Goat Simulator: The GOATY – Nintendo Switch

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Title: Goat Simulator: The GOATY
Developer: Coffee Stain Publishing
Publisher: Coffee Stain Publishing
Website: https://www.coffeestainstudios.com/games/goat-simulator/
Genre: Simulation, Action, Adventure
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Audience: Teen – Violence, Blood, Crude Humour
Release Date: 23/01/2019
Price: £26.99 – Rapid Reviews UK was very kindly provided with a review code for this title.

What the Developers say

The latest in goat simulation technology.

Goat Simulator is the latest in goat simulation technology, bringing next-gen goat simulation to YOU. You no longer have to fantasize about being a goat your dreams have finally come true!

Goat Simulator is all about causing as much destruction as you possibly can as a goat. It has been compared to an old-school skating game, except instead of being a skater, you’re a goat, and instead of doing tricks, you wreck stuff. Destroy things with style and you’ll earn even more points!

Game Contains: Goat Simulator, Goat MMO Simulator, Goat Simulator: GoatZ, Goat Simulator: Payday and Goat Simulator: Waste of Space.

Introduction

Goat Simulator is a game which will always divide opinion. From its humble begins as an iOS game on the App Store, it now commands a £26.99 price point on the Nintendo eShop. Filled with all previous DLC, the GOATY edition now packs a rather comprehensive offering. Unique in its approach and limited in its appeal, one thing is for sure: Goat Simulator has been a raging commercial success. It is quirky, broken and unapologetic, yet has something about it which keeps people coming back for more.

Gameplay and Replayability

Played from a third-person, or third-Goat, perspective, the Coffee Stains Studio creation of Goat Simulator has you trotting around open-world environments causing as much mayhem and destruction as possible. The style and panache with which you destroy the elements affect your score, and this is one of the key indicators to your successes on the map.

Armed with the ability to jump, lick, ram and to initiate ragdoll physics, you must interact with the environments in any way you see fit. Strap a firework to your back and fly through the sky, ram a petrol tanker and watch it explode nearby some unsuspecting victims, jump on a bike while manning a baseball dispenser and shoot the inhabitants of the town…the list goes on. It can indeed be said that the only limit here is your imagination.

The ragdoll physics brings me nicely on to the crux of Goat Simulator: the game mechanics themselves. Although polished in design and content, the manner with which the goat saunters around the landscapes is far from so. Never fear, this is intentional. With a focus on outrageousness and ridicule, the clumsy way that your goat moves and interacts with the environment only serves to provide more moments of hilarity. This is an excellent ploy by the developers themselves as it ensures that there can be zero complaints about the goat and his gait.

Being the GOATY edition, this version offers up the greatest variety of goat simulation out there. Including the base game, it also comes with Goat MMO Simulator, Goat Simulator: GoatZ, Goat Simulator: Payday and Goat Simulator: Waste of Space. Each has its variation on the theme and ensures there is enough to keep you interested…for the most part.

The Goat Simulator: Payday expansion has you and three other characters looking to make a quick buck by targeting shops, stalls and commercial buildings to steal from. One minute I was blowing up a birthday cake with dynamite, the next I was stealing a cheese sandwich. All of this is done with a merry-band of assailants, one of which is a dolphin in a wheelchair. Go figure!

Another noteworthy expansion is the Goat Simulator: GoatZ, which as the name suggests, has been inspired by many a zombie apocalypse. Here, you have a health bar and need to keep this topped up by eating the brains of zombies. The other expansion packs are clear evidence they have been stylised on some very famous entertainment forms. Goat Simulator: Waste of Space has made full use of the Star Wars font, much in the same way Goat Simulator: Goat City Bay looks suspiciously like the writing used for GTA: Vice City.

I particularly liked the ‘Waste of Space’ expansion, as it tasked you with supporting the goal of establishing a new colony by raising funds. The world itself is fantastically well-designed and offered a welcome change from the neighbourhood as you venture out to new lands. Equipped with hoverbikes, spacecraft and a new astrogoat suit, earning money has never been so easy or fun!

Through the explanation of some of the expansion packs, hopefully, you can form a pretty clear picture of whether this game is for you or not. There is ample opportunity for you to think of new and inventive ways to meet the many objectives in each map while also causing untold damage to the worlds you are immersed in.

For all the content on offer here, there are times when the game can become a little stale. I found myself flicking between the different expansion packs to keep things interesting, and even then there were times that the objectives and ways to complete them were similar in design. What did make for a more interesting experience were some of the finer details. For example, you can switch to a slo-mo mode with the press of the left directional button, and when used to good effect, can result in some outstanding moments of gaming fun. Also, by clicking the down directional button, you can access a whole plethora of add-ins, similar to a cheat code menu, which allows you to change your playable character, alter their abilities and access jetpacks and the like.

Conclusion

Before summarising, I think it is important to acknowledge the price. £26.99 puts Goat Simulator up against some of the biggest indie titles, and although the price doesn’t always indicate quality, it should go some way to justifying its cost. Although I think the content on offer is excellent, and it is all very well-presented, I can’t help but feel that the opportunity to run around as a goat will get old for some a little too quickly to be spending that sort of money on it.

In short, Goat Simulator: GOATY Edition is the definitive gaming experience for those who wish to take full control of a goat. The developers have maximised the potential with a series of DLC packs which are both creative and bonkers, and I applaud them for it. In what is a rather unusual game to review, I leave it to you to determine whether or not this sounds like your sort of thing. For me personally, I had a blast!

Rapid Reviews UK Rating

You can purchase Goat Simulator: The GOATY on the Nintendo eShop at the following link: https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Goat-Simulator-The-GOATY-1500897.html