PS3 Review – Afrika
Developer Rhino Studios and publisher Natsume have finally brought Afrika, a photography sim, over to the West, though perhaps they left the fun on the plane.
Afrika puts players into the role of a photographer on safari in Africa. Players are given the option to be male or female and change their name, but that’s about it. There is also a mandatory installation upon starting, and a 5 minute auto-save creation process. Once that is finally out of the way, players begin their first day in Afrika.
Players begin with a basic camera, binoculars, a GPS and a tour guide who will drive them where they need to go. Players are also given a partner–whichever person wasn’t chosen in character selection. The term “partner” hardly seems fitting here, however, as this person does nothing but sit in the tent and give orders. There is also no voice work present in Afrika, which makes the game feel a bit cheap and lifeless.
The time spent with Afrika is very repetitive. Each in-game day, players wake up and accept photo requests through email on their laptop. These requests range from a picture of a giraffe drinking water to a picture of a hippo yawning. While there are multiple missions available, only one can be active at any given time, and the tour guide will only go to the area that corresponds to the active mission. Once the mission is completed, players head back to the tent and email the photos to the client, who grades them based on distance, angle, target and technique. Players are then given an overall grade and a set amount of money based on that grade, which can be used to purchase new equipment such as cameras, lenses, and storage for more photos.
The missions are repetitive and flat-out boring. Waiting 15 minutes for an animal to move a certain way will put most players to sleep, and even the most patient players will be annoyed by the 2 to 3 minutes it takes every time the game is saved. Players who are used to saving their games frequently will have to break that habit.
The game just never gives players any exciting experiences and never really shines. When players finally do get to explore without the aid of a guide, they will experience some of the worst driving mechanics in the history of gaming. The jeep players drive feels like a toy car, as it cannot take tiny hills without almost stalling, small brush causes it to have issues, and controls are very unresponsive.
The photography controls, though, are not much better than the driving, which is a bad sign in a photography sim. Square brings up the camera, the right joystick zooms in and out, and the R1 button shoots pictures. The whole process feels very sluggish and the snap of the camera feels delayed as well.
The animals themselves, which are the biggest part of game, rarely feel alive. Getting too close to some of them will cause them to run away or scatter, but most of the time they move in very repetitive patterns, and more often than not, they get caught on and clip through each other. The draw distance does nothing to help, as spotting an animal from a distance through binoculars makes them look even more robotic and lifeless.
Lifeless is the perfect word for this game, as it really has nothing to make it worth playing. There are missions where players are in the jeep, following a cheetah in pursuit of prey and snapping pictures as it runs by, but even these missions are not very exciting. There is no sense of danger in the game, as animals will never kill the player. An animal attack will cause players to simply pass out and wake up back at the tent, ready to take more pictures, and hitting an animal with the jeep will simply cause the jeep to stop, and players will get a stern talking to from their partner.
There is absolutely no fun to be had in this game. It is filled with glitches, the animals are stiff and lifeless, and the controls are horrendous. Players’ money is better spent on a trip to the zoo.
PlayStation LifeStyle’s Final Score
Boring missions Terrible controls |  |
35 Responses to “PS3 Review – Afrika”
That’s a shame, because the environments look gorgeous. Well, except for the grass being painted on the ground. Really makes you wonder – anybody who cares to think about it for a minute could come up with some good ideas to make this game interesting. Like, an engrossing story and well developed characters perhaps? But apparently the developer couldn’t be bothered to put that much effort into it.
Hopefully this title makes zero $$$. Maybe that’ll teach the developer not to waste a gamers time.
That’s weird, because I’ve read a lot where people said the jp version was a great game. Despite this bad review I’ll still be picking the game up. If it’s really that bad maybe they will issue an update to fix some things.
Put a platinum trophy in it, and the sales will go up, just watch LOL! = P
“There is no sense of danger in the game, as animals will never kill the player. An animal attack will cause players to simply pass out and wake up back at the tent, ready to take more pictures” .
Really?…..Really?!? First sentence I read photography sim, and you’re still hung up about dying? What do you want to take a picture as the rhino gores you? Do you want to see the funeral? Do you want to move slowly the rest of the game because theres a big hole in your chest? I’d hate to see you play a game where you can’t get hurt at all, you would probably throw the controller at the wall.
Good thing it looks pretty!
I really just don’t get the point of it all
@johnny,
how i love your replies. I don’t have to get hurt, i was simply mentioning that the player cannot really get hurt or die, he just passes out. But that aside, the game has nothing going for it.
@Max,
It’s really not that pretty surprisingly.
@Cameron Teague
cameron.. lol. its a photogropy sims not a DMC. same as aquanughts holiday, its meant to be a learning type game thats not meant for everyone. Are you expecting an FPS or extreme action? it tells you that you go around taking pictures and upgrading cameras for better shots thats how it should be approached. Are you expecting to be able to run over and animal with your jeep? its practically a national geographic game (who value animal life)
No i know you don’t have to die, you just have to have some fear of it right? You don’t have fun otherwise right??
@solo
the japan version was rated good because they see it as a sim based game. if you buy a puzzle game, you get a puzzle game.
Oh c’mon! It’s not that bad. I was playing it over 30hrs and it was fun. But one thing. You CAN’T treat this like far cry or killzone or any other uncharted. It is a NG reporter sim. Nothing more nothing less. You go for a trip wait 5-10-30 minutes for a good photo and go back to the camp. What else You want to do?!
Go on a date with a baboon or play soccer with rhino?
“While there are multiple missions available, only one can be active at any given time, and the tour guide will only go to the area that corresponds to the active mission.” Actually it’s not truth. You can have only one important mission active. Minor ones – You can complete them all at once.
“The missions are repetitive and flat-out boring.” Because You always making photos? Don’t get it?! Killzone is boring cause You always shooting, Burnout is boring because you’re always driving. The game is about MAKING PHOTOS. What else You wanted?
I don’t know if You finished the game but there are big game trophies in which You have real animal vs animal actions. You’ve got remote control camera. And the last mission is really great.
It’s not perfect. bushes are annoying but when You learn how to deal with them problem disappears.
Great game for people who have enough of dumb FPS’s and want to relax.
you forgot to add that you start out with a cheap camera, so the pictures/controls are just that.
as you gain experience, you get better camera bodies & lenses and your photos really start to
improve. Just the visual lesson with f-stops & aperture is worth it if you want to learn more
about cameras & photography.
anyway, if you want to check out Africa with a lot more hostile environment & animals you can kill /
runover, then FarCry 2 is the answer.
I’m all for downvoting a crummy game, I just think the review missed what this game is trying to be.
i heared the Japanese one had english voiceovers or that was aquanauts
everything about the game is boring, but I don’t agree with the statement that the animals are robotic and lifeless. IGN made the same comment and I just don’t see it, the animals seemed to move fairly fluidly to me.
I love the feedback guys but in the end a review is my personal opinion and i just found the game to be very boring. There was nothing in the game that gave me enjoyment and I thought maybe seeing the animals in their natural habitat would be fun but I didn’t feel that was done right either. To me the animals had a very robotic feel to them, especially when you spotted one with the binoculars at a distance. The animal would jump around the screen like it was on rails.
@everyone who thought i missed what the game was about, well i didnt. I made a comment at the end talking about how the animals would get angry but nothing much would happen and how if you happened to accidently run over an animal nothing would happen. You guys decided to take that as i wanted this to be Far Cry but thats not true. I expected to have fun taking pictures and it was not fun. Tthe game had way too many issues, you could see the year long rust in the games graphics and really nothing in the game stood out.
Guess I’ll pick it up when it’s $9 or less.
Don’t take people’s comments too personally Cameron. You’re on a stage and eggs are fun to throw.
No matter how it gets reviewed it brings out opinions from other people who have played it as well which I also get to gleam info from.
Why is Cameron out of line for suggesting some danger should be involved, including penalties (such as death) for poor decision making? Is it an FPS? No. Are you supposedly walking around Africa, looking for wild animals (some of them carnivorous) to take pictures of? Yes. Guess what? That’s dangerous in real life, and it should carry an element of danger in a game. I wanted this game as one of my “mellow” rainy day games, but thankfully, Cameron has saved me some money. Not because he says there’s no action, but because of the numerous other imperfections he pointed out. Sounds like a sloppy product.
@themadgreek
hes in the wrong missing the point in picture taking game. i better look for danger in pokemon snap.. which is the exact same theme. this not your type of game and dont see this ever being purchased by you. the game like pokemon snap is none violence.. no more , no less. judging from the majority of comments it seams everyone see’s eye to eye.
@TheMadGreek
But you have to restart the mission, that isn’t enough? You have to actually die? Why don’t we just make it so when you do die, you can’t play the game ever again, because your character is dead, you should have been more careful. That’s what would happen if you got attacked in real life isn’t it?
Video games are for entertainment, and that entertainment doesn’t ALWAYS have to include death.
@Shadowjin
Good call bringing up pokemon snap, exactly what I was thinking.
I played the game and got a platinum in it.
There is a penalty for having a rhino shove his horn up your butt. You lose all the pictures in your camera and have to go back to the base infirmary. It happened to me a few times, and trust me, it sucked.
The game has it’s moments. The first time I saw the male lion roaming in the plains was a good moment. Seeing the elephant leader blow his horn and run after the jeep was fun too. The little monkeys in the trees, the leopard, all good things.
This game wasn’t meant to be GOTY material. It was meant to give people some lessons in Zoology in Africa and I feel I came away with more knowledge of it. I’d rate it a 2.5 out of 5. The load times were very annoying and the jeep controls were pretty bad. So, I agree, the game could have been a lot more.
@shadowjin and JohnnyTruant: Pokemon? Really? That’s the comparison? Taking pictures of cute little cartoons doesn’t conjure up the feel of a safari in Africa to me. If the slant was supposed to be “learn a little more on how to take a picture” as some would suggest, then go take pictures of flowers and mountains. There’s not a whole lot at risk there, and you can spend all day goofing with aperture settings and light readings. Put up some nice looking scenery and have at it. As for “my type of game”: this has been on my radar since I first started seeing screen shots of it several years ago. I’m disappointed to find out it wasn’t done better. As for JohnnyTruant5′s remonstration that video games are entertainment: true. And Cameron said the game wasn’t entertaining. That is the main point here, not the death of the character. My reason for defending Cameron was to look at the act of taking pictures in Africa from a logical standpoint. A proper simulation of that has to take into account the wild and unpredictable nature of animals in their own habitat. A sense of danger or suspense, of any sort, might have given the game more appeal. How difficult would that have been to accomplish?
That’s a shame. good review though.
@TheMadGreek
But you have to restart the mission, that isn’t enough? You have to actually die? Why don’t we just make it so when you do die, you can’t play the game ever again, because your character is dead, you should have been more careful. That’s what would happen if you got attacked in real life isn’t it?
You have avoided answering any of those questions. How on earth are you supposed to make animals running into you more realistic, other than ending the game right then and there? Don’t pull this it’s a sim so everything has to be like real life crap. And sure, lets add suspense and danger, into something DESIGNED TO BE THE EXACT OPPOSITE. While we’re at it, lets add a mode to call of duty where you run around hugging people and blowing kisses instead of shooting. Lets add into Noby Noby Boy a random picture of the creator that pops up and takes away the length you stretched today. Make it random to add suspense!
And since we ARE talking about video games, pokemonthat can shoot fire, or electricity, or rocks, or fucking hyper beams, are way more dangerous than a stupid giraffe, but they didn’t need to do all that because it wasn’t a survival type of game, you chilled, and snapped some pics.
@Themadgreek
you are aware its the same type of game..(pokemon snap and Arika) right? non violence and drive around taking pictures and upgrading cameras with no real danger. If you haven’t played it, i suggest you do.. you ll find it the same.
your desire for something not in a game, is like me wanting violence in a fishing game. (thats how silly it sounds) Am i wrong for wanting death or something in that nature in my fishing simulator? If i can fall of a boat in real life and drown.. than the option should be there.. how easy is that to accomplish? you approach a game with a set mentality and take it for what its worth. Not expect something thats not part of the atmosphere to be there, just for the sake it it being there. There are alot of things not touched in the game. which isnt needed for me to repeat, many pointed out. It was meant to give people some lessons in Zoology in Africa. Not drive around and run over animals or be attacked just for the sake it.
Theres also a Japanese gardening game i should downloaded from my JP PSN , am i expecting insects to scar me and suffer from cuts and bruises for lifting and relocating boulders just for the sake of realism? No diffrent than me expecting death while taking pictures in a non violence Africa Sims. Its silly to expect something to just be there for the sake of my own entertainment.
As for JohnnyTruant5’s remonstration that video games are entertainment: true. And Cameron said the game wasn’t entertaining.
Cameron is just 1 person who found it not entertaining so he isnt everyones voice .. hes 1 person. the fact he finds it not entertaining to him should be taken as a grain of salt..I understand that his review but he misses alot of points and i think thats were everyones pointing at and not directly at him.
If you approach something with personal expectations you will be greeted with disappointed. Once again, running across objective writing style and personal writing style. The reviews sometimes miss the target because of this.. what ever happend to reviews that people focused on what the game has to offer instead of what they want? They never said this was a full blow real expedition so expecting that is rather dumb. Its like me reviewing any games and having my own hopes on what i think should be there instead of what is there.
@JohnnyTruant5
And since we ARE talking about video games, pokemon(animals with powers) that can shoot fire, or electricity, or rocks, or fucking hyper beams, are way more dangerous than a stupid giraffe. you chilled, and snapped some pics
good point.
@shadow,
I actually had no expectations for the game aside from taking pictures of animals. I tried to focus on what the game did well but in my eyes there really was nothing that the game did well, hence a 1 of 5 score.
Any review is going to have a touch of personal opinion to it.. also i never said i had to have violence but again people want to change up my words. All i did was state a fact about the game and proceed to say that the game really did not do much right.
DGR8R2D2 says:
(R2D2 beeps)
*Cough* “@Johnny,
I personally would rather have some fear of death in a game. If you screw up then you should have to start back at a checkpoint and work your way back. You shouldnt be able to sit there all day and reverse time or be saved.. That is boring” *Cough*
Oh excuse me.
@Steelfox
Thought I heard something generic HAHA
@JohnnyTruant:
I didn’t answer your questions directly because:
1. Your premise that you should just die once and never play again doesn’t need to be addressed.
2. I believe I already made myself clear as to exactly why I questioned the vitriol being thrown at Cameron.
3. It’s just a game, and the 64 aggregate at Metacritic implies not a very good one at that. Not worth the effort to argue.
I wasn’t talking about cameron in any way when I asked those questions. I was asking questions about the comments YOU made.
When an animal runs into you, you restart the mission. You think they should add some kind of sense of danger, or suspense, when it’s already there. My question was what more do you want for suspense, and you can’t come up with anything? Let me quote you here, “How difficult would that have been to accomplish?” It’s already been accomplished, unless you want to add something ridiculous to be afraid of like having limited restarts or your camera breaking and your money getting stolen by monkeys. I don’t know why it doesn’t need to be addressed, because thats exactly what death is, what you think should be added.
Wow, you guys really won’t let this go, will you?
that comment, Johnny, that you so eagerly used was for a different game- a different genre, and frankly a different argument. You didn’t prove anythign with that.
Literally, Cameron made a valid point. His review was not based around how there should have been violence implemented to create a better photo game. He talked mostly about the poor controls, the robotic feeling of the animals and monotony of the actions. This is his opinion, absolutely, but don’t take one sentence and think you’re making a good point. He cleared it up, He’s obviously not arguing back with you, in your manner, so you’re not proving anything, except your level of meaningless conquest of these ‘internets’.
Good god its that bad? oh well…
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