Zynga is at it again, this time around though they have us clearing grass, chopping trees and clobbering snakes as aposed to harvesting crops and putting in decorations. Frontierville is Zynga's newest game released onto the Facebook social platform and while it may not be replacing Farmville any time soon it may be a welcomed update to those who find themselves getting burned out with Farmville or Mafia Wars ( Zynga's other big time Facebook game).
Where Farmville had players harvesting crops and managing a farm, Frontierville invites players to conquer the untamed wilderness from the earlier days of the Westward Migration in America. As the game opens you are prompted to create your very own personalized prospector. Choices are more fleshed out than in previous Zynga titles, having spent a healthy amount of time on a Nintendo Wii with my daughter I liken the character creation process to more like making a Mii than just picking out a name and hair color.
As the game proceeds you are given a hand full of starter quests, clear your land by chopping down trees, clearing grassy areas and even removing some unsightly skulls. Some of the improvements are noticeable right away, every item on your land is prone to changing. From baby chickens that grow into full fledged adult chickens to grass that grows while you are away every thing "feels alive" in the game. Yes you read that right, everything "grows" in this game. Grass that was cleared the night before will magically be back in the morning. Trees that get chopped down but the stump was left will start to regrow. Fully grown trees will drop seeds and sprout others. There is an essence of persistence that seeps into every part of Frontierville.
Energy is a new mechanic that might be a little off putting to anyone who has played previous Zynga titles, but once you get into the nitty gritty parts of the game you may change your mind. In essence the flow of the game works like this;
* Spend Energy and Coins Planting Crops
* Spend Energy Harvesting the crops, gain Gold / Experience and food
* Turn Food into Energy to help replant and do other various tasks.
* Spend Energy Chopping down Trees, Get Wood, Exp and Coins
* Spend Wood to create buildings, buy decorations.
This is a very generalized view of course, but I believe it helps to show how the developers have tried to expand on the pre-existing formula to give the more casual gamer a "core gaming" experience.
One of the most shocking things is the inclusion of "enemies" into the game. Snakes and Bears for instance will randomly appear while you are working on your land. While you may be tempted to leave them alone at first, whenever present, an enemy will raise the cost of activities by 1 energy. So instead of spending 1 energy to clear some grass, it will instead cost 2. Of course, clearing the enemies off the screen cost energy as well but I have found the rewards gained from defeating them to outweigh the cost of fighting them.
A surprising addition to Frontierville is the reputation system they built into the game. Basically, helping your friends and neighbors gives you reputation. While I have not found anything to spend that on per say, it is prominently displayed for all to see. This is going to go a long way towards making sure that all the friends you have added are actually coming and helping other people. After all no one wants a mooch for a friend :)
A nice twist to the helping mechanic is how you are informed that someone came to help. Instead of a bland message box coming up with vague dialog that so many people have come to help, you see the other persons character on your land. Hovering over the character will highlight what that person came to do and you are free to accept the help or dismiss the help. This is in my opinion one of the best improvements. Instead of wasting energy feeding my chickens, I can first hover over my friends character to see if they did. After all helping friends is energy free! If you ever find yourself out of energy to work on your land, spend a few minutes helping friends out! You still earn experience and coins just like you would if you were clearing your own land and you get some reputation points while helping a friend. Clearly a win-win for everyone.
One last little addition I wanted to mention is the ability to more or less create a family. While you decide on your first characters appearance and name. Later on down the road you will also be creating a spouse and even children! So while you are busy working a small section of land you will also be busy expanding your family.
While casual gaming sims like Frontierville and Farmville might not be for everyone, I think anyone with a Facebook account owes it to themselves to check out Frontierville. The depth and complexity might just surprise you.
Graphics and Sound - 10 out of 10
Breaking this category down into two parts, graphics and sound, each worth a total of 5 points. Graphics for Frontierville are VERY good, not only the cell shaded art style but the way the characters, creatures and plants are animated. From the tiny movements your character makes when they harvest or clear a spot of land to the zaney sounds and actions they take when dealing with an invading enemy everything is very refined and orchestrated to create a wonderful, if sometimes comedic, experience. Planting a tree for example, you start out by planting a tiny seedling requiring water. After each watering you will watch the tree transform until it finally becomes an adult tree at which point you can start harvesting it for food, energy and of course experience.
As for sounds the developers really went that extra mile. The ambient background music is varied and not annoyingly repetitive. While the action sounds and background effects combine to make a very polished final product. All in all Frontierville is a shining example of what is possible with a flash based game.
Social Interaction - 7 out of 10
I believe one of the downfalls of any game running through Facebook is going to be the way some of them almost force you to spam posts to your wall. While Facebook itself has taken steps to curb the incessant spamming some developers just have not taken the cue. Unfortunately Frontierville is one such game. EVERYTHING you do that earns a prize is also shareable, and while the game does allow you to close the window without sharing, what self respecting Facebook gamer is going to do that?
However, there is one saving grace in the way you help your friends and neighbors. When I login and see two or three of my friends characters standing in my land ready to lend a hand I cannot help but get all warm and fuzzy inside. Likewise, helping my friends and neighbors, and thus earning reputation points, is almost as nice as sending someone a warmly written email.
Learning Curve - 8 Out of 10
The introduction to the game is a very hand held experience for all of about 5 minutes. After that you are left to play as you want. While writing this report I decided to term this a "structured sandbox" because it really is a conglomeration of open ended worlds and a very linear side scrolling game. While quests do exist, they are really only there to give you a direction in case you get lost.
At the other end of the spectrum the game includes a basic crafting system which should keep players of all types busy with things to do. This game is a great example of what I am looking for in a Facebook game. Something simple that anyone I know can pick up, but with some type of end game content that can keep a more hardcore gamer like myself playing.
Uniqueness - 5 Out of 10
This category was tough for me to judge really. On one hand Frontierville plays just like its older sibling Farmville. Plant things, tend things and decorate. However the way the developers expanded on the original concepts and tried to tie different game mechanics together really does shake things up a bit. At best I would call Frontierville "Farmville 2.0", it has improved upon the original but is not stand out-ish enough to redefine the genre.
Value - 6 out of 10
Breaking this category down into two parts as usual. Time and Money. One the time side of things Frontierville defiantly deserves a spot on your installed applications page. Even if you only get the chance to play once or twice a week popping into your spot of land and tending it can be a very rewarding experience. Money wise though, I do not believe the improvements FrontierVille offers warrant dropping any cash. Possibly down the road a bit as more features and functions are added to the game, but as it stands now there is really nothing other than luxury items to spend real world cash on.
Overall Score - 36 out of 50
Above Average
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