Farming Simulator 17 — RecenzjaDetailed agricultural sim featuring over 40 licensed tractors and immersive audio design, but identical planting mechanics and empty maps undercut the farming fantasy.

The first time I drove my tractor into the railway guardrail, a train happened to roar past right in front of me. In that moment I realized this game doesn't want you to experience "running a farm," but rather "being a farmer"—including all those trivial moments you'd never encounter in the city.

This is an attempt to turn "repetitive labor" into a game. You need to plow, sow, fertilize, and harvest, with each step requiring different machinery. It sounds hardcore, but when you actually play it—the first five hours feel like attending driving school, and after ten hours you start enjoying that "process optimization" rush.

The problem is the lack of depth. The planting logic for all crops is almost identical, just with different textures and growth cycles. You quickly discover the optimal strategy: plant wheat, operate the harvester, sell grain, buy a bigger harvester. Rinse and repeat. The game tries to break the monotony with "diversified farming"—raising cattle, sheep, and chickens—but these systems are as shallow as mobile games. Feed, clean, harvest—three steps and done, with no variables whatsoever.

The only thing that kept me playing for a few more hours was the machinery itself. Over forty licensed real-world tractors and farm equipment, each with distinct handling. Driving a Fendt versus a John Deere—the turning radius, acceleration feel, and viewing height all differ. These details are fascinating, but they can't carry an entire game.

The pastoral scenery is indeed healing. Wheat fields at sunset, dirt roads beside sunflower patches, the silhouette of distant mountains—this game knows how to capture landscapes. The lighting system isn't cutting-edge, but it nails the atmosphere. Driving the harvester at dusk, with dust swirling in the backlight—I took a screenshot of that moment. But look closer and the cracks show. Ground textures repeat heavily; after ten minutes you'll recognize those same patches of grass. Animal models are crude, with cattle and sheep moving as stiffly as toys. The characters are worse—that female character standing in front of the tractor has an expression like a wax figure. Fortunately, you spend most of your time in the cab where you can't see her.

The map isn't small, but it's empty enough to make you anxious. Three farm areas that look different but play identically. No random events, no weather affecting yields, no market price fluctuations—all variables have been flattened, leaving behind pure mechanical repetition.

The so-called "mission system" is just work-order style objectives like "transport 20 tons of wheat to point A" or "plow 5 hectares with a tractor." Complete them and you get money, then what? Buy bigger machines, do bigger work orders. By the time I hit 30 hours, I realized this game has no concept of "beating it," only "stop when you're bored."

The engine sounds are done seriously. Tractors with different horsepower have distinct sounds at idle and high RPM. The dull roar of a combine harvester at work, combined with the rustling of wheat stalks being drawn in, has an ASMR-like hypnotic quality.

The background music is a disaster. Those few looping country-style tracks are fine for the first ten minutes, but after an hour you want to turn them off. What's worse is the music is completely disconnected from the scene—you're driving a tractor in a rainstorm and the BGM is still playing cheerful guitar. I turned the music volume to zero the next day.