Embrace The Essence of Wildlife Photography
For those of you interested in photography, here's a little insight into the level of sophistication the game has to offer. The game allows you to accumulate and upgrade cameras and purchase lenses. It does a great job of creating depth of field changes with aperture settings, and you have shutter speed settings that affect exposure and motion blur as in real world cameras, and there are priority modes or even full manual settings that can be played around with, with realistic results in your photographs. There is enough devotion to real life photgraphy put into the development of Afrika to make it a gem on that premise alone.
Here's a tip to keep in mind -- patience is rewarded, as you will realize that the new cameras and lenses you unlock and purchase are dramatically improving the quality of your photos. The beginning camera takes lousy pictures and it would be sad if people didn't realize that the game intends the quality to start out poor, just like in the real world starting out with cheap cameras.
As the game begins, you choose your character and start out at base camp with a laptop, camera, binoculars and GPS. You get emailed requests to take specific types of pictures and you are on your way, driving here and there with a guide. Gameplay is more like an animal watching sim than anything else. While there is no hardcore gaming action going on here, there are grand moments in the game such as photographing a mother elephant with her calf in a herd, driving alongside a cheetah, getting attacked by an African Bufffalo ... damn those African Buffalos .... they attacked me over and over again. Unfortunately, when you are attacked, the animal charges at you (many different animals can attack you) but before any kind of contact is made, the screen fades, and you are sent back to Base Camp to start your daily safari all over again. So there is no real violence, just the implication of it.
After a few missions, you eventually lose the guide and drive yourself to wherever you want to go. You can buy a tent and camp out in other areas, away from your base camp, if you decide to not return to base camp when the sun sets.
The graphics are superb and do justice to the 720p display but can be a little overly sharpened on the trees and foliage at times, giving it a less real look and more "video game" look. Distant vistas and mountains look great, the animals look great also and are animated well enough that you feel like you are around real wild animals. The animals look fantastic through the binoculars and it is pleasing that the camera work progresses toward that quality you see through the binoculars as you upgrade your gear.
The sounds of the animals are authentic and very well done. Just playing the game brings the sounds of the outdoors into your home.
The music is mostly grand orchestral and for the most part is very cinematic and movie-like large, but at times is African light melody.
Sunsets and sunrises are cool looking but kind of foggy at times.
There are a few activities to choose from within the main menu. You can start or continue your "Safari", which is the main game mode, allowing you to progress through the game. There is also a "big game trophy" mode that allows you to replay the more exciting photo shoots you unlock. Having this mode is really nice. There is a built in National Geographic library of real life photographs and information that unlocks and expands as you encounter each animal. There is also an environment "viewer" that allows you to play customized video clips that showcase each area and the animals that inhabit it.
You also have your photo library on your in-game laptop. This is where all of your pictures get stored and you can sort through them, delete them, play a slide show ... etc.
If you can picture yourself enjoying wildlife photography, then I would imagine you would like Afrika quite a bit. If the idea of that sounds boring, then I would bet you would find the game lacking.