[b][quote][url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asset_flip]Warning: GameGuru Asset Flip![/url][/quote][/b]Hiking Simulator 2017 is a what Valve calls a "Fake Game". The "developer" bought the GameGuru first person shooter construction kit (no coding required, it's just a GUI!) and cobbled out a map or two using stock GameGuru assets... nothing in this game can fully be called the creation of the developer, and yet they also failed to credit GameGuru or acknowlegde any of the GameGuru assets. They're trying (badly) to pass someone else's work as their own.
It's just a bunch of random GameGuru assets dropped around a really lazy, stock textured GameGuru map template. This is possibly the laziest GameGuru asset flip I've ever seen... usually the "developer" at least tries to make an FPS game of some kind with a bunch of stock, asset flipped GameGuru asset enemies. The "developer" didn't even bother here... you don't get a gun, there's no enemies, you just walk around a map with a few random trees dropped on it.
For those unfamiliar with what actually makes something a game, a "game loop" describes the interaction and feedback a gamer has when playing a game. Tetris, for example, has a game loop where a random block appears, the gamer interacts with the block to position it, and then the game decides if that finishes a row or not, increases the players score if any rows were completed, then gives the gamer another block to position. Counter-Strike has a game loop where a player seeks another player, tests their skill against that player by shooting them or being shot, the computer rewards the player if they win, and then if the player survives, they repeat that loop. There's no loop here, no true interactive feedback. It simply is not a game, it cannot be "played".
Let's be clear, GameGuru is a completely godawful construction kit. If you try to take it seriously as a product, you'll find no resolution or graphics tweaks, no controller tweaks... it's horribly optimised and will be sluggish even on high end rigs.
You can make the argument that GameGuru exists to just make demos and little experimental games to pass around with friends, but that's not what's happened here... the developer is seriously trying to scam people into paying money for this construction kit copy+paste asset flip. That's not okay!
These technical defects push this game below acceptable standards for any modern PC game.
The poor quality of this software is reflected by how many people spent time with it. At the time of this review, SteamDB shows the all-time peak player number was only 4 players. This is a remarkably low number, and now, the only player activity occurs once or twice a month, presumably someone loading it up to see what it is then quickly uninstalling it. Considering there's over 120 million gamers on Steam and well over 100,000 games for gamers to choose from, the overwhelming lack of interest in this low quality software is to be expected.
So, should you buy this software? Is this one of the best of the 100,000+ games on Steam?
Hiking Simulator 2017 is relatively cheap at $1 USD, but it's not worth it. Given the defects and quality issues with the software, coupled with the unrealistic price, and the unethical nature of the developer, this is impossible to recommend. This is also competing with over 11,000 free games available on Steam, many of them far better than this paid product.
