Horizons: Empire of Istaria Reviews
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"Marginal" is an appropriate word to describe Horizons, in general, because nothing about the game really stands out or is anything more than a slight, incremental improvement over older, existing implementations of similar features. Unfortunately, in some other important respects, Horizons is seriously lacking. Sure, it's got a good, clean interface, for example, but that's not enough to draw someone away from his or her favorite online RPG when the competition offers either a more compelling world to explore or more depth of play, or both. And, like other games of this type, Horizons is overly time-consuming and is inherently not well-suited to the average gamer, so those who haven't yet taken the plunge into and accustomed themselves to paying the monthly fees for this style of gaming probably shouldn't start here and now.
EDBIS gave the game an overall score of 83%, with a snip to follow:
The backdrop to the game is one of the most awe-inspiring that I've seen in a long time and they've managed to do it in such a way that my old computer can still handle it. They put a lot of thought and detail into the environment. It all makes sense to me and is not just the same town over and over. Different races have their own architecture style and the settings themselves make sense. Dragons live near lava, towns are built in such a way as to be defensible and good traffic for trade at the same time. And there are some areas that are just incredible. I ran across an uninhabited area not too far from Mahagra along the shore that looks like it was carved out of crystal. The tints of blue thru clear crystal blends with the snowy area perfectly, as if an artist worked with the architect. The towers reach far, far into the skies and when you make it to the top, the view is amazing... playing this game is half game, half sight-seeing tour for me at times.
