Bassmaster Fishing 2022, developed and published by Dovetail Games, brings an immersive fishing experience to the PlayStation console. I am not a huge fishing enthusiast, but I do enjoy going to fish with some friends now and then. So going into this game, I did not have many expectations for the experience I was about to partake in. I got an experience that had me more engaged than I thought I truly would be.
What sets Bassmaster Fishing 2022 apart from other fishing simulators is the addition of having the official license of BASS, which is the leader in bass fishing competitions in the world. This will bring in a lot of people as the level of immersive will increase with this addition as people will feel like they are a part of a BASS event. This is a great addition to the game when someone truly wants to be immersed in a video game.
Bassmaster Fishing 2022 has a few different modes to partake in from the jump. There is the basic freestyle mode which is based around you going to a location that you pick and just fish. This is where you can relax and enjoy some fishing without the pressure of competition in other modes. Then with the highlight of the game is the career mode, which puts you on a career path of a bass fishing pro. This is just like other sport games I have played where the game has you start at the college level of the fishing world and work your way up to the pro level. You will participate in tournaments where you will have a variety of challenges that are usually based on catching as many fish as possible or fishing for specific types of fish. I enjoyed this aspect of the game as it added a competitive aspect to the experience and being able to create your own pro fishing story which I always have enjoyed in other sports titles. This even goes into gaining followers so that you can obtain the sponsorships needed to gain the money to be added to the Bassmaster Classic, the ultimate fishing competition in the world. In this Bassmaster classic, you have the opportunity to win $300,000 and it is the goal of the career mode to win this competition. However, it will most likely take you several attempts to win this competition as it can be tough as I lost the first time I played it.
Now the graphics in Bassmaster Fishing 2022 surprised me as it probably is the most realistic fishing experience you can have in a game. You create your character with a decent amount of creativity to create the best angler, the term for the person that fishes in these competitions. Also you go against other pro anglers, which I did not know these pros personally but someone that enjoys the sport will enjoy being able to compete against them. There are officially 8 venues you can fish at, which have a good variety to change it up from lakes to rivers from swampy to less swampy regions. As well these locations looked pretty nice and added even more to the immersion.
The gameplay works by going into your boat, you will learn where the fish are in different lakes just like the pros have to as well. There you adjust how far you will cast your fishing rod and then its fishing time. There you can see your lure under the water which makes it engaging when you’re trying to catch the fish. This is where the game will slow down as it can be uneventful especially if you don’t know what to do. There can be times where you don’t catch any fish as this is realistic but can be a bit boring at first. This will push many away from this title as patience is needed to figure out how to catch fish a bit quicker but this is just like fishing in real life in a sense. However, for a video game, I wish this process could be a bit better as I feel they might lose a lot of players. This is not the game to go for if you want that arcade-like fishing game as you will have to look elsewhere but it might be right up the alley for someone who wants a more realistic fishing experience.
We are in the world of battle royales and Bassmaster Fishing 2022 is no different in adding that to the game. Where you go onto the lake with 60 other players, where you fish for the five heaviest fish you catch. That number is on a leaderboard and there is a point where if you’re under a number you will be kicked from the game and lose. This goes until the last 10 where you battle it out until one survives. I played this once and it added some intensity to the game, but overall it was not my favorite as battle royales I feel are over played now.
Overall, Bassmaster Fishing 2022 is not for every person as it will take patience with the gameplay. But the combination of the career mode, an immersive and realistic fishing experience, and variety of game modes this title might be your best option for a fishing game.
For more information, please visit www.bassmasterthegame.com.
Gaming has always been an outlet for me to interact with different people and explore all kinds of possibilities. I play a wide variety of games always willing to try different mechanics and storylines that developers are trying to create for their games. I grew up delving into MW2 and World of Warcraft, I miss the Wrath of The Lich King days, and as I have gotten older I have found a love for RPGs and strategy games, my favorites being The Witcher 3 and Total War. Always looking forward to the next great game.
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