Chuck Wagon Review

Quick Pros: Craft your own Rations, nice variation in missions, attractive building.

Quick Cons: Stingy requests.

Review: Let me start by saying this, because I want this to be known early... I think the Chuck wagon is a brilliant idea, the ability to cook up rations relatively cheaply. The plot of Bess' Dad coming along and helping out his girl on the Trail is also nice, although it has been suggested by another admin we need a Jerry Springer DNA test as Cookie's head just doesn't seem big enough...

I also think it's just right, size-wise, (the Wagon obviously, not Cookie's head...) and its artwork is really attractive, it looks great and fits in to the general homestead theme.

After a couple of buildings that haven't really "fitted in" with my realistic OCD, the Inn L'Amour and the Detective Agency, this one does match up nicely next to my Pioneer Campsite and various prize tents. If this were merely a review of it's looks then we could end this review right now and give it a lovely send off.

Unfortunately it's not, it's about the whole experience and... well, the rest of this release drag this potentially brilliant feature down like it's accidentally slipped into Mafia Wars, been fitted for a pair of concrete boots and sent to sleep with the fishes.

The missions LOOK good, they're varied and have a nice amount of different things to do on the Homestead. Then you get to mission three and find the requests for Bacon Dripping gives just one single item every request, a request you have to wait 8 hours to make again. Then in mission five it's that time all over again with just one item per request for Tootin Fruit.

Add to that the fact that half the building supplies (30 in all) only pop up TWO per post and you begin to wonder if the game has suddenly become the lovechild of Scrooge and Gollum, counting it's items in a dark room, stroking a piece of ceramic muttering "My precious..."

It's sad that the missions bring down what could be a cracking new feature but the constant requesting just makes it a war of attrition, load up, request, get one item, load up, request, get one item... lather, rinse, repeat. All the time watching your neighbours with a ferocity and avidness that, in real life, would likely lead to either marriage or a restraining order... or possibly both.

Back to the positives for a second, the idea of being able to craft rations is a very nice one... but by the time you've fought through everything that needs doing to get to the point you get your 8 rations and think... It's nice but I'm not really sure it was worth all that effort really...

I'm sure in the long run once the memories of the missions and building requirements have scabbed over I'll enjoy it. I'll enjoy the look of it, the extra rations.... But now and then I'll get a flashback like a Vet from a Vietnam movie shouting at anyone who suggests something new needs too many items...

"You don't know nothin' man, I was in the Chuck Wagon!"

Stability: So far it's been glitch free.

Ratings (out of 5)

Fun: Could have been so much fun... but isn't really thanks to the stingyness of the requests.

Spam:  Let's be honest, this is spammier than a spam sandwich with spam as bread.

Time:  If you're incredibly organised and get some friends together this might take a week...

Overall (out of 10): 

An absolutely brilliant idea let down by the preliminary stuff.

High Plains Review

Quick Pros: Good storyline, bonus buildings

Quick Cons: A lot of requesting, less attractive backdrop than Beaver Valley

Review: The High Plains are probably the best story-led area of the Pioneer Trail, at least up to now while Fort Courage remains a mystery. The addition of the familiar McBaggins has given a homestead connection and, having helped them out once, there is a certain satisfaction in moving through the Trail, watching their expressions change and helping to make the Plains a significantly more attractive place.

Although not as attractive as Beaver Valley the fact the Plains adapt as you work through them is interesting, dry riverbeds fill, broken buildings are fixed, generally there's a real sense of changing the scenery as you go.

The fact you can collect bonuses from six buildings on the trail (and at 8 hours not 24) is a plus as well, it gives a little taste of home and is a nice addition for a few more XP and Trail Points.

It's biggest problem however is partly to do with the buildings. Combining the McBaggins House and the Windmill along with many of the missions involved in the main thread there's just too much requesting for what it is.

I'd suggest the Plains are the most obvious of all examples of the slightly schizophrenic nature of the Trail. On the one hand it's been designed as a quick diversion, NOT a game in it's own right BUT... when everything you're doing is requesting of some kind it drags.

Popping in for 5 minutes to clear up some debris and shoot turkeys to find the meat for a mission is fun. Popping in for 5 minutes to send three wall requests, well, frankly it isn't. You soon tire of waiting on timers and then the problem worsens, you miss one of the resets to ask, further setting you back and making it even longer before you'll be able to finish the mission.

There's obvious reasons why wall requesting is needed, as a social thing and, let's be honest, a marketing thing for the game itself. But as well as it becoming dull for us, if our friends just see endless requests and no mission success posts etc then that's the impression they'll get, that it's a request heavy program.

All in all I loved the plotline of the Plains and I think the missions, taken on their own merits, felt more different and varied than Beaver Valley. But too often, when you have two or three missions active and they ALL need requests of some kind, it just feels more like a real slog through a prairie in the dehydrating sun than a game.

Stability: Issues have arisen with the appearance of Hidden Missions. Generally other than that it has been fairly stable

Ratings (out of 5)

Fun: It's fun, but has a tendency to drag when missions involve requesting.

Spam:  For what it is and how long it takes, there's just too much.

Time:  It'll take you some time, especially waiting on friends to click.

Overall (out of 10): 

A great story and a wonderful world changing mechanic, but let down by too much time spent posting on your own wall and desperately digging through those of your friends.

Beaver Valley Reviews

Quick Pros: Gorgeous scenery, minimal requesting

Quick Cons: Repetitive missions

Review: The first thing that strikes you as you enter Beaver Valley is the stunning graphics of the area, it's easy to say Beaver Valley may be the most beautifully designed area of Frontierville and the Pioneer Trail. As a gift on the eyes it is an excellent introduction to the Trail and for a moment you almost want to just explore and take in the skill of the art department.

Once you start playing the intro from Jack into the methodology of Trail-Play is nice and easy to follow and is a good simple entry into Beaver Valley and the Trail as a whole. Unfortunately the one thing you then get once finishing the Tutorial is a feeling you might still be in it...

Instead of a learning curve making the missions more difficult as you go along doesn't really materialise and you're left with a mild feeling of deja vu with every new mission, although a lot of this is simply down to how the Trail is put together, the limitations it has for missions.

It felt a little like... I've chopped trees 20 times with this character, now I'm chopping trees with MY character, next mission I'm chopping trees with a different character...It feels rather harsh to make this a big negative because the game is a diversion, not a game in it's own right, but even playing in short bursts it does feel slightly repetitive as you work through the main missions.

All in all it's a fun experience (when glitch free) and it felt quite enjoyable, I think coming from Frontierville it suffers slightly from not being able to adapt your surroundings and the samey nature of the missions can drag but placed alongside Homestead missions it fulfils it's purpose of a quick diversion, and a very pretty one at that.

Stability: In general the Valley was trouble free, although glitches have arisen surrounding the appearance of hidden missions.

Ratings (out of 5)

Fun: Even with similar missions the Valley IS fun.

Spam:  Thankfully there are VERY few missions that need requests.

Time:  It'll probably take you some time to get all the way through.

Overall (out of 10): 

Beautifully designed and quite fun, if repetitive.