Customer Reviews

Horsez

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This is *not* a horse riding and care game. It's a linear adventure game about people at a riding academy for preteens and older kids who really like horses. I never got very far in this game (I was trying to figure it out for my daughter). I gave up in disgust very early because the interface was very hard for me to figure out and the manual was of no help.

I suspect the preteen girl crowd would enjoy this game if it ran correctly, but the box is horribly misleading.

DO NOT BUY THIS GAME. Yes, the graphics are pretty. Yes, its a "cool horse game."
But it is VERY difficult. NOT for who they market it too. I'm a horse game nerd and I can't even get past the first week. Why? Because the glitches in the game make it almost impossible to do, the graphics are so much it slows down even the fastest computers and the writers expect you to be pyscic when you go on your games. Wayy to hard for anyone, and frusterating as well.

I personally find the packaging for this game also very confusing.

Firstly let me state that Horsez for both P.C. and for PSX2 (since they ARE two totally different games/character sets, one about Jade and the other about Flora) are my hands down favorite horse games that I have ever found. I was SO impressed when I started playing it that I bought the other and have loved them both endlessly since.

Whats so CONFUSING to me is their description (talking about picking a cute pony and playing with an adorable foal!? Huh? Did you actually..you know..PLAY this game, Mr. Advertiser?) and box art is..incredibly misleading. This is bad not only because it LOOKs like a young childrens game and you don't get that when you buy this game, and also because its kind of embarrassing to show your friends this awesome horse game..in a box that looks like it was designed for six year olds...so I'm positive that a large crowd of people that would LOVE this game have never tried it.

Overall..wonderful game, one of the best out there. BUT Very poor advertising decisions. I hope this will help you to know who to buy this game for and who not to- as the packaging/description is completely wrong.

I've played all of the Horsez/Pippa Funnell games, and this one is by far the best of the lot. The storyline, while not the epitome of realism, it fun and engaging. Flora, the protagonist, is a willful rider who's story you follow as she joints an Italian Riding Academy. She's a real laugh, stubborn and hot-headed without taking it to the point you dislike her. As well as horse care and engaging in dressage, showjumping and cross-country training, you get to interact with Flora's riding classmates, train a foal, as well as researching for dressage and foal care in the library and shopping for yourself, outfits and your horse.

I really liked the weekly schedule timetable. Simple and effective. You get full control over what you want to do, and at set intervals adventures pop up. These are really challenging, really keep you on your toes and working to get a result - it's not for seven year olds, I'd recommend an age of at least ten to handle the difficultly.

Gaming wise, the dressage is by far the best of any of these games, this one is the winning formula. Movements are carried out by pressing the arrow keys and control button at the right time in the indicated sequence. There's no having to follow tracks on the ground (the actual horse movements are automatic providing you get the keys right) and a great bonus, not having to memorize the sequence THEN apply it - you press as the indicator scrolls right in front of you. Brilliantly done, after a little practice to get timing right and a good concentration it's possible to score over 9 each time.

Showjumping is nicely set up too, not too complex, but not too dull so it bores you. Unlike the next Horses (#4, Secrets of the Ranch) jumps are not restricted by speed, you simply have to take off in the right place, during the green indicator bar.

Cross-country is much of the same as Showjumping except with a better takeoff indicator. Stabilizing the speed at one set pace before jumping and a successful jump allows a faster gallop for a short period. This was very useful between jumps, and required good use of timing, which just takes a few tried to adapt to.

The storyline is very nice, with pleasant cutscenes and interesting chaarcters. Most of the familiar faces from the second Pippa Funnel Game, Take the Reins, return - Estaben, Spike, Ginger and Kiew. Romantics (remember the teen-girl age bracket here!) will cheer on Flora as she not only partakes in riding competitions but wins the heart of a certain teammate ;)

The graphics are gorgeous, particularly the background scenes. Detail to culture and environment is impeccable - you really get the feel of being in Italy, China or France as each section progresses from place to place. The accents I find particularly enjoyable. Some of them are a bit stereotypical - you can tell Sameul is a 'cool DJ dude' by the way he speaks - but you could easily recognize which character as which by the sound of their voice.

A few faults - during cutscenes background music almost overwhelms the speaking, despite changes to the sound settings. A map would be very useful for walks on horseback - the maps do have some tricky spots, especially for directionally challenged people like me, who can't tell where things are in relation to one another and have to gallop around frantically, looking for the current goal.

I played this on Windows 7 with no loading problems or bugs, though I either cannot load or cannot play due to game bugs #1 or #2 (Stud Farm Inheritance and Take the Reins) and have to go back to using a computer with XP for the,.

All round a very enjoyable game - Flora and Miguel to appear again in Secrets of the Ranch (Although apparently the game designers opted to rename Miguel 'Micheal' although pronunciation of his name was fairly obvious since it was being spoken by chaarcters all the time... can;t argue with some people though!) but only as secondary chaarcters. I'd adore another game set from Flora's fiery perspective - this game barely keeps be occupied for a week, needs to be longer!

The description on the outside of the box is light and flowery, leading the buyer to believe she will be having lots of fun doing "horsey" things. This is misleading, to say the least! Once you read the introduction in the manual inside the box, you learn that you are part of a battle of horse academies. Descriptions like "a reputation for ruthless efficiency", "crushed its competitiors one by one" and "battle of the academies will take no prisoners" provide a much darker game description. It isn't fun! I am returning my daughter's game immediately!

I purchases this program for my granddaughter. She is a computer wiz and thought there would be no problem. There is really no instructions to explain how to use the program. So we found it kind of hard to play. The sender was great and it got here very quickly and no problems with that.

This game, when compared to other horse games such as Equestrian Dreams, My Horse and Me, and Lets Ride: Riding Star, was awful. The graphics are bad and the story line is so expected. If you are looking for a good horse game that has realistic graphics then don't buy this game.

This program is really cute and entertaining to children who can use the computer and know what they are doing. My Granddaughter has been wanting it for months but I thought it might be out of her league since she's only 5. Boy was I wrong! and VERY impressed at how "User friendly" this game is. If you have a child that knows the computer and likes Horses then this is the game for them :-)

I bought this game for my daughter who loves the Dogz game. I foolishly thought that it would be the same but with horses. I was wrong. It is nothing like it. I think that the packaging and description of Horsez is very deceptive, leading you to believe that is a different type of game then it really is.

Petz Horse Club

First of all, let me say I'm a graphics snob, so a game where the horses don't move almost like real horses tends to turn me completely off. Those games get donated quickly. This one and "horsez2," also known under other names, such as Petz Horse Club (also known as another of the Pippa Funnel games), are very good graphically. I'm playing it for the third time, since there were things I didn't try the first couple of times through, areas I wanted to ride in, etc. Although this is a story driven game that includes training and competing in show-jumping, cross-country and Steeple-chase, there is plenty of time to raise foals, and ride in any of the three areas: grasslands, forest and beach. You can even ride out a little ways into the water on the beach, one of my personal favorites.

Although you win horses in the competitions and can also breed them, be advised they all look the same except for the color. Since there are not very many games where the graphics are realistic enough to satisfy me, I can live with this, but it would be great if someone eventually changes that with the next riding game to come out. (and if anyone knows of one for the PC, let me know! everything I'm finding, with one exception, are several years old, at least.)

I've run this game on both Windows Vista and windows 7, 32 and 64-bit and it works fine with both. No problems installing or running it, though if I remember correctly, I might have had to add the shortcuts to the desktop myself. Over the last few months of trying various riding games, I've found that this game is included on the Pet Horse Club DVD, so you get Horsez2 and then this one, Horsez, for free.