Goat Simulator is the latest in simulation technology from the awesome Coffee Stain Studios. Released on April 1st the game is exclusively for PC and can be purchased from the digital download service Steam. Many have called the game an April Fool’s joke that somehow wasn’t a joke, but is there more behind the entertaining concept?
The game is not like many other simulators. The realism extends to a number of features such as gravity, the environment and to some extent the main character, whom we shall simply refer to as Mr. Goat. Almost instantaneously after gamers get their hands on the game, the realism then is replaced by fun.
Starting life as a developer’s test shines through in the quirky nature and bug styled features. The overarching presentation fits into the same rough category. A bright vibrant colour palette has been used to great effect to enhance the playful theme that runs throughout the title. The textures may not be of the highest quality and the models could do with some tweaking but the visual presentation certainly doesn’t detract from the game. The thuds of Mr. Goat hitting the floor and screams of fleeing civilians go well to match the entertaining visual half of Goat Simulator’s presentation. The music, especially when near the ‘Flappy Goat’ mini game, can become repetitive but does fade into the background due to its gentle temperament.
Goat Simulator has simplistic controls that will allow players to pick up and play even if they are not used to a mouse and keyboard setup. Movement is covered by WASD as with the majority of PC titles but it is E for licking, R for special moves, left mouse button for head butting and right mouse button for flipping that will provide entertainment. Allowing anyone to play the game is a great achievement as it can be just as enjoyable watching someone else walking around as a goat as doing it yourself.
There are plenty of secrets to find within the relatively small game world. The map is comprised of a few houses, a building site, an extremely dangerous road (thanks to a lunatic driver), an explosive gas station and a couple of fields. It doesn’t sound like much but there is plenty of content squeezed in. Also the development team has added a lot of Easter Egg like features in for players to find and discover. Some are even left in plain sight with the objective of getting to them being easier said than done.
Gamers can easily spend a couple of hours finding the golden goat statues alone. Something that can be classed as a side quest to the real main section of the game, the explosive bit. There are plenty of ‘Michael Bay’ style explosions to cause destruction with around the game world. From the plentiful vehicles dotted around the map to a gas station they will all send Mr. Goat flying through the air. This destructive nature will earn players points and points mean prizes. In this case completing challenges is the prize.
Goat Simulator has been added onto Steam’s Workshop feature. This means that players can develop their own content, upload it to Steam and let others from around the world to download it. This content is then rated by the community so that pieces of quality content can be simply found and installed. Whilst little extra content is currently available, the items on the Workshop show promise of future content that will add more replayability to the title.
For a fun, explosive, enjoyable, completely over the top simulator where you get to control a slightly aggressive furry animal look no further than Goat Simulator. Full of things to find and do, the standard map offers hours of content. This is sure to be expanded upon with the brilliant use of a Steam Workshop. The game is light hearted and can easily immerse gamers in a fun game world far away from other tense and serious games. Thus giving players an amusing way to relax whilst still causing destruction. This title is a clear candidate for Goat of the Year 2014!
[Editor’s Note: Goat Simulator was reviewed on the PC. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]