Horses

I love horror games, and I remember there being a lot of controversy around Horses before it came out, and there were some online storefronts that actually refused to allow the game to be released. Honestly, I do not get it. I have played and seen far worse when it comes to horror games as well as games that have nudity, so I have no clue what the tipping point here was. However, all that controversy may have served the developer well as the stores that it did sell on saw it perform pretty well, all things considered. I am not sure I would play through this again, but it certainly left one heck of an impression.

Down On The Farm

Hey, the setup and premise on the surface sound pretty normal. Horses has us playing the role of a young man called Anselmo, and we end up getting a job working on a horse farm. Hey, it is sure to be a hard job, but we need the money, so we have decided to take it. Now, pretty much as soon as we get to the farm, we realize that there is something really off about this place, and that all starts when we meet the, let me just say, eccentric owner of the farm, who is referred to as The Farmer.

Animal Farm, This Is Not

Well, turns out that The Farmer is freaking nuts and the titular Horses are actually people that he has captured and has drugged them and forced them to wear horse head masks, all the while being naked and doing horse-like things such as giving rides and eating hay. Oh, it gets even stranger; he also has a guard dog called Fido… who is a dude wearing a dog mask. Anselmo is clearly disturbed by this, and he befriends a woman horse called Linda, and he wants to help her and the other horses get away. The stuff that The Farmer has them do is very sadistic. Think of stuff like the Saw movies, Hostel, and even the horrific Human Centipede, and you will have a good idea of the levels of depravity that this Farmer guy has going on.

A Short, But Memorable Time

You are probably looking at a couple of hours max to play through Horses. The game is played from the first-person, and you will have to do a series of tasks such as watering things, basic farming jobs, and so on. It basically boils down to walking from point A to point B, completing a task, carrying a tool, or something like that. You will also have to interact with characters, and you do get a choice of what you say here, but from what I could tell, the choices you make will not result in any sort of different ending. It may be basic, but it all works well enough, and it kept me engaged as I played through the game. Plus, as I said, it is short, so you do not have to worry about this overstaying its welcome.

Art?

Make no mistake about it, Horses is a very disturbing game, seeing the people/horses be forced to walk around naked in a horse mask, and them having to do all this stuff is pretty brutal. However, the developer has gone for a very unique style, the black and white nature of the game, the way certain sections are framed, and the clever use of live action footage when necessary all add up to give the game a unique and disturbing vibe. Hey, this will not work for some people, and they will find it just too over-the-top weird, but for those who love more disturbing and out-there horror movies, this is sure to be something that clicks with you.

Pros:

• The story was actually fantastic
• I liked Linda and wanted to help her
• There is some real messed up stuff in this game
• The whole artistic direction is pretty unique

Cons:

• It may be too weird and freaky for some people
• I cannot see myself playing this a second time