X
CNET logo Why You Can Trust CNET

Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Reviews ethics statement

Real Adventures: Pet Vet review: Real Adventures: Pet Vet

What happens when you let Vets write videogames? You get a starkly realistic - and sometimes tedious - medical adventure game.

Alex Kidman
Alex Kidman is a freelance word writing machine masquerading as a person, a disguise he's managed for over fifteen years now, including a three year stint at ZDNet/CNET Australia. He likes cats, retro gaming and terrible puns.
Zoe Kidman
Alex Kidman

If you've got a child who's really, really keen to become a vet, then they could do worse than to spend some time with Mindscape's Real Adventures: Pet Vet. The Real part of the name isn't kidding, either; this is a quite detailed simulation that puts you in the role of a new vet, charged with diagnosing and treating a variety of animals.

7.1

Real Adventures: Pet Vet

The Good

Good depth of care for various animals. Tons of medical detail.

The Bad

Very text heavy. Game elements are limited. Very slow pace.

The Bottom Line

What happens when you let Vets write videogames? Real Adventures: Pet Vet is what happens, a starkly realistic – and thus sometimes tedious – medical adventure game.

While real vets don't use a stylus to rub out circles to treat broken limbs, it's otherwise quite realistic, but that's double-edged. The game is very text heavy and very slow, and younger players - such as our test subject, a six year old girl who otherwise loves animals to bits - will quickly become bored with the medical terminology.