Euro Fishing Review

There has been a long list of fishing games over the years and Euro Fishing is the latest in this genre to make its way onto PC with Xbox to come.

The game starts with you choosing your likeness from the options given. We’re not talking Black Desert Online levels of customisation, but there’s a few to choose from. Once you have decided on your looks, you are on to the main menu to pick Multiplayer, Live Tournament, Go Fishing, and the one new players will want to hit first, The Academy.

There are five different lessons in the Academy named The Basics, Fish-On, Stalking, Baiting, and Multiple Rods. Each explaining how to play and the basics of fishing. The voice actor chosen for this explains each lesson in a clear and easy going tone that imparts information to you in a way that is easy going and professional, just as you would expect someone teaching you to fish in the real world would do, an excellent choice by Dovetail Games.

Basic gameplay is simple, you choose a peg to fish from, set up your tackle, cast your line and pull fish out of the wet stuff. So far so good. It has to be noted though that there are nuances to the gameplay that make it far more in depth than this. Also, the controls are far from simple, line tension needs to be taken into account and if keyboard controls are chosen and the mouse sensitivity is too high, you can glitch the cast and end up catching the back of your own head, casting clean over the lake into the trees on the other side, or having the hook stick in mid air as if you caught a cloud. Conversely, having it set too low will result in you catching your shoes as the hook drops at your feet. Gamepad controls however make it much easier, so if you have the chance, grab an Xbox pad and use that.

When you successfully cast, you must take into account the lie of the cast, what bait you are using, your rod, tackle and so on. Differing equipment can be bought in the tackle shop with points earned in game, so using the inventory screen and the shop will eventually have you set up right for the location.

When you have a fish on, you can draw in the fish while keeping an eye on line tension which is adjusted by using the mousewheel. If the tension is too low, the fish will get off the hook and you’ll lose it, too high and the line will snap. Once you get the fish in close enough, you can net the little sod and inspect your catch before releasing it back into the lake. It’s extremely satisfying, and as you level up and gain experience some true whoppers can be caught.

Single-player contents comprises Freedom Fishing, Tournaments, and Challenges. Freedom Fishing allows the choice of one of the five lakes available (The Observatory, L’arène, Digger Lake, St John’s Lake, and Presa del Monte Bravo) to fish as you like. When choosing which lake there’s a short description with information about the location, the different fish that can be found, and the heaviest fish known to have been caught and the like and there are seven main species of fish available to find and catch, Common Carp, Mirror Carp, Leather Carp, Bream, Catfish, Tench and Roach. Freedom fishing is nice and relaxing, but it can be a little too accurate at times with good stretches of time spent waiting for something to bite only to lose it at the last. Of course, as you progress you get to spot the tells that indicate where you should be fishing and this ameliorates it somewhat.

Single player tournaments allow you to face off against the AI in a series of cups and championships that have you going for either the most unique catches or the heaviest fish. Tournaments are of differing lengths depending on the championship and make for a change of pace in comparison to Freedom Fishing. They are also a nice way to up the experience and get better tackle via the shop.

Challenges provide a way to master your rod, learn to cast to specific areas of a lake, and sharpen your skills in Score Attack, Time Attack, Time Trial and Distance Challenge for points. Each has eight stages, some of which must be unlocked by beating previous stages as you would expect, and some requiring a certain level of experience in the game.

Multiplayer mostly operates around the host setting a location, duration and conditions and then players Free Fishing against each other for bragging rights, but there’s also live tournament play for those with the cohonés and a desire for buckets of points as rewards.

The game shows off the abilities of Unreal engine 4 well with light dappling the surface of the lake and the scenery really drawing you into the game, but ultimately the performance hits of all that detail will be something for players to take into account when it comes to tweaking visuals as too low a frame rate will make casting a nightmare.

Euro Fishing provides a way to enjoy lake fishing for those who either don’t have water nearby, don’t fancy sitting by a lake for hours providing food for midges, or just wish to enjoy some off season virtual piscatrial pursuits. There are glitches that can annoy, but they don’t destroy totally the relaxing atmosphere and challenges the game brings.