Outdoor Life Sportman’s Challenge Review

Outdoor Life: Sportsman's Challenge is a sportsman tycoon game that will have you outdoors, duking it out with mother nature. This tycoon is the simulation loving, camouflage wearing, hunters dream as you are put in control of constructing and maintaining a state of the art outdoor get away. Your ability to fill the lodges and sell hunting permits determines your success.

Company Sponsored Game

Sportsman's Challenge carries the label of Outdoor Life, which is a sportsman's magazine. This company's influence in the game does not taint the integrity of play or enjoyability. Actually Outdoor Life's touch is beneficial, as it adds great extras that are both interesting and educational. You can read both a letter from the editor explaining the magazine or you can read published articles on fishing, hunting, survival, and gear. These features add an interesting and educational twist to the game.

Tutorial is Helpful

The tutorial is helpful and clearly illustrates the game's objectives and commands. You will learn the basics of building different lodges, raising money from your businesses, and building trails to different points of interest. These basics are later expanded upon during the later challenges, adding a “learn as you go” element to the game that is more than rewarding.

Game Modes

Outside of the tutorial, there are two game modes available for play. The first mode is a 12 level set of challenges, ranging in difficulty. The first of the levels are relatively easy and require you to change only a few things before you “wait it out” and relish in your victory. For example, if you are required to decrease the salmon population you can easily add more fishing shops and lower the tag price for salmon. Once these changes are made, you need to wait it out and victory will be yours. Difficulty does increase as the levels increase, with the last eight being significantly more difficult than the first four.

Instant Action is the second of the modes. This is also comprised of 12 varying levels, with each level introducing a new environment to the game. This is essentially the free-play mode of the game.

A Few Drawbacks

The drawbacks of this game are not things that will ruin your time in the least. There are a few quirks that detract from the overall quality, however, their significance isn't great. The first of these flaws is satisfying the needs of your patrons. The news feed will tell you what your guests are thinking, however it's difficult to satisfy those needs. While you can easily tell guest needs, it remains your job to randomly hunt down the guest or problem. As you can imagine, finding an ailing guest is more than difficult in a crowded outdoor park. If you are lucky enough to track your guests with problems down, alleviating their angst can be difficult. One might be hurt and need medical help. Even if you purchase a first aid center, a doctor or medical technician does not track the hurt guest down. This is extremely frustrating. You may have all the resources to help your guests, however you may not be able to help them because of interface errors.

Another small annoying part of the game is the long work week. You begin the week filling your park and during the week you won't take on any new clients. Because people aren't constantly pouring in, the money during the week is sparse and you will end up spending a lot just to pass the time. This can be a bad habit to get in if you are trying to save, however buying things is fun to do, especially if you are getting bored.

Conclusion - A Decent Sportsman Tycoon Sim

Overall, Outdoor Life's: Sportsman's Challenge is a niche game that is accessible for all people, regardless of their hunting likes or dislikes. The interface difficulties are small and don't significantly take away from the gameplay. If you are looking for a new simulation, especially with an atypical theme, this game has your name on it.