I am very happy to see that Rival Stars does not fit into that pattern: The horses look absolutely solid, in their stables, on the racetrack and in the pasture that makes up the main menu. Time and time again on this website, I have reviewed games with horse models and animation anywhere between awful and mediocre, games that lack polish all around because they‘re made as cheaply as possible. This will not come as a surprise to anyone familiar with Rival Stars‘ mobile origins, but may not be self explanatory from the Steam page alone. The racing aside, this game is very much UI and click based. While the horse racing is a fully three dimensional experience with its own controls and challenges, everything else happens via the User Interface and clicking, the actual upgrades and level ups happening fast and with satisfying audiovisual feedback, but without any additional mechanics or challenges. With some introductory quests and brightly marked buttons to press, you quickly click your way through the game‘s basic mechanics: racing, training, breeding, expanding.

My first persistent impression of said gameplay was how fast paced it is. You meet your mentor Francis Kwan, horse trainer Trenton James, and stable manager Sophie Martin, the characters who will function as your guides and questgivers throughout.Īfter the voiced and animated cutscene, the story falls into the shape of text boxes and character images, with the narrative quickly taking a back seat compared to the gameplay itself. The game begins with a very pretty opening cutscene that introduces you to your family‘s nameless farm and horse racing business, fallen into disrepair after a deadly accident on the track.

Final stretch horse racing sim free