Lucinda Green's Equestrian Challenge (PC)

I bought this game for myself after seeing a clip of it on youtube. I was impressed; the game looked very good.

I ordered it and waited with baited breath until it arrived, and the installed it onto my computer. The installation was very simple. The game runs well on Windows Vista. Below are my thoughts of the game:

General impressions

The game is wonderful to watch and play. The sound is very good. The ...
...very beautiful; the farm is pretty, the riding ring lovely and the jumps very nice. I found the mouse to be a little sluggish at times, but this is easily dealt with by using the arrow keys and the enter key. The game controls are a little strange and you can't change them, which I found annoying at first. However, you do get used to the controls quickly. There's more about the controls in the training section below.

There are three ... more

I bought this game for myself after seeing a clip of it on youtube. I was impressed; the game looked very good.

I ordered it and waited with baited breath until it arrived, and the installed it onto my computer. The installation was very simple. The game runs well on Windows Vista. Below are my thoughts of the game:

General impressions

The game is wonderful to watch and play. The sound is very good. The graphics are very detailed and true to life. They're also very beautiful; the farm is pretty, the riding ring lovely and the jumps very nice. I found the mouse to be a little sluggish at times, but this is easily dealt with by using the arrow keys and the enter key. The game controls are a little strange and you can't change them, which I found annoying at first. However, you do get used to the controls quickly. There's more about the controls in the training section below.

There are three difficulty levels to the game; easy, normal and hard. You can also play against friends as there is a multiplayer option. However, I haven't used this yet so cannot comment on it.

The introduction to the game is very detailed, and really sets you up so you know what you're doing. You start by making yourself; you can choose male/female, select facial features, eye, skin and hair colour and what country you ride for (I think the choices are the UK, USA, Canada and Australia). I liked this step very much; it is quite different to other horse games I've played, where you're given a rider and all you can change is the colour of the clothing.

The next step is to design your horse- you have three breeds to choose from (Thoroughbred, Warmblood cross Thoroughbred and Irish Sport Horse.) Once you've chosen the breed, you can select the gender (Mare, Stallion or Gelding), the coat /mane/tail colour and markings. You can also add quarter marks if you'd like too. I was a little let down by this- the markings are limited and the quarter marks don't seem to show up. I'd also have like to be able to view the horse from more angles. Over all though, it's a nice step.

Training

The training is in three stages; dressage, show jumping and cross-country. You have three levels to play, two star, three star and four star. Two star is the easiest, and four star the hardest.

I'll start with dressage. To be honest, I'm not sure if I like the way you control your horse: you have to tap the arrow keys as they flash up on the screen. At first, i found this quite hard, but once you've played it a few times it does get much easier as the pattern of the keys doesn't change for the level. It's an interesting idea, and much different to the other horse games I've played.

The cross-country is fun. The course is fairly simple compared to the ones you do in the competitions, but it does give you a feel for the controls. You use the W,A,S and D keys to control the horse. The W key is to go faster, the S key to slow down, A is to move left and D to move right. You can also use the shift key to make your horse gallop. If you've chosen the normal or hard difficulties, you use the space bar to jump. The controls are fairly simple- though it you're using a laptop you'll be using your left hand. As a right hander, I found this tricky at first!

Show jumping uses the same controls as cross-country. I must confess that this is my favourite part of the game. The ring is beautifully laid out, the courses decent and authentic. While I like the courses that are already there, they do get a little stale after a while. It would be nice to be able to change the course for each difficulty level. It would also be nice to be able to design your own course.

Caring for your horse

I like this bit; a lot of the other games seem to focus just on the riding, and leave out the horse care. Your horse lives in the pasture, and you have to groom, feed, water and make him/her happy. There are a few things to unlock in this area; I'm not going to say much more because I don't want to spoil the surprise!

Competitions

Again, there are three levels to ride at- two star, three star and four star. You must complete the lower levels before moving on. There are four comps in each level- Adelaide, Kentucky, Badminton, and Burghley.

I was a little let down by the comps- the dressage is good, but fairly simple. The show jumping is fun but as the course doesn't change it's easy to learn and can get a little boring. The cross-country is probably the best bit. However, there are a few problems with it; the courses can be a little confusing, especially the combinations as they are all colour coded the same. A better idea may be to use one colour for the direct route and another for the longer route. I also feel that the game would be enhanced by adding commentary the competitions. It's not already included but I think it would be a good idea.

Overall the competitions are fun but I felt a little let down for a simple reason; the game is too easy to win. Even with many refusals you can still win gold. This may be good for the younger players for but for us adults it's a bit too easy (and not really true to life).

Overall comments

This is a fun game and is a nice way to spend a rainy afternoon! I enjoy playing it but would love to see some changes to make it more challenging. For example, more courses would be nice, as would the ability to download updates for the game. 

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