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UNTITLED GOOSE GAME (PC/MAC, Switch)

23/9/2019

14 Comments

 
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"GOOSE! How low can you go?"

​When the trailer for Untitled Goose Game dropped however long ago, it created quite a storm.

"It's a lovely morning in the village... and you are a horrible goose" we were told, and it was perfect.

​We all wanted that game. We all wanted to be that goose. 

Because somehow we do think of geese as horrible don't we? The trailer spoke to something primal within all of us. Geese live without consequences. They don't have to pay taxes. They don't have to worry about upsetting someone. They do what they want, when they want.

And somehow we just know that all geese are massive dickheads, and couldn't care less who knows it. I mean, they honk, for pity's sake. What use is honking other than to startle people? That's why car horns honk. They don't trill or chirp. Honking is an aggressive noise, and geese must surely have been given the ability to honk because they are intended to be nature's arseholes. 

Don't we all, on some level, want to live the goose life? 

Well now we can.
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PLEASE, WHAT IS GOOD FOR THE GOOSE?
Untitled Goose Game isn't entirely what I was expecting... and yet, it also is. It's easier to fit it into a genre box than I'd thought: it's a stealth game. Stealth games are, essentially, puzzle games - where there's usually more than one solution to a puzzle.

And it is thus here; it's like the sneaky bits in Metal Gear Solid or Hitman, although the game doesn't end when you get rumbled. You'll just be chased off, and have to repeat the steps of your "mission".

Your mission? In UGG, as you move from area to area in a quiet, pretty, village, you're given a list of objectives that usually require you to terrorise the residents in some way; stealing their belongings, breaking their belongings, making them look like idiots...

I'd been braced for something far more chaotically open world-ish, like Goat Simulator, but Untitled Goose Game is all the better for having a semblance of structure.

The first "level" does a good job of introducing you to the concept, as you steal a garderner's lunch, throw his rake in a lake, soak him in water (in the manner of your choosing), and honk at him at just the right moment while he's putting up a "NO GEESE" sign, so that he hammers his thumb.

The challenge comes from needing to outwit the villagers, who'll search for their missing things, shoo you away, or engage in a tug-of-war over their belongings. Some of the objectives are pretty simple - steal stuff - while others require a degree of oblique planning, setting off a kind of chain reaction of consequences. 

How do you lure somebody away from the item you need? How do you force a boy to wear the wrong pair of glasses? How do you break a dartboard? That's the sort of lateral thinking required, and the sandbox-style world allows you to interact with all sorts of items that could, possibly, set off the domino effect that you need.
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HAVE A GANDER AT THIS
The good news about Untitled Goose Game is that it is often very funny without ever trying too hard to be funny. The simple, stylised, visuals manage to convey a surprising amount of emotion among the villagers - ranging from confusion to fear - and the goose itself is beautifully convincing. That, given the response to the original trailer, is what most of us wanted from it.

Given that you can't die, and you can't fail your mission - just have it thwarted repeatedly - there is a gentle pace, where you can experiment, and try different things. 

The bad news is... the ideas almost run out of steam before the end. Your goals do start to become very same-y, and there's only so many times you can slowly drag something to a place while avoiding a person, before it starts to test patience.

What also wears somewhat thin before the end is the novelty. While there has never been a game like this before, aesthetically-speaking... beneath its goose-y trappings, it really is fairly tried-and-tested formula. Fortunately, it never tries too hard to be wacky, and it's a short enough game that - even if it does start to repeat itself - nothing really outstays its welcome.

It's worth noting, however, that even if you're a fan of the idea of a game in which you play a horrible goose, and were won over by that trailer, your engagement is going to depend upon whether stealth is your thing. Often, solving a puzzle is less logic, and more trial-and-error, in a kind of classic point-and-click adventure way.

It's rarely less than satisfying - though sometimes simply a relief - when your behaviour leads to another objective being crossed off... and when that leads to a new area opening up.

If you prefer games with a little more action, a little more adrenaline, then this isn't for you. If you've always wanted to be a goose behaving like a dick, then this is your dream come true.

​OVERALL: Honk honk honk out of honk honk honk honk honk.
14 Comments
MrPSB
23/9/2019 09:16:57 am

As a horrible goose in a lovely village, I can say with confidence this game is an accurate simulation of my life.

Reply
Darren link
23/9/2019 09:23:05 am

Looks great, plays great, but I got bored with it really quickly. If only you could accidentally murder the villagers... 🤔

Reply
Wapojif
23/9/2019 09:23:59 am

I enjoyed following its development as a daft concept, but now it's out the asking price is a bit ridiculous. At least it's on launch discount, so I picked it up and have found it a bit frustrating so far. I've had more enjoyment watching other people trying to play it on YouTube clips and having a laugh through that.

I spent the weekend on Celeste's DLC, which is an astonishing indie game. Total masterpiece. But also frustrating at times. For different reasons.

Reply
Mr.S
23/9/2019 10:20:41 am

I recall being at a park once, where the geese had learnt to approach people with bread in an aggressive hissing manner in order to have them throw it away from them to drive the goose away. They’d evolved to learn to effectively mug people for food.
Having lots of experience feeding aquatic wildfowl, I’ve come to the conclusion it’s more fun to throw bread AT the birds rather than for them, they don’t seem to mind and landing bits of bread on a swans back is always fun (especially when they don’t notice right away!)

Reply
Voodoo76
23/9/2019 11:29:05 am

You're feeding bread to the birds? Jesus Christ haven't you read the signs?

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Mr.S
23/9/2019 03:17:26 pm

The signs are a myth! Swans are apparently starving as people have stopped throwing bread at them!

James of the North
23/9/2019 11:50:00 am

Those seeking more action and adrenaline should wait for the sequel, rumoured to feature swan/swan attacks.

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Meatballs-me-branch-me-do
23/9/2019 03:15:47 pm

Friend of mine bought this and has beaten it, and says it’s not worth the eye-watering asking price. I am inclined to agree, especially when after the launch discount is gone, it’ll be the same price as Celeste.

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Gaming Mill link
23/9/2019 05:20:38 pm

I've bought this.

I used to deliver scrap pallets to some old boy in the middle of nowhere. He had a miniature steam railway in his long garden (just a straight track) that he used to saw up the pallets in at one end then put them on a tiny coach and take them down to his boiler house where he'd burn them to keep his house warm and get hot water.

He had two geese and a right pair of nasty bastards they were. I went there one month and asked him where the geese were;

"In the pot!"

"Why?" I asked.

"No eggs."

"Why?" I asked again.

"They were both lads."

Still, it was December and he'd saved them until Xmas and I got a fiver for my troubles.

Reply
Robobob
23/9/2019 08:16:56 pm

The first "level" does a good job of introducing you to the concept, as you steal a garderner's lunch, throw his rake in a lake, soak him in water (in the manner of your choosing), and honk at him at just the right moment while he's putting up a "NO GEESE" sign, so that he hammers his thumb."

Sold it to me with that paragraph alone.

Reply
Mr Bass
23/9/2019 10:00:03 pm

Hmm. I've read through the review, and then through the comments but I'm still unsure...can anybody tell me if this game is worth a gander?

Reply
Meatballs-me-branch-me-do
23/9/2019 11:21:46 pm

So long as you aren't one of several so-called journalists who refer to the goose as 'quacking' in their reviews...

Reply
BigChops
27/9/2019 10:32:28 am

This game paints geese as mischievous little buggers but they’re far more sinister than that. A big bastard goose came at me once. Chomped a hole straight through my jeans and drew blood. Their bills are serrated around the edge. Like little razor blades.................Bastards.

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Bruce Flagpole
27/9/2019 01:39:23 pm

Talk about disappointing...I'd heard of the game but not seen it, and assumed it was about that guy from Top Gun.

Reply



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