It is not new that bees, indispensable animals for our ecosystem, are decreasing in number due to human wickedness. To raise awareness of the issue, the Polish guys of VARSAV Game Studios, have decided to develop Bee Simulator, an atypical simulator, which will allow us to play the role of a bee, in order to make us experience firsthand their importance for the balance of our planet. Although these creatures are small, annoying at times and that hurt terribly when they sting us in defense, they represent a not indifferent friend to the environment.
Without more bees in nature, the vegetation would be at risk because there would no longer be anyone able to pollinate the flowers, with the consequent natural alteration of the food chain that would lead in the long term to the disappearance of fruit and vegetables: essential foods for our sustenance.
After this premise designed to raise awareness among our readers, during Gamescom 2019, we got to see a demo of Bee Simulator with our own eyes.
The demo is introduced by a short video where once again the importance of bees for our ecosystem is reiterated. Bee Simulator is an atypical simulator because, it is true that we will do all the tasks that a bee does, but we will do it in a simplified way so as not to make the game extremely boring. The demo covers about the first twenty minutes of gameplay where we will impersonate the deeds of a newborn bee that tries to take its first steps in a world that has now become hostile: our task will be to save our family and give new hope to this kind of insects. The tutorial that will help us understand the game mechanics represents the first initial stages of our little friend. The developers have confirmed that there will be RPG mechanics on Bee Simulator. We will be able to change various parameters, such as the speed with which we collect pollen, increase the flight speed when we reach full load or increase the transportable weight. The name of our bee is also customizable and will be the first thing we will do.
On Bee Simulator we will have two difficulty levels available, a simpler one designed for children and a more difficult one designed for adults. The developers wanted to clarify that there is no type of violence on Bee Simulator.
Playing a bee, our main task will be to collect pollen, but at the same time we will be assigned several quests by both the queen and our sisters. Pollen collection, as mentioned before, is very simplified. Above the flowers (there are about 40 thousand different species) there is a yellow circle and it will be enough to pass through it to collect the pollen. Our bee will deposit the pollen collected on its rear and we will only be able to carry a certain amount. When the gauge is full, our speed will drop sharply and our bee's movements will be more difficult to control. To deposit it, simply approach the hive. We also find a visual that will try to simulate the sight of a bee. Here the background will turn all blue and plants containing pollen will be marked red.
On Bee Simulator there are also hand-to-hand clashes against other insects: in the demo shown to us we will find ourselves facing a wasp, for example. The fights recall a bit what we have seen on For Honor: the effectiveness of the attack will depend on our positioning with respect to the opponent and we will have to try to hit him on the side he has discovered. The defense will have the same mechanics as the attack, only in this case we will have to intercept the enemy's blow trying to parry in the same direction in which the blow will arrive.
During the Bee Simulator demo we were able to visit a portion of the map, that is a park but we do not know if the game will be free roaming or will be divided into macro areas.
In the portion of the map we visited there were several people who carried out their daily activities and as if that were not enough there are also other insects that will offer us various traps in order to capture us. The demo ends with our hive in complete turmoil as a bunch of ugly people are trying to cut down the tree in which our house is located.
Bee Simulator on a technical level was a pleasant surprise. The models of bees and other insects are extremely detailed and very realistic and the environments, offering over 40 thousand varieties of plants, are very colorful and vivid, making them extremely beautiful to look at..
The animations of the bees are extremely believable and well done, while those of the human beings in the background were really bad. Another negative point of Bee Simulator are the textures of the soils and some marginal insects such as grasshoppers: they turn out to be too washed out and not very detailed. In a title like this the sound component could be a marginal aspect, but on Bee Simulator we find a soundtrack well made and pleasant to listen to, all without clashing with the scene we have on screen. All the songs in the bee simulator are made by the same composer who created the soundtrack of The Witcher 3.
Bee Simulator was a pleasant surprise during this Gamescom 2019. The title is extremely interesting, both because for the first time we will be able to wear the shoes of a bee, and because it also wants to try to raise awareness of this problem that is becoming increasingly relevant . The game mechanics seem valid and well conceived, even if the pollen collection is too simplified.
Bee Simulator will see the light on shelves all over the world during the course of 2020 and will be available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.
► Bee Simulator is an Adventure-Simulation game developed and published by Varsav Games for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 31/12/2019
Bee Simulator is a nice game that we recommend: we decided to evaluate it with a 70%, if you are interested in learning more you can read the Bee Simulator Review
