
Upon his hoe and gazes on the ground,
The emptiness of ages in his face,
And on his back the burden of the world.
Who made him dead to rapture and despair,
A thing that grieves not and that never hopes,
Stolid and stunned, a brother to the ox?
Who loosened and let down this brutal jaw?
Whose was the hand that slanted back this brow?
Whose breath blew out the light within this brain?
To learn more about Edwin Markham, and read his entire poem, go Here