Apart from eating, biting or yawning, they sometimes open their jaws to evade bit pressure, but the mouth does not just stay open unless there is a concrete reason for it. To a layman, any picture of a horse with its mouth open may give the impression that horses just let their jaws drop sometimes, or even that they breathe through their mouth while running.īoth of that is false: horses cannot breathe through their mouths. While the racing focus and lack of three dimensional interaction „at home“ means you‘ll rarely see your horses at a walk or trot, their movements are fluid and pretty throughout.Ī weird detail remains that the horses‘ mouths are constantly open while running.

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 seventh-place team will contest an intercontinental playoff for a berth.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. The leading six positions in South America will secure a direct spot. The 2026 edition of the World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada is expanding to a 48-team format. The first round of South American qualifying will be completed on Friday when Brazil hosts Bolivia and Uruguay plays against Chile.Īll 10 teams in the region will play their second round on Tuesday. Ecuador has minus three points because of a FIFA punishment that caused a deduction in South American qualifying for the falsification of birth information of defender Byron Castillo, who is of Colombian origin. Paraguay and Peru drew 0-0.Īrgentina and Colombia lead the standings with three points. 'This was a tough match to play, a very physical one.'Įarlier, Colombia beat Venezuela 1-0 with a header by Rafael Santos Borré in the 46th minute. 'Every match needs 100% from us in this qualifying,' Messi said after the match. Argentina's coach, who is yet to lose a match in South American qualifying, brought Di María in during the second half, but Argentina continued struggling to get clear chances.

Scaloni also used Lautaro Martínez as his center forward instead of Julián Álvarez.

He benched Ángel Di María and started Nicolás González. Goalkeeper Hernán Galíndez did not move as Messi's shot from the edge of the box went to the back of the net, near the left post.Īrgentina coach Lionel Scaloni, who completed five years in the job on Thursday, surprised fans with a different formation from the one that played and won the World Cup final over France in Qatar.

Rival stars horse racing facebook