Fishing is not a hobby I have ever taken up or tried in the real world and in the realm of video gaming the only virtual fishing I have taking part in was at a party with friends on the Wii waving a plastic stick around. So when the opportunity to review the latest version on Xbox One I was both intrigued and apprehensive. But curiosity compelled me to pick up a rod and cast off to see if this was a game worthy of reeling in.
The first thing to point out is that Dovetail Games Euro Fishing is not an arcade game, it is certainly designed to be a Fishing simulator and has a deep system designed to recreate the many depths that fishing use beyond put a worm on a line and casting it into a river. So coming into this game as someone who knows very little if anything at all about fishing, I would be definitely be needed a solid tutorial to teach me the basics and thankfully, this game has a solid tutorial to get you started.
The very first thing you do is to create your angler to use in the game. Sadly this is perhaps one of the most generic default character customization suites I have seen in a game. You can select the gender of your angler but then you have only a selection of default preset player models to choose from and quite frankly, each one looks as though they have just fallen out of a pub rather than who you would expect to go fishing on a weekend. Most are simply wearing a jeans and T-Shirt combination with the T-Shirt having the logo of one of the brands that appears in the game. It is a very underwhelming and limited character creation made worse by the fact that visually, the character models look more last generation console than something built for the new generation Xbox One.
Once you have created your character you get a quick tutorial teaching you how to cast a line in order to get you started. The control system is very fluid and easy to pick up the basics and suits a gaming controller really well. You start your casting with the left trigger and set the power you put into the cast with a meter bar and the right trigger. Clicking in the left thumbstick will switch between a short or a long cast throw and if you are unhappy with your cast you can hit RB and reset it to start again. These are the very basic principles to get you started but the game also has a very nice in-depth tutorial training mode in the Academy. Here you can learn more advanced fishing techniques after casting that will better prepare you for taking on both the single player and competitive multiplayer modes in the game. The lessons are easy to follow thanks to a really good voice actor explaining each technique clearly and concisely.
In terms of Single player modes the game offers various tournaments where you will take on several AI controlled players in timed competitions on different lakes. Ranging from trying to catch the most fish in the ten minute time limit or getting the highest total weight in fish caught. Winning these tournaments will allow you to purchase better equipment and bait to use in the game and you can earn XP by winning. This is a really great way to try out your understanding of the techniques and to learn the different nuances the game has such as learning which bait and lure to use on different rivers and to attract the best fish. I learned to appreciate the subtle details of fishing such as knowing where to position each of the three lines you will control at a time, the best way to reel in a fish without snapping a line and what bait to use depending on the river location and best place to set up on that river. The game really gets so much detail right that after speaking to players who do actually fish in the real world, were as impressed with that detail as I was as a new comer gaining a new appreciation for the art of fishing.
Challenges can be taken to master the various techniques and offer something for the serious angler to take on outside of the AI tournaments. I was impressed with just how much single player activity there was in the game and how it allows you to learn how to play at your own pace to pick up not just the fundamentals but the opportunity to master them as well.
Of course the ultimate goal is be the best angler around and so the competitive online mode will allow you to take on over players in similar tournaments as you played in the single player. It will test everything you have learned so far and having a good understanding of the techniques will help you. I found that you will encounter players of very different levels of skill in the online, and with matches lasting thirty minutes or more, this mode is as much about patience as it is about winning. Casting your lines and waiting to see if anything bites as you see the score board in the top left corner to see how the other players are doing can build that competitive side in you, and in the dying minutes of the match there really is a frantic rush to try to catch every fish you can in order to try to win or maintain your position. There were matches though where ten minutes would go by with little fish action and changing bait and set up location failed to change my position on the scoreboard but I can imagine this is all part of what real fishing is like, and why practicing all the techniques before heading online is key to doing well.
Euro Fishing really does get all the basics of fishing right to deliver a solid game to both experienced with fishing and those like me completely new to it. It is then a real shame that despite getting the gameplay so right, the game is let down by visuals that never really look better than a last gen console game and some quirky niggles that prove very annoying. I already mentioned the poor character creation option but the animation of player movements at times are very stiff and clunky especially when having to look after three fishing rods at a time. The frustration when you are trying to quickly select the rod that has a fish on the line and it takes several seconds for the game to respond and when trying to actually catch a caught fish in your net can also take far too long.
It just takes the shine off a game that has focused on a well polished fishing experience but as someone who believes in gameplay over graphics, I can criticise the visuals for not being better but can appreciate the focus on gameplay. As someone who knew next to nothing about the sport of fishing, I have come away with more appreciation and knowledge about it thanks to this game. It has a great depth but a structure that invites the player in and teaches them all they need to know to get started and then offers multiple ways to practice and enhance those skills.
Dovetail Games Euro Fishing will really appeal to those interested in fishing and does a solid job of providing the experience you would want from a video game based on the sport. But I can’t see it having a broader appeal to those outside of fans of fishing despite its easy accessible nature. The presentation is similar to how other sports titles present their courses and tracks and at all times gives the sense that it takes fishing very seriously.
It would have benefited from a more open character customization suite to really personalize your character in the game and some effort to make the visuals more fitting for an Xbox One would have raised it up to a different level but the gameplay is spot on for what it wants to achieve and deliver to players.
