Having languished in remake after remake and carbon copy shooter after carbon copy shooter, there seems to have been a bit of a renaissance of the weird and wonderful on consoles lately. Whether it's the tale of a totally normal, everyday, noodle-limbed father in Octodad: Dadliest Catch, a slice of bread's epic quest to become toast in I Am Bread or the weird and wonderful world of Hatoful Boyfriend's avian dating games, we can't help wondering what the heck half of these studios are smoking. The latest game to join the wtf ranks? Goat Simulator.
Goat Simulator started life as a joke prototype made while developers Coffee Stain Studios were between projects. Described as "an old school skating game, except instead of being a skater, you're a goat, and instead of doing tricks, you wreck stuff", a YouTube video of the original build of the game attracted millions of views in mere days, as well as plenty of requests to make the, frankly rather glitchy, game into a full release. And thankfully, the studio obliged.
Basically, Goat Simulator gives you a large open suburban world, plonks you into the shoes (or should that be hooves?) of the titular goat, and lets you go nuts. Armed with a surprisingly sticky tongue, your goat can lick various objects in the environment to pick them up and carry them around - leading to some hilarious situations, whether it's toppling a passer-by with an axe, wrapping your tongue around a helicopter and taking to the sky or chasing a guy with a park bench. In keeping with the game's Tony Hawks Pro Skater-alike roots, you can also do all kinds of flashy tricks in mid air and aim for high scores. And, being as you're a goat and all, you can ram things too - such as an explosive gas canister, triggering a massive fireball - then get up and walk away, totally unscathed, like the badass billy goat you are.
But you don't have to go-at it alone either, as both versions of Goat Simulator let you enlist a friend or two (or three!) for some goat-wrecking fun. There is one caveat though - those of you who'll be picking up the Playstation 3 version of the game will only be able to play in two player co-operative, while Playstation 4 users will get the full four-goat multiplayer extravaganza. The Playstations will also be the first formats to get the new GoatVR mode, which is apparently the most authentic "simulated GoatVR experience", without requiring one of those funny hats. What that means in English though, is anyone's guess.
Goat Simulator will be hitting the Playstation 3 and Playstation 4 next month, on the 11th August - so far there's no word on price, but given the original hit the PC for £6.99 via Steam, we're expecting something similar. Whether it'll include any of the free updates of the PC version, such as the new Goat MMO, and whether we'll get the paid for the GoatZ zombie survial expansion remains to be seen - but more hilariously broken Goat Simulator can't be a bad thing!
