Simulation games are always games for niche audiences. Instead of letting players escape into a world of fantasy, they let players take over something that's a little closer to the real world. Farming Simulator 19 is popular enough that it's got some legitimate e-Sports followers, but whether the game is actually fun for the average player is a different question. Taking a look at its component parts might help to answer that particular query for some.

Concept

Farming Simulator 19 is the latest iteration in a series about farming. It's technically a game about farm management, but it really seems to be about driving very large machines around fields until you get tired of doing so. If you're a fan of simulations, you'll be happy to know that this one is really granular and does a very good job of simulating the more exciting parts of farm life. The bad news, though, is that even the most exciting parts of living life on a farm tend to be fairly tedious when they are put into a video game format.

Graphics & Audio

Graphics have never really been the strong suit of this franchise, and you're not going to see much of a change in the 2019 edition. The great news is that the big, new machines look impressively detailed - if you're actually familiar with some of the machines from brands like John Deere, you'll be happy to know that everything looks just about right.

The bad news on both the graphics and the audio front is that everything else is really an afterthought. The sights and sounds aren't as bad as they were in the early days, but they still aren't great. It's still going to be a bit until the world is ready for a 4K farming game, apparently.

Game Play

Farming Simulator does an awfully good job of simulating the tedium of farming, both for good and for ill. The good news is that this game is about as real as you're going to get, with a ton of time spent mindlessly driving up and down rows and dealing with minor mechanical issues. The bad news, though, is that this is really the core of the gameplay. It's nice that you can now hire workers to take on some of the more tedious aspects of farm life, but the truth is that you're very much in the middle of a sim here - there's not going to be anything too exciting to really pique the interest of anyone who's not really into simulating a real farm.

Conclusion - Replayability

It's hard to judge Farming Simulator 19 in the same way as other games are judged. If you're looking for a farming simulator that tries to approximate what it's like to run a real farm, this is about as real as you are going to get. If you are looking for a game that's actually fun or exciting, though, this won't be for you. This is a game that's going to be loved by its niche audience and ignored by everyone else.

Farming Simulator is a game that simulates the tedium and repetition of farming very well.