David Sanders
David SandersWarning: This article contains minimal spoilers for both Orwell’s Animal Farm and the plot of the book of the same name.
A particularly wise man once said during a monologue about Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, “[F]rom that day forward, anytime a bunch of animals are together in one place, it’s called a zoo! Unless it’s a farm!” That man was none other than the late Rick May, in-character as the beloved Soldier from Valve’s legendary first-person shooter, Team Fortress 2. The game I’ll be reviewing for you today most certainly features a bunch of animals together in one place, which just so happens to be a farm.
As you may have gleaned from the title the game in question, however, those animals and that farm play much larger and more significant roles than they might if this farm and its inhabitants were anything close to ordinary. That’s because this isn’t a game about just any farm full of animals. Rather, this is a game that takes place in the world of George Orwell’s famous 1945 “fairy story” known as Animal Farm.
The dynamic duo of developer Nerial and publisher The Dairymen, reportedly worked closely with George Orwell’s estate to ensure that they were able to do their absolute best to bring to life the world described in the so-called “fairy story.” If the phrase “Orwell’s Animal Farm” sounds familiar to you for reasons unrelated to the book, that might be because I reported upon the news that this title was in development back in mid-August.
Within that report is a quote from Michael Cripe of The Escapist which establishes that the game “aims to use evocative 1930s painterly graphics to put the player at the center of an allegorical revolution and enables them to experience firsthand the corrupting nature of power.” I find that to be a very intriguing notion considering everything that happens in the original story. I’m here today to assess how well the game does what it sets out to do. Let’s dive into it and discover that for ourselves, shall we?
Allow me to begin by stating that based on everything I’ve experienced within Orwell’s Animal Farm so far, you might be at a disadvantage if you’re unfamiliar with the game’s source material. If you haven’t read the original Animal Farm story, there’s a considerable chance you won’t know the background of each character in the game. You also won’t know the significance of their stories, actions, and much of the setting for the game itself. That’s especially true for the aforementioned “allegorical revolution.”
In fact, you also might wind up unaware of how the game’s plot is supposed to play out as per the original “fairy story.” I don’t mean to say that you shouldn’t play Orwell’s Animal Farm if you haven’t read the book which inspired its events, however. That’s because, through heavy emphasis on player choices, the game manages to avoid forcing itself to strictly adhere to the plot events laid out in the book. As a result of this, you’re essentially playing through a version of the story that reacts in almost real-time to what you choose to focus on.
I’ll elaborate on that as best I can in a bit. Before I can get to that, however, I must provide a bit of a disclaimer. I will avoid spoiling any major secretive details about Orwell’s Animal Farm, as part of our goal here at Phenixx Gaming in regards to reviews. Having said that, I’m afraid I can see no way around the need to spoil at least a handful of small aspects of the game, by merely discussing certain parts of the source material in order to set the stage for the game’s events. Thus, I shall play the hand I’ve been dealt and soldier on to the best of my ability.
As you might imagine if you’re familiar with the events of the original 1945 tale, the events of Orwell’s Animal Farm commence on the night that the old boar, Major, summons all the animals on the Manor Farm to the barn. He summons them so that he may make an impassioned speech before all of his comrades. He teaches them an old song from his youth entitled “Beasts of England” as a rallying cry of sorts. Major also imparts his message of revolution for the betterment of animal-kind.
Major dies of natural causes three days later, just as he suspected might happen. He is subsequently treated as a martyr (of sorts) from then on as the rest of the Manor Farm’s animals prepare to revolt and ultimately overthrow the cruel, drunken farmer Mr. Jones. The initial revolution is the first of many gameplay aspects of Orwell’s Animal Farm that I consider noteworthy. During the initial ousting of Mr. Jones and any subsequent attempts he and his farmhands make to reclaim the farm, it falls to you to choose the animals’ best plan of attack.
You’ll notice that each in-game day, after the narrator and the animals have all finished speaking for a moment, your mouse cursor will turn into a magnifying glass. This is partially to help you highlight smaller onscreen details more clearly. However, it also is partially to allow you to choose the path of the game’s events. You see, clicking on certain animals in a given scenario will allow you to select their dialogue option. This mechanic is a bit more difficult to explain than I thought it would be, so allow me to provide a couple of examples to help illustrate my point.
During the section which culminates in Mr. Jones’ removal, a few animals with minimal animations will appear onscreen. Hovering your mouse over the moving animals will present you with options such as “attack” if you hover over the dogs, or “defend” if you place your cursor over Boxer the horse. Clicking on one of these animals will select the option above your chosen animal’s head and thus, the animals’ plan of action during the rebellion.
As another example, consider the numerous sections wherein every animal on the farm is present in the barn. To select your course of action in cases like this, I’ve found that it’s best to keep an eye out for any animals that are looking toward you. Chances are, if an animal (say, Boxer, for instance) is looking at least slightly in your direction, they probably have a dialogue option you can choose by clicking on them in order to continue the game’s story.
Of course, ridding the newly-christened Animal Farm of its abusive owner was just the first step for the rebellious animals. Once Jones has fled, the animals must then run the farm themselves. They start by raiding Jones’ farmhouse, which leads me to my next discussion point. If you choose to purchase Orwell’s Animal Farm, you’ll likely notice once you start playing that it only contains five Steam achievements; at least, that’s the case at the time of writing.
That may seem paltry for a game of this scope, but I assure you that Orwell’s Animal Farm still offers quite a lot of content that will appeal to the completionists among our audience. That’s because of another noteworthy game mechanic. The animals discover a small handbook within Jones’ farmhouse. This handbook contains quite a few spots for stamps that you can earn during each playthrough of the game based on when, how, and (in some cases) whether or not certain events occur.
For example, you’ll earn a stamp each time the Animal Farm makes it through an entire in-game year without experiencing a full societal collapse. You’ll get a stamp each time you repel an attempt by any humans to claim Animal Farm as their own. You’ll also receive a stamp based on whether certain characters live or die, and so on. As far as I’ve been able to tell, though, earning as many stamps as possible during a playthrough is actually a secondary objective due to the choices some of these stamps require you to make.
That’s because in order to earn every stamp possible, some animals who canonically survive (and even thrive) during the entirety of Animal Farm’s existence (according to the book) must die in the game, and vice-versa. You’re going to have to make some tough decisions at times, even without the handbook and its coveted stamps in mind. I think I can say with some degree of certainty that the stamp book is a secondary objective because you have more important things to which you must attend in order to keep Animal Farm running smoothly.
I like to explain the main gameplay mechanics by saying you have one primary, ongoing goal in that you’re tasked with ensuring that Animal Farm exists for seven in-game years. To accomplish that objective, you have three lesser goals which require frequent attention. First and foremost, you’ll need to ensure that every animal capable of working does their part to ensure that there is enough food to go around through the harsh winters that cap off each in-game year. Thankfully, the storehouse will always show you exactly how well the food supply is doing whenever you hover your mouse over it.
Secondly, you must strengthen Animal Farm’s defenses so as to help you fend off any invasions from humans, whether those humans are Jones and his men or anyone from the two neighboring farms attempting to claim your land as their own. As you might expect, stronger defenses around the farm will slow down and weaken any two-legged usurpers. However, bear in mind that you might still incur some casualties in the ensuing battles no matter how well you’ve fortified the farm.
Thirdly, you should strive to inspire as many animals as possible to strengthen their belief in the concept of what’s referred to in-game as “Animalism.” This seems to basically function as the morale of Animal Farm’s residents. As far as I’ve been able to figure out, the higher the levels of Animalism present in the denizens of Animal Farm, the better things go for various reasons. You can gauge the levels of Animalism in your current playthrough based on the number of sheep gathered near the exterior wall of the barn upon which the seven laws of Animalism are inscribed.
The problem I suspect you might run into at first (as I did) is balancing the needs for sufficiently plentiful food, adequate fortifications, and decently high levels of Animalism without letting any of these three factors fall by the wayside. For example, in my first playthrough of Orwell’s Animal Farm I thought it would be best to focus on food production. I didn’t consider the other two factors to be quite so crucial. In the interest of avoiding any further potential spoilers, let’s just say that this strategy eventually came back to haunt me.
I’ve mentioned a few times throughout this review that I’ve played through Orwell’s Animal Farm more than once with differing outcomes each time. That’s because the game is meant to be played differently each time until you’re sure you’ve figured out the most efficient ways to get Animal Farm through the required seven years. As far as I have discerned at the time of writing, however, that doesn’t mean the game is procedurally generated or anything of that sort. The game as a whole seems to be based on a system of trial and error. Personally, I think that’s for the best.
It certainly seems to me that Orwell’s Animal Farm does not set out to be a strict, linear retelling of its inspiration and source material despite how often it references the book. A game that is more faithful to the source material could work in its own right, I think. However, I believe the emphasis on player choice and the aforementioned “trial and error” mechanics work to this title’s advantage. I think a quote from a certain loading screen present within FTL: Faster Than Light perfectly applies here: “losing is part of the fun.”
Overall, I quite enjoy this joint effort from Nerial and The Dairymen. As I alluded to with that quote from FTL a moment ago, Orwell’s Animal Farm inspires a sort of “just one more run” mentality on the off-chance I manage to get everything right and bring Animal Farm to prosperity. As a massive fan of games like FTL and Sid Meier’s Civilization, I see absolutely nothing wrong with that.
A PC review key for Orwell’s Animal Farm was provided by The Dairymen for the purpose of this review.
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Pros
- Quite Faithful to the Source Material
- Proves to be Appealing to Completionists
- Easy to Learn, Difficult to Master
Cons
- Unfamiliarity with the Book May Lead to Confusion
- Balancing Certain Game Mechanics Can be Frustrating
