Review for Untitled Goose Game. Game for Mac, Nintendo Switch, PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4, the video game was released on 20/09/2019 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 16/12/2019 The version for Xbox One came out on 16/12/2019
Living and playing video games in 2019 means by now not being surprised at anything and therefore even something extremely bizarre like Untitled Goose Game arrives on Nintendo Switch and PC (Epic Games Store) with yes a certain curiosity but also with an acceptance of such a concept absurd that ten years ago it would have been really difficult to justify. And instead today a "Annoying goose simulator" it can reach second place (the first is clearly from Link's Awakening) in the ranking of the best-selling games on the Nintendo laptop, making its way into a market that is only apparently impenetrable with its charge of English humor and a good dose of madness.
Presented to the public as a bolt from the blue two years ago, almost as if it were a joke or a parody of the stealth genre, the title developed by the Australian House House (former creators of the even stranger Push Me Pull You) then became a reality, in all its sympathy and improbability. Untitled Goose Game - we believe it is not by chance that the name of the game has remained this - follows the imprint left by Goat Simulator, realizing however a much more subtle and refined videogame, tasty and fun.
A goose week
We are in what appears to be a quiet town in the British / Australian countryside. The days go by slowly, as well as the water of the small river that crosses the city and the inhabitants live their affairs with tranquility and mutual respect, unaware of the fact that the most annoying bird with which they have ever had to emerge is just about to emerge. what to do. IS in Untitled Goose Game the player plays the very goose that arrives in spite of carrying, with its charge of hatred towards civilization and desire to pick up any item he finds on the street. The game is divided into a handful of macro-areas which will then turn out to be connected to each other (but only after completing the main quest will all the shortcuts open): we have a vegetable garden complete with a gardener, a pub complete with darts , a street with shops and other classic locations of a small rural town.
Taking command of the bird, our task will be to - avoiding the gazes and attentions of the locals - complete a series of strange tasks and challenges that will fill a notebook callable with the + button. The "missions", if we want to call them, will vary from stealing more or less precious objects from homes and businesses to making people experience misfortunes, such as dropping them on the ground or watering them from a hydrant. The game opts for rosy English humor in Benny Hill or Mr. Bean style, where the maximum of violence is to overturn a bucket on the head of a bouncer of a pub. The strong point of Untitled Goose Game is not to be found so much in the fun caused by these situations, as in the clever ways in which the developers will let us take advantage of our goose's "arsenal" of moves to solve the puzzles that are so reminiscent of classic LucasArts-style adventure game puzzles.
Simple but only in appearance
The control system is simple and with it also the AI of the NPCs, linked to movement routines and always intent on recovering the objects that we will have stolen, but the way in which House House has tied everything behind the scenes is masterful, making Untitled Goose Game a much smarter game than you might think. In fact, a lot of gray matter is needed to discover the way in which to break an expensive vase or change the farmer's hat, taking advantage of the predetermined movements of people, hiding under tables or ledges, using their own moves like the squawking of the goose ( there is a dedicated button!) or the strength of your prehensile beak.
The whole is then accompanied by really lovely graphics and colorful and, above all, classical compositions on the floor that act as a background. In Untitled Goose Game the development team has masterfully managed to use Debussy's Preludes dynamically following the player's actions, adapting the melody to what happens on the screen, intensifying in the most excited moments or when we are close to solving a puzzle and instead relaxing when we are simply swimming towards the next goal. This is something that goes far beyond what we would have expected from an indie production of this type, and guarantees that no one will listen to the exact same soundtrack as another player.
So is Untitled Goose Game a masterpiece, another independent classic that we will remember for years as a sum of gameplay, fun and madness? We have to say that the game has a real and only macro-flaw, which is its very low longevity. It is possible to complete the first tasks within the duration of a football match, adding another hour at most once you have also received the last missions after completing the main line. Of course, it is better to have a few good level puzzles rather than a lot less intelligent, however at least from the point of view of the settings we would have been happy to explore the life of our goose a little more and bring it into situations even more to the limit of the credible.
Maybe they will be considerations that House House will make for a possible follow-up! Untitled Goose Game in the meantime has convinced us and also seen the budget price (it is still on offer for about a week at 14.99 € on the eShop) proves to be a really crazy product but also more than recommended for those who are not afraid to experiment and maybe he hides a spiteful soul within himself.
► Untitled Goose Game is an indie-Puzzle-Tactical game developed by House House and published by Panic for Mac, Nintendo Switch, PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4, the video game was released on 20/09/2019 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 16/12/2019 The version for Xbox One came out on 16/12/2019
