Lion is a simulation game in which the play has 2 options for game play. A sandbox and a "campaign mode".
In the sandbox the player may select anything from a single lion up to a certain number. Prior to starting the play picks his Lion(s) and conditions for gameplay. There are several lions to choose from each with different stats and the conditions for play range from duration (years), number of poachers and herds of animals to the season of year.
There is no set object for sandbox as it is more of an open arena for you to manage, mate and raise your lions as you see fit. The "campaign mode" (being in quotations due to the fact that it is not a true story line) is a linear set of missions with a non linear story. Missions include objectives such as: Kill this animal. Survive for X days. Your lion is wounded, get him to safety. Raid the tourists picnic site etc.
All in all the missions provide some challenge and entertainment, however I spent most of my time in the sandbox as it was a lot more fun. Going solo is a lot easier in the beginning since your lion
starts needing to eat, drink and rest and you will see lots of warthogs around. Poachers and hyenas prove to be a nuisance very quickly for a single player. The missions are more of a break from your Pride so that you wont go insane after doing the same thing in sand box for so long.
Sound: The sound is good for a game of its time and the music isn’t too bad. You will just notice that it plays the same theme over and over again which doesn’t help break the monotony of sandbox.
Gameplay: gameplay is very decent seeing as how missions and sandbox aren’t linked as far as opening any new content. This leaves you free to switch back and forth at a whim to do what ever much like Grand Theft Auto and randomly running around with a flame thrower setting people on fire. It was meant to be educational although much like the
Oregon Trail Game, everyone just wants to hunt anyway. I killed my share of poachers.
Graphics: Good for the time and on my old 3.11 system it ran fairly smooth. During the monsoons you might get some frame rate issues.
