Farmville 2: Mini review

So, Farmville 2 got released today.

Upon initial inspection, this game looks pretty good. The graphics are pretty and smooth and there is quite a lot of detail in the game. Having played it for a while, there is also a pretty good tutorial system that takes you through the basics: planting, watering, harvesting, selling, making feed, feeding animals, expanding, buying - you name it. Frequent goals and objectives will keep players occupied and learning the game mechanics, as well as it being needed to expand into some areas. As an added bonus, when you level up all your crops and animals become harvest able , and all your resources like water replenish.

There are various facilities added in Farmville 2 that give the game more scope, for example the kitchen. Here, instead of selling what you harvest, you can create items like apple pie, lemonade, and the sub components that make them. These can then be sold for a lot more money. An excellent addition for the crafting community.

The interface is a LOT less cluttered than in previous games. There is a friends bar, and then 3 buttons:  Tools that contains things like screen rotate options. Shop where you can buy resources and equipment, and inventory where you can view what items you have collected or farmed. This greatly simplifies the gameplay experience and I can see it hitting out at everyone who was a fan of Farmville, and possibly some of those that were not.

Another nice added bonus is that there is no irritating music (Well, there is a burst when you start but I would not say it;s that bad), just the chorus of birds... Sitting with headphones in its almost like sitting outside in the countryside relaxing :D Save the periodic pop and scrunch as resources replenish and crops grow.

From a free to play perspective, it is as it has always been; no need to spend money but it makes things smoother. sitting in game you spend a lot of time waiting for water to refill and crops to grow. If you are an infrequent gamer you wont have this wait time but chances are you will run out of resources like water when planting your field, so it is all a little bit more restricted than if you were willing to spend cash.

As always however, Zynga comes running at the in game purchase side of things with a flick-knife and a lecherous smile... the in game cash is about the same price, but they have added a significant amount of purchase options, most of which will seem quite appealing. If it works it works, but the price tag is a bit high for my liking. I have always been a believer that there should be a balance in these games, and set a price tag that I would be willing to pay for a game as a budget for in game spends. This is another blink and lose £20 jobs I think.

That's it for now, I may edit in more later as I play and learn! Thanks for reading. If you have not tried the game, I recommend at least taking a look - if nothing else, the Farm Expansion animation is So Cyoooot!

:D

-V