“Ultimate Fishing Simulator” is, as the name suggests, a fishing simulator. So instead of having to fork out money to buy a fishing license, bait, rods and so forth. You can instead, save a lot of money and buy this fish simulation game instead of buying a fishing license, bait, rods and so on.
Whilst there is a lot of technical details in fishing, the game does a good job in explaining what you need to do to catch fish, baits, hooks, reeling in fish, the different modes of fishing, and so forth, all of which is available at any time.
There are various locations available in the game, although most are only open up once you’ve reached a set skill level. This increases for each fish you land (at which point you can choose to either sell it or release it back into the water). The starting location (Betty Lake) is certainly a good place to practice – full of trout. So it is relatively easy to catch fish here (once you get used to reeling your catch in).
Initially, reeling in a fish can be somewhat tricky, due to the fact that fish tend not to be someone’s dinner, it will fight to escape. So you have to carefully manage your lines tension so it doesn’t break…Because if it does, then the fish escapes, and you have to cast off again. Furthermore, if you take too long to wave in the fish, then the fish can escape too.
Even so, it doesn’t take long to get the hang of it though, and you’ll soon be reeling them in like a pro. Any new fish (or new records) are added to your trophy room, as a permanent reminder of the one that couldn’t get away.
You can move around a fair bit on each location, allowing you to choose where to cast off, although you can change positions at any time. You do of course, need to select the correct bait, all of which (along with most of your other fishing needs) can be bought from an on-site shop (assuming you have the required funds, of course).
Other locations include an ice lake (you need to buy a drill for that and learn how to use it), fishing from a boat (again, another skill that needs to be earned) and variety of other locations, all with different types of fish.
Other than that, games can be played in single player mode or as a standard (friendly) multiplayer game. In multiplayer mode, other people are shown as avatars, with each of their catches detailed in the on-screen information window.
So for those wanting to see how well you do in a proper competition, there is, of course, the tournament mode – unfortunately, at the moment it is rather under-populated – it seems most people keep to the standard multiplayer mode. Well, I think you get the idea. So, I’m just going to wrap up this review by saying the following:
All in all, I have to say that “Ultimate Fishing Simulator” is one of the very best fishing simulator games on the market right now. In other words, if you like fishing simulators, then you should most definitely give “Ultimate Fishing Simulator” a go.
Pros:
+ Very nice graphics. Fish move very realistically and the changing environment makes things interesting
+ Movement is smooth. Casting and reeling in is pretty realistic
+ Title music can be changed to anything from quite a few Internet-served radio stations
+ Can be surprisingly tense at times
+ Fish without needing to spend money on licensing, equipment, being bored stiff and of course without hurting any real fish
+ Lots of different locations, equipment and fish to use and catch
+ Cuts out all the boring bits of fishing
+ There’s a level editor that you can play around with
Cons:
– How long will (pretend) fishing keep you interested?
– Tournament mode is hardly populated
Gameplay: 4/5
Graphics: 4/5
Sound and music: 4/5
Controls: 4/5
Replay value: 3/5
Story: 1/5
Verdict: 4/5
Whilst Ultimate Fishing Simulator isn’t the only fishing simulator around (and some are free), it is probably the best one around, both in terms of graphics and fish movement accuracy. I could see it being used by professionals and those wanting to get into fishing, whilst everyone else could use it to relax. Well, at least for while that is.
Title: Ultimate Fishing Simulator
Developer: Bit Golem, Ultimate Games S.A.
Format: PC
Genre: Fishing simulator
Resolution: User-defined
Release date: 2018-08-30
Difficulty: User ability
Spent time: + 2 hours
Average grade internationally: 80% Gamerankings.com
PEGI age rating: +6
Price: 16.85 Euros via Steam
Credit:
Robin Ek – Editor
Nicholas Kingsley
The Gaming Ground
Twitter: @sku_te
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Tags: Bit Golem, Fishing Simulator, PC games, PC Gaming, PC review, Ultimate Fishing Simulator, Ultimate Games S.A.