Info
Developed By: Maxis
Published By: EA
Platforms Available On: PS5/4, Xbox Series X/S and PC.
Reviewed on PS5, a code for the expansion was very kindly supplied for the purpose of this review.
Overview
Work hard and play hard with animal friends and your own stretch of land in The Sims
4 Horse Ranch Expansion Pack*! Raise, train, and form special bonds with majestic horses that are customizable members of your family. You can also care for mini sheep and mini goats, or make a living selling homemade Nectar. Carve out your own unique life on the ranch. Purchase through August 31 to get bonus items for your hard-working Sims to enjoy.
KEY FEATURES:
Rockin' Rancher Digital Content — Treat your Sim to some relaxation after a hard day's work with a resonator guitar, wagon wheel art, and rustic rocking chair available when you order through August 31.
Make a Life — Get up early in the morning, look out at the big open countryside, and know that all your work is worth it. Spend your days keeping your animals happy and clean, harvesting Prairie Grass to feed them, collecting Horse Manure to fertilize your plants, and making your own Nectar to sell. Do it all on a ranch you design, whether that means a traditional cabin or a big red barn.
Bond with Animals — Fill your ranch with animal friends and carve out a life together. Your horses – including adorable foals – are part of your household and have lots of special interactions with both Sims and other horses. You can also care for mini goats and mini sheep, and invite neighbors to come see how cute they are.
Join a Thriving Community — Living on a ranch has its moments of peace and solitude, but there's also a lively social scene. Your Sims can go into town to meet friends at the bar, blow off steam at the dance hall, or train at the equestrian park. They can also host events like cookouts and dances on their own property, and hire a ranch hand to help when the work builds up.
Raise Horses — Horses are part of the family. Customize hoofed friends in Create a Sim, or get new horses by rescuing or purchasing them. Foals can also be born on your ranch. Sims can learn the Riding skill, and horses can train in the Agility and Jumping skills. Skilled horses and riders can even win awards at the equestrian center.
Overview taken from the official game description on the PlayStation store.
Review
Sims games in general are famously known for being massive games, a life sim in the full sense of the world where in the main you play god and control every single aspect of your Sim's life and control how they evolve. The different expansions over the years have never really sparked my interest however on first sight the Horse Ranch expansion for Sims 4 peaked my interest and definitely reignited the childhood flame of younger me who longed to be a cowboy.
Now Horse Ranch isn't just playing about with horses or just watching horses this is right down to the nitty gritty of nurturing a horse into a prime animal, whether you choose to buy a foal and start from fresh or re-home a rescue horse and earn it's trust to form a formidable bond, either way you are about to embark on a life like no other. One of the best parts for me is building the ranch from scratch where you choose where to set your roots and then you get to build up your ranch from the ground up and of course with it being Sims you get to customise it in whichever wacky style you wish or go for something a bit more conservative, it's your choice.
When it comes to choosing your horse you can go different routes, buy a new horse or a young horse (foal) that you need to grow and evolve into the performing machine you need, this is a long term plan and patience is key to enable you to work with your new animal. The other choice is to look at adopting a horse, this will offer you horses that are fully grown and are in the main ready to go into competitions and shows. In terms of personality a foal is probably easier in the main with temperament being easier to train and bond with, you'll find that the more mature horses although they are more or less ready to go they will most probably have personality issues you need to deal with, when I chose my horse I went with a rescue horse and he came with anger issues which meant off the bat I needed to treat him with kid gloves and give him lots of love and attention meaning I could work with him and help him become the performing stallion I required and also become the companion I needed.
Community is the key to this game as you are entering into an already bustling community welcoming you with open arms and giving you the resources you need to settle down and build your life and become the ranch hand you always dreamed you would or if you're not that way inclined you can always employ a ranch hand to do it all for you, it really is down to you. Build relationships with your fellow townsfolk, building friendships and the more intimate relationships again it's all down to you. You also need to earn money to enable you to build your ranch, you can choose to keep on the good side of the law and earn an honest crust or decide to take part in more shadier practices - all will bring money to the table whichever way you decide.
The game definitely has a certain charm to it as you build a bond with your horse which quickly becomes more than just pet seeing you spend hours on end making your horse comfortable and making sure it feels safe and happy and don't forget cleaning up all the poop that it just loves to dump pretty much everywhere leaving you with the clean up job. You can choose to dispose of this rather smelly matter or use this to cultivate crops to enable you to become more profitable.
The Sims games have always been a game I found you could easily get lost in for hours if not days on end, Horse Ranch is one that caught my interest and will definitely continue to do so, I have enjoyed delving deep into this world and building a full new life within this fascinating world. The community aspect in the background is fun to evolve but the biggest part of the expansion is becoming a successful ranch holder and building a relationship with your horse or horses. I have played horse games before where the game became bland pretty quickly, however this is totally different I found this fascinating from the start and really enjoyed starting my journey with horses. I've probably missed a raft of things I needed to cover in this review but this expansion is really something you need to experience to really get into the vast world that awaits you, I fully recommend that you do.
Graphics and Sound
The expansion is made for the standard last gen models, unsurprisingly really as the base game is still a last gen game, you still get a feeling that this is a next gen game as the graphics hold up pretty well. If you have played Sims before then you'll be aware of what to expect as it looks pretty standard compared to the main game. The main game world looks fantastic and really has that authentic "ranch" feel to it and is a pleasure to play through.
The soundtrack of the game is pretty chilled and adds to the overall feeling of the game. If you are used to Sims games then you'll be used to the chatter that goes on is pretty much a trademark sound and you expect to hear more of it here and it works.
Summary
Time now then to put my thoughts into a summary, overall I really enjoyed Horse Ranch Expansion alot more than I originally thought I would've done, this isn't a horse sim this is a lifestyle sim where you build your character into a successful ranch holder with all parts of the lifestyle covered. This won't be an expansion you can have a quick go of you need to put the hours in to enter a vast world that evolves before your very eyes. If you're a fan of Sims then you definitely need to get this expansion and if you've never played it before then this is a perfect time to saddle up and jump in.
Verdict-Out of 5 
EXCELLENT
I give Sims 4: Horse Ranch Expansion an excellent score of 5 a vast expansion that brings a whole new feeling to the already huge Sims universe. A definite recommendation from me definitely an expansion not to be missed.
Sims 4: Horse Ranch Expansion is available now on all major platforms (listed above)
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