Rarely do I burst out laughing while playing a games tutorial. 4th and Battery's
Unpleasant Horse, however, makes me do just that. It's a simple enough premise: you direct an 'unpleasant horse' as it flies through a mountainous realm filled with
Strauss' Blue Danube, 'Pritty Ponies', pleasant clouds and small birds. Your job, as an unpleasant horse, is to turn the clouds stormy, to hit small birds and to force the Pritty Ponies to the ground where running circular saws await.
What ensues is a game full of storm clouds, sweet music and eviscerated pony parts.
Unpleasant Horse is the first game from Popcap-owned developer 4th and Battery. Whilst Unpleasant Horse is far from Popcap's normally family-friendly games, it does has a distinctive Popcap quality and style; the artwork is superb and the and the gameplay is highly polished.
Unpleasant Horse is extremely entertaining and you will soon find your time fly by, as you try and try to break your own high score. So far, I have only reached 226,960 points, and my fingers are itching to get back to the game, in order to bring more unpleasantness to Pritty Ponies.
One thing must be made clear though. Popcap's games have a reputation for cutesy, family-suitable content. Unpleasant Horse is a definite departure from said reputation; it is not a family friendly game, and I do not recommend that young children play it.
Unpleasant Horse has the potential to become the next Angry Birds or Doodle Jump, but at the moment it is still in its early stages. The game currently lacks Game Center integration, and whilst it does have a scoring system, there is no way to share or compare scores with your friends. That aside, this is a fantastic game that will have you returning time and time again, for more and more unpleasantness.
Unpleasant Horse is a game you pick up to pass five minutes, but inadvertently spend an hour on.
Unpleasant Horse is currently available on the iPad and the iPhone for free for a limited time only.
Labels: 2011, 4th and Battery, Cathal Geoghegan, iOS, iPad, iPhone, Mobile, Popcap, Review, Unpleasant Horse