This industry that we’re all a part of seems to be heavily reliant on concepts and themes that are sure to sell.  Shooting aliens in post-apocalyptic settings is an all too common thing in games these days.  So when a game comes along that doesn’t do any of that and instead presents you with a unique and interesting activity or setting one should at least give it a look.  When Sony first showed off the PlayStation 3 in 2005, one of the games they teased was Afrika.  Nobody really knew what to make of the images of wild animals in their natural habitats.  We then learned that Afrika would be a game in which you played as a nature photographer whose job it was to get the best possible photos that you can.  No guns, no killing, just a digital photography adventure.

Of course, people immediately made the claim “Oh, it’s Pokémon Snap with Elephants.” but that would be a gross oversimplification of what you really do in the game.  You begin the game with a very basic Digital SLR camera.  Most of its functions are automatic and it doesn’t have the best image quality.  As you complete photo tasks for various people at the Home Office you’ll earn money that you can use to bring in upgraded camera gear.  One of the first things you’ll likely want to spend money on is Photo Storage.  The memory card you start off with can only hold thirty shots, and any nature photographer will tell you that just isn’t enough.  Other cameras that you can purchase will give you finer control over your photos.  Focal Length, shutter speed, aperture, all of these are things that you’ll have the opportunity to play with.  So in a way Afrika is also teaching you the basics of taking good digital pictures.  It won’t be too long after beginning the game where you’ll be wishing that you had a longer lens or more control over the camera body’s internal settings.

The real trick here is that Afrika treats the subject matter seriously.  With its affiliation with National Geographic Magazine, it would have to.  You’ll get asked to get photos of specific animals doing specific things.  You might be asked to photograph a herd of Gazelles gathering for example.  The things you’re asked to do all seem plausible as tasks that a real wildlife photographer might find themselves asked to do.

Afrika wouldn’t be very interesting if it didn’t look good.  Thankfully it does.  The terrain is a bit bland at times, but this is more than made up for by the excellent animal models.  All of the animals are incredibly detailed, which makes for some excellent close up shots.  What’s better is that they all behave realistically.

If you’ve taken a photo that you’re particularly proud of, you can upload it to the game’s online photo sharing site.  Other players can then view and rate or comment on it.  It would be nice if this wasn’t limited to just the in-game browser though, hopefully when the game finally does come out around here you’ll be able to share photos with others in different ways, or even save them to your local PS3 photo section.

On the whole, Afrika is a game that is going that caters to a very specific niche.  It’s a game about nature photography and the only people that may really find it enjoyable are people who are interested in photography in general.  This game probably isn’t going to strike a chord with the alien-shooting crowd, but more games like this need to be made.  Creative games like this is what keeps this industry from stagnating. The big news around E3 was that Afrika was picked up by Natsume for release in North America later this year, so those of you that weren’t interested in importing this game will finally have a chance to buy it, as well.

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About This Author: Filippo Dinolfo

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