Geese are really going from strength to strength, aren’t they? After conquering the indie scene in House House's Untitled Goose Game, the species is now taking to the sky with Mighty Goose, a side-scrolling shooter that offers a flavour of games like Metal Slug and Mercenary Kings. With minimal plot to back up the chaotic gameplay, you’re tasked with simply going from level to level in a variety of locations to unleash destruction upon waves of enemies. That’s really all there is to it.
Starting off with a standard hand cannon, Mighty Goose feels reasonably well equipped from the start, but it’s not long until you begin to pick up new weapons like shotguns, machine guns, and rocket launchers. These weapons have a finite amount of ammo, so you go right back to the hand cannon once you run out, but thankfully weapon pickups are incredibly frequent throughout the game.
Actual gunplay feels slick and responsive, and you can shoot either horizontally or vertically; jumping and then shooting down actually lets you hover in the air for a short while, as the kickback from the guns keeps Mighty Goose airborne. This works even better with more powerful guns like the shotgun, and is incredibly satisfying to pull off when you encounter an enemy with a front-facing impenetrable shield.
Although the gameplay feels great for the most part, the action can often get a little too chaotic. Mighty Goose isn’t the most resilient of protagonists, with a measly four chunks of health keeping him going at all times; when you’re up against dozens of enemies coming from every direction, don’t be surprised if you get hit by a projectile you never even saw coming. Keeping track of all the action can be tough, and the game almost feels a bit unfair at times as a result.
To exacerbate this issue, the checkpoints throughout can be needlessly harsh, and actually seem to get wider apart the further along you progress. Thankfully (well, in a way), the steep difficulty curve comes pretty early on, so once you get to grips with how attacking and dodging works, you’ll find your ability to stay alive gets much better as you get into the later levels.
The game also comes with an Armoury option within the main menu; here, you can toggle various abilities to aid you in battle, such as the ability to increase your movement. You can also select your secondary weapon, which rather hilariously starts off with a simple “honk” that accomplishes nothing other than a cheeky giggle.
Other than the overly chaotic nature of the action, Mighty Goose is a visual treat, oozing style with its character and environmental design. The companions are also well realised, and can actually be played by a second person via co-op, although their abilities are arguably far inferior to Mighty Goose itself. Regardless, whether you play on your own or with a friend, Mighty Goose is a blast, and while it’s a bit short-lived at three-to-four hours, it’s definitely worth a shot if you’re up for some over-the-top run 'n' gun action.
Comments (20)
Looks REALLY rad, but hopefully the $20 price is worth it
I'm sold on the fact you can honk. (Yes, I am a simple creature.)
Yeah looks very Metal Slug, I dig it.
GOTY 2021 candidate. Press "X" to honk.
Looks awesome, please make it easier to see enemy bullets
This looks cool! I might have to get it on sale....
looks fun. with the untitled goose game and now this. who would have ever thought geese would be a thing in video games.
You can also select your secondary weapon, which... starts off with a simple “honk”
A game - or a review - which fails to note a hero's battle cry is spiritually incomplete. Donkey Kong beats his chest (as well as he might), Mega Man leaps and shouts when he defeats a Robot Master (take a look if you don't believe me, his mouth is open!), and Amaterasu howls. And thus into glory.
Is the game getting DLC or such?
I'm really glad this reviewed well. Been looking forward to it so I'll definitely be sure to pick this up at some point.
Gonna have to see a trailer, but this seems pretty sick
That's what I hate about most pretty pixel art games, they're always so short.
I’m playing this now and I dig it. It desperately needs diagonal shooting though. So many times I tried (and assumed) that shooting at an angle was a given. Only to get blasted because I imagined my bullets would go where I wanted. The vehicles have 360 shooting. Which makes it that much more noticeable, when you’re on foot again and it’s taken away from you.
Sounds fun. Add to future Wishlist...
@Realness That's how metal slug worked so i guess they're doing the same. On metal slug though you can shoot diagonally by moving between horizontal and vertical shooting quickly, can you do that in this game?
Have a gander, I see what you did there..
@GrailUK Honking was one of my favorite things about UGG. But in that game honking actually was incorporated into the game. It's always good to have a honk action in a game. 😊
@jcvandan not that I’m aware of. Shooting diagonally should be a qol feature. Paying homage, to the detriment of gameplay, should have been reconsidered here.
I'm Ol' Gregggggggggg
@Realness It depends... games like Mega Man, Pang & The Binding of Isaac, to name a few, restrict the direction you can shoot by design.
Including that wouldn't be a QOL feature. It's by design.
But I'm talking out of my ass, I haven't played this game and you may be right. I just wanted to point that out
@SPM Yeah you have a point, in metal slug every enemy position is based around the fact you can only shoot on two axes. Surely this game is the same. Although I'm also talking out my anoos as i also haven't played it.
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