The Oregon Trail Review

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Fast Facts

Manifesting a New Game

The Oregon Trail is a recent reimaging of a game based on the United States’s manifest destiny. This casual adventure loosely simulates a caravan of settlers traversing the United States. As a player, I made decisions that could lead the caravan to success or doom us for failure. Did this make for an engaging gameplay loop? Find out in this rapid review.

To begin my adventure, I was led through a brief tutorial. I learned the fundamentals of The Oregon Trail such as resource management, the importance of understanding character strengths and weaknesses, and what different items do. It worked well to guide me on my journey and helped me understand what I needed to know on my adventure. 

I also was inducted with some background on why I travel. It was simple, but it kept me interested in completing the main objective. However, apart from the general worldbuilding, there is very little personalized story content. For example, despite having narrative events take place, all of them are generic filler events that could happen on any run. I never experienced character development or growth which led to very little interesting character development. While the narrative sets the scene nicely, I never got attached to my party or any of the characters in the game.

Alternatively, The Oregon Trail features a few additional modes. Some of these additional journeys boast a more intensive story, yet still, none of them strongly resonated with me. Most of these bonus voyages are quite brief and once again, I did not find myself connecting with the characters. 

Travelling by Trail

However, while I did not connect with the storyline on an emotional level, the plethora of different events that took place kept me occupied throughout the game. The Oregon Trail pushes me to face different scenarios at the end of each in-game day. In these, my party got ill, talked to travellers, and even got to go hunting or fishing. Each of these events encouraged me to make choices. For example, if one of my party members got a disease, I could give them medicine. Alternatively, I could stock up on bullets if I found myself with a powerful hunter. The different narrative situations kept me engaged throughout my journey. 

Before navigating these situations, I stocked up on resources. At the beginning of my adventure, I could choose either to purchase a caravan stocked with items or to stock my caravan myself. Because resource management is a crucial component of The Oregon Trail, implementing both these options is great. It removed a barrier to entry while encouraging player creativity. 

Additionally, throughout my journey, I stopped at different points of interest. In many of these areas, I could trade goods with locals and sell animal pelts. Occasionally, I could even visit professional services and shop owners. These facilities provided me with flexibility in how I sculpted my caravan. In one leg of the trip, I could spend a lot of time hunting. However, in a different section, I could focus more on fishing or something else entirely. It was fun to continually sculpt my build as I travelled. I further enjoyed how some towns did not have every facility. Thus, even if I needed something badly, I might not always be able to get it. This forced me to innovate and struggle through some sections. As a whole, the various shops contributed to The Oregon Trail nicely. 

Wracking my Brain

Unfortunately, despite introducing a handful of different components that encourage strategy, shockingly, the game was not challenging enough to require it. I travelled to Oregon on my first playthrough without losing a single party member. Though this deviated from my expectations, it disappointed me less than I thought it would. My journey was still fun, even though it was less intense than I thought it would be. 

To supplement the game, the developers included a handful of alternate adventures. In one, I brought a Native American boy to the hunting village whereas in another, I rafted down roaring rapids. These were neat but did not take very long, and honestly did not add much enjoyment to my experience. There are two of note though. One sent me towards the gold rush in California and another was a more challenging trek to Oregon. Still, despite these more interesting modes, for the price, I was a bit disappointed with the offerings, especially considering that each of these modes was fairly similar. 

Admiring Nature

To supplement the core gameplay, The Oregon Trail features a lovely visual style. The background is often stunning, showcasing a vast landscape done in pixel art. Throughout my journey, I enjoyed different landscapes and terrains too. I enjoyed the visual variety. I also liked how the game encouraged me to observe my surroundings. Scattered throughout the terrain were different animals. Though they never interacted with each other, it was cool to notice them while travelling.

Moreover, The Oregon Trail boasts a calming atmospheric soundtrack. This was a bit surprising at the beginning of my journey, as I thought the game would be more intense. However, given the atmosphere of the game, this soundtrack fits excellently and is a solid addition.

As a whole, I enjoyed my playthrough of The Oregon Trail, but I am not rushing to recommend it. It has a solid soundtrack and a lovely art style, but as a game, while there is a decent amount of depth, it failed to encourage me to dig deeper. This is not innately an issue, but it also makes the game a bit forgettable. Still, at the end of the day, The Oregon Trail is a charming adventure which could be a great pickup when it is on sale. 

You can purchase The Oregon Trail on the PlayStation store here.