Fishing: Barents Sea

About

"Fishing: Barents Sea" is a realistic fishing simulation game where players start with a small inherited boat and work their way up to a successful fishing empire in the Norwegian sea. The game features various fishing methods, officially licensed equipment, and the need to stay within yearly fishing quotas. With its beautiful graphics and attention to detail, it offers an immersive and challenging experience for fishing and simulation enthusiasts.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

79%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,108 reviews

gameplay32 positive mentions

stability43 negative mentions

The game offers a relaxing and immersive experience, allowing players to enjoy the beauty of the Barents Sea while managing their fishing operations.
The graphics are generally well-received, with detailed boat models and a visually appealing environment that enhances the gameplay experience.
The developers are responsive to community feedback and actively work on updates and bug fixes, showing commitment to improving the game.

The game suffers from numerous bugs and crashes, particularly during key gameplay moments like hauling in nets or lines, which can lead to frustrating experiences.
Progression can feel slow and tedious, as players must travel significant distances to unlock new boats, and fast travel does not count towards this requirement.
The gutting mini-game is often criticized for being overly difficult and frustrating, detracting from the overall enjoyment of the fishing experience.

gameplay
124 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
26%
69%
5%
The gameplay in "Fishing: Barents Sea" offers a mix of realistic fishing mechanics and engaging simulation elements, allowing players to start with basic boats and gradually upgrade as they learn the ropes. While the game features enjoyable mechanics like deploying nets and gutting fish, some players find the gameplay repetitive and marred by technical issues, such as crashes and subpar graphics. Overall, it provides a relaxing experience with potential for improvement through future updates and expansions.
- “It's great once you get the ideas, how to catch and gut the fish with the mouse and buy upgrades and add-ons for your boat. You earn enough to buy bigger boats and haul in more fish. Realistic simulation with superb gameplay and music, full marks.”
- “Addictive gameplay that drives you to purchase new boats and target new species.”
- “The gameplay is interesting and I found myself wanting to throw out one more net or do one more crabbing voyage, keeping me up late some nights.”
- “Maybe 70% of the gameplay is just waiting and traveling.”
- “The grind is slow, but the fishing mechanic itself is very bland and the progression in the game feels linear and relatively uninteresting.”
- “The poor design of gameplay and content, followed by a myriad of bugs, will have you bored in less than 5 hours of gameplay.”
graphics
123 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
51%
11%
The graphics in the game receive mixed reviews, with some players praising the beautiful environments, weather effects, and detailed boat models, while others criticize the overall quality as mediocre or glitchy. Many users report issues with optimization, leading to frame rate drops and graphical errors, which detracts from the visual experience. Overall, while the game has potential with its visuals, significant improvements and bug fixes are needed to enhance the graphical fidelity and performance.
- “The graphics are beautiful, from the sunrises and sunsets, to storms at sea, to viewing the northern lights, or aurora borealis, while you're fishing, to whale watching while at sea.”
- “The graphics are very good, and the weather is pretty realistic.”
- “Fantastic graphics.”
- “Playable for sure, but lots of bugs, unpolished/buggy graphics and lack of content variation; this feels like a beta or demo.”
- “I am not a graphics maniac, but I will start with visuals first this time - the game is pretty poor in terms of visuals, with the exception of some very specific spots and a couple specific boat models.”
- “The ocean is basically just a flat 'wavy' surface you drive the boat across (no water washing over the decks in rough weather) and whatever they did to 'upgrade' the graphics engine a while back was terrible; the game looks too washed out now.”
stability
47 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
9%
91%
The game's stability is a mixed bag, with many users reporting numerous bugs and glitches that detract from the overall experience, including issues with graphics, gameplay mechanics, and save files. While some players have encountered only minor glitches, others have faced significant problems, such as crashes and unresponsive controls. Despite these issues, many still find the game enjoyable and commend the developers for their active support and updates aimed at improving stability.
- “Stable, bug-free with well-developed mechanics, Fishing Barents Sea is a relaxing and well-executed game.”
- “I am running a mid-grade PC that will play most other games at medium to high settings, and this game runs great on my machine.”
- “The game runs great the rest of the time, providing a solid experience overall.”
- “Playable for sure, but lots of bugs, unpolished/buggy graphics and lack of content variation; this feels like a beta or demo.”
- “Game is still a bug-ridden mess; 1 ft swells toss boats around like pool noodles, the mini-game still takes into account sea physics making your lines end up flying in the air or being towed from 2000 ft below for some reason and ending up not being able to catch any fish without a crewman.... still a worthless piece of garbage.”
- “One blue screen of death, several crashes to desktop before even hooking a fish, what appears to be an extremely buggy tutorial, poor controller support requiring constant return to the keyboard.”
grinding
39 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
3%
3%
95%
The grinding aspect of the game is a polarizing feature, with many players finding it both tedious and addictive. While some enjoy the commitment required to progress and appreciate the mini-games that break up the monotony, others feel that the repetitive tasks, such as trawling and gutting fish, can become overly burdensome. Overall, the game appeals to fans of simulation genres like farming and trucking simulators, but its grindy nature may deter those seeking a more dynamic experience.
- “What is work if not grindy?”
- “This is so repetitive and tedious.”
- “The filleting becomes tedious very quickly.”
- “It is actually entertaining at first, but it will become needlessly grindy in no time because of the progression system, which is the main flaw with the game.”
story
36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
8%
83%
8%
The game's story aspect is largely criticized for its lack of depth and engaging narrative, with players noting that while there are various quests and contracts available, they often feel repetitive and uninspired. Many reviewers express a desire for a more personal storyline or immersive world, highlighting the absence of meaningful character development and a cohesive plot. Overall, the missions are seen as mundane, with players longing for a richer narrative experience that goes beyond simple fishing tasks.
- “Quests and contracts: in addition to free fishing, players can take on various quests and contracts from NPCs.”
- “These tasks range from simple fishing assignments to more challenging missions like search and rescue operations.”
- “I've seen some fishing contracts (collect x kg's of fish for xyz port), FedEx (take mission cargo, without fast travel to another port) and whale-watching excursions come up in the bars.”
- “Like repaying a debt, owing your company back, etc. would have been better with a better storyline.”
- “Also thought there would be storms you'd have to navigate through and maybe even a storyline about living in a fishing village, visiting different bars, etc. Nope.”
- “There are some missions in the town which people would like a certain fish brought to them, but other than that, the main objective is to get to the top ship and no other missions seem to exist.”
optimization
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
70%
20%
The optimization of the game has received largely negative feedback, with many users reporting frequent crashes, poor frame rates, and significant performance issues even on high-end hardware. While some players have experienced stable performance, the consensus is that the game requires substantial optimization and bug fixes to enhance the overall experience. Many reviewers express hope for future updates to address these critical issues.
- “Game keeps the 2080 Ti working pretty hard at 75 fps with max settings, but runs smoothly with no crashes on my system.”
- “I have had no performance issues and frame rates are smooth as silk even when maneuvering in a fast boat with a lot going on around me.”
- “I emailed the devs and they replied within 24 hours and let me know they are working on a lot of optimization etc. will try again in a few months, fingers crossed!”
- “It's so poorly optimized that my 1070 Ti maxes out in the opening menu and starts spewing out hot air, making this very large room uncomfortably hot, even in a Canadian February.”
- “What definitely is an issue is the very poor optimization - despite the poor visuals, you will suffer frame dips, microstutter, etc. Despite updating drivers, it remained problematic, and turning up certain settings would not only cause FPS issues but also graphical issues like texture artifacts and water turning pure black.”
- “The performance and optimization is absolutely horrible though.”
music
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
54%
11%
The music in the game is widely praised for its relaxing and atmospheric qualities, enhancing the meditative experience of gameplay. Many players appreciate the soothing electronic soundtrack, likening it to artists like Max Richter and Vangelis, although some find it repetitive over time. There are requests for the ability to add personal music, which could further enrich the experience, but overall, the in-game music effectively complements the tranquil fishing simulation.
- “It is just beautiful and a challenge which grows on me every time I play it. Also very meditative with the ambient sounds, the wonderful music too, like Max Richter's... I love it!”
- “The soundtrack fits the game very well, and helps transport your mind into the scene.”
- “Doing this to the soundtrack of your choice, be it the in-game music or a streaming internet radio station, will help you melt all of your daily stresses away.”
- “The ambient music can put you to sleep.”
- “The music fits the chill mood, but it's not really my thing.”
- “Graphics/music etc. is ok.”
replayability
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
25%
38%
Overall, the game's replayability is mixed; while some players find it enjoyable and moderately replayable, particularly those interested in commercial fishing, others criticize it for lacking significant replay value.
- “The game is good and has a good replay value if you're into commercial fishing.”
- “I will continue to enjoy this simulator, and in my opinion, it has a decent replay value.”
- “☑ mildly replayable”
- “The only downside I can see is the lack of replayability.”
- “It's a good product but lacks any replayability.”
- “There is no replay value whatsoever.”
humor
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is often highlighted through its quirky mechanics and absurdities, such as the contrasting depth requirements for different boats and the ability to walk around the ship, which adds a layer of comedic frustration. Players find the game amusing, particularly those who enjoy fishing, and appreciate its slow progression as a source of humor. Overall, the game is described as hilariously fun, despite some technical issues.
- “Very funny game, you should buy it and try it.”
- “Isn't it funny that I can get out of my chair and walk around my ship in this game, but I still can't in Elite?”
- “This game is very funny and time consuming.”
atmosphere
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its beautiful visuals and immersive sound design, creating a relaxing experience that enhances gameplay. Players appreciate the serene environment, highlighted by elements like orcas passing by, which contribute to a superb atmospheric feel. Overall, it stands out as one of the best in the fishing and boating simulator genre for its captivating ambiance.
- “Well worth the full price, it's more of a 'simulator lite' but dang did the developers get the atmospheric feel of this right.”
- “The game is beautiful, the atmosphere is superb with orcas passing while I set my nets.”
- “A nice, relaxing game with atmospheric visuals and music.”
- “They aren't too difficult, but some of them don't seem to fit in with the atmosphere of the game.”
- “In terms of atmosphere, visuals, and gameplay, I haven't enjoyed any fishing and/or boating simulator as much as this one.”