Horses Review: A Disturbing Descent into Surreal Horror Game
"Art has long been a vehicle for transgression and subversion, providing curious observers an avenue to ruminate on uncomfortable, often taboo topics."
Much like David Lynch’s Lost Highway or the mesmerizing puzzle-mystery Immortality, the latest game from developer Santa Ragione, titled Horses, uses its medium to tell a morally challenging story. It is an affecting first-person horror game that, despite some pacing and signposting issues, tells a story guaranteed to stick with you—whether you want it to or not.
A Warning Before Entry
It is impossible to discuss Horses without addressing its nature. This is an unsettling and graphic experience. The game includes a lengthy content warning detailing themes of gory imagery, psychological abuse, and suicide. It explicitly warns players that they will likely take part in activities that are "oppositional to your own moral beliefs."
This transgressive nature has led to significant controversy; Horses has been barred from sale on both Steam and the Epic Games Store (despite review keys being distributed through the latter), though it remains available on platforms like Itch.io and GOG.
Life on the Farm
You step into the boots of Anselmo, a troubled 20-year-old shipped away from college by his parents to work on a rural farm for two weeks. It becomes immediately apparent that something is deeply wrong. The titular "horses" are, in fact, naked humans with horse masks permanently affixed to their heads.
From this point forward, the game functions as an interactive silent film. The aesthetic is stark black and white, mixing live-action footage, 3D animated sequences, and old-timey title cards for dialogue. You are held captive by the farmer, whose mouth enunciates monologues through vile grins, often spliced with real-world footage of vegetables being watered.
The atmosphere is heavy, buffeted by a minimal soundscape and the constant whirring of film grain that taunts you, ensuring you feel isolated as you endure your weeks of work.
The Gameplay Loop
The gameplay spans approximately three hours. At the dawn of each day, you are given a list of chores—feeding the dog (Photo), chopping firewood, or tending to the "horses." While these tasks seem simple on paper, they often lead to confronting scenes that illuminate the Farmer's psychopathic goals.
Your inventory is strictly limited to two items at a time, forcing you to run back and forth across the small, open map. While the space is contained, the threatening elements within it are constantly shifting. NPCs move around the space, complicating jobs and providing jump scares.
However, this is where Horses stumbles. The game suffers from mundane signposting issues that muddle the pacing. You may find yourself "pixel hunting" for the right piece of equipment or overthinking simple puzzles.
Example: On one specific day, the objective was simply to feed the horses. Despite meeting basic requirements, nothing changed. Progress was halted until I happened to find a specific item I didn't know I needed.
In a game that feels so intentional and curated, wandering around aimlessly kills the ambiance. The low-stakes gameplay struggles to keep the player gripped if they aren't fully invested in the unfolding narrative.
The Nightmare Beneath
Where Horses succeeds is in its narrative and atmosphere. It is a "video nasty" come to life. As you interact with the curiously animated locals—including a veterinarian, a wealthy businessman, and a priest—it becomes clear they are complicit in the Farmer's actions. The unnerving writing and sinister characterization increase the sense of dread, forcing you to question not just the treatment of the "animals," but the Farmer's plans for you.
The horror doesn't end when the sun sets. Anselmo slips into dreamlike states where reality bleeds into imagination. These sequences manifest the Farmer's sexual and religious traumas through dark allegories presented in a raw, uncensored format. Instead of text dumps, the game relies on sharp dialogue and clever symbolic iconography.
Good and Bad
The game offers a distinct and uncompromising vision, presenting a raw and challenging narrative that delves into taboo subjects without any censorship, allowing for a deeper exploration of complex themes. Its unique aesthetic, characterized by a silent film style complemented by black-and-white visuals and mixed media, effectively contributes to a nightmare-like atmosphere that immerses players in its unsettling world. The sound design, featuring minimalist audio and film grain effects, further emphasizes the sense of isolation and dread within the gameplay experience. Additionally, the sharp dialogue and morally repugnant characters are crafted to elicit genuine feelings of dread, making the narrative both impactful and memorable.
Cons of the game include several significant issues that affect the gameplay experience. Firstly, there are pacing problems where signposting for objectives is often unclear, causing players to experience aimless wandering throughout the game. This can lead to frustration as players struggle to determine the next steps they should be taking. Secondly, the phenomenon of "pixel hunting" emerges, as progress can be severely stalled by the need to find difficult-to-locate items that are required to complete even simple tasks. This can contribute to a sense of annoyance and may disrupt the overall flow of the game. Lastly, players may experience a sense of repetition due to the game's reliance on a gameplay loop centered around daily chores. This repetitive nature can feel tedious and may break the tension that players expect to maintain throughout their gaming experience. Overall, these cons highlight potential barriers to player enjoyment and engagement with the game.
Bottom Line
Horses is a chilling, nerve-shredding short story that propels you through a series of increasingly heinous tasks. It is an admirably bracing vision that harnesses the interactivity of video games to make the player complicit in its horror.
While the harrowing atmosphere is frustratingly diminished by repetitive activities and unclear signposting—making it less cohesive than contemporaries like Mouthwashing—it remains a unique, singular experience. It is a game that asks difficult questions and offers no easy answers, leaving you to ponder your time on the farm long after the credits roll.
About the Writer
Jenny, the tech wiz behind Jenny's Online Blog, loves diving deep into the latest technology trends, uncovering hidden gems in the gaming world, and analyzing the newest movies. When she's not glued to her screen, you might find her tinkering with gadgets or obsessing over the latest sci-fi release.What do you think of this blog? Write down at the COMMENT section below.
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