Mighty Goose review for PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch

We know what happens when you give a mouse a cookie, but what happens when you give a goose some power armor? Apparently a short but adrenaline pumping romp across 9 stages. Mighty Goose puts you in the role of an ordinary Goose, imbued with power armor by Vark Security and tasked to hinder the plans of one Void King. What atrocities did the Void King commit and who hired Vark Security to take him down…it?s anyone?s guess. The title is extremely lean on story elements and I literally had to watch trailers to even get a name for the forces the Goose works for.

Each level usually starts with the Goose descending to the surface in an egg pod, performing a landing that would make Ducktales? Launchpad McQuack proud. Once you collect your bearings and get a briefing, you?re off guns ablazing to complete your objective. You?ll mow down hoards of the Void King?s cycloptic minions and even some of the local fauna until you complete your mission. Along the way you?ll be able to procure weaponry, health kits and vehicles which will improve your chances of survival. The stages will also feature secret spots and alternate paths which

Visually the goose and the environments he runs around are absolutely beautiful. Despite all the grim and gloomy spaces, the colors used are still oddly vibrant. Explosions look fantastic, bones and shrapnel fly when enemies and their equipment is destroyed. When vehicles move, they animate in an exaggerated way that makes it seem like they came out of a cartoon.

It will be hard to convince me that the developers were NOT fans of SNK?s Metal Slug. There are so many telltale signs. The goose wields a pistol like cannon and can pick up limited use weapons, and when these weapons are picked up a disembodied voice will declare the type of weapon that has been collected. Enemy troops are emotive and they even have a tall tank which fire shots will roll on the ground and explore on contact. Vehicles all seem to have guns that can be rotated and fired in 360 degrees. However I will say they couldn?t have been inspired by Metal Slug when they created the rideable armor as it?s design looks closer to Lagann from the anime Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.

Despite seeing all these similarities to Metal Slug, the developers do add their own unique touches to the game. Two of the weapons (Machine Gun and Shotgun) when fired downward can be used to hover or even propel you up, making these guns a means of propulsion. The game has an in-game economy where you can order weapons and vehicles on your phone, however the currency you collect in a stage resets to zero once the mission is completed thus rendering the storefront more or less forgettable. As you go through the game you will collect secondary weapons, chips to change the goose and even partners, however the only secondary weapons and chips which feel worthwhile are usually related to filling the Mighty Mode Bar. Goose can be a solo adventurer or he can enlist a partner which can be controlled by an AI or a 2nd player in a very ?Tails from Sonic 2? type of way. If you are playing solo exclusively, the only partner worth having would be Commander Vark who will regularly dole out machine gun ammo.

Another deviation from Metal Slug would be it?s difficulty, unlike the SNK series Mighty Goose almost felt like a walk in the park. Yes there are times when the number of enemies on screen can be overwhelming to the point where you?re constantly doing melee attacks rather than shooting, the game is extremely generous with health kits and checkpoints. The only penalty for deaths is a lower grade if the mission is completed which in the scheme of things is absolutely insignificant. There is a second difficulty mode after you beat the game once, but it seems like they just throw more enemies at you. After checking trophies I believe I completed the first playthrough after 3 hours and completed all the achievements in another 3 hours.

Maybe I have a soft spot for short geese games and this one is definitely short. I wish there was a little bit more story and maybe dial back on the Metal Slug homages. The game has some unique features, but they never seem fully fleshed out and useful. Otherwise this is a completely serviceable shoot ’em up that fans of Metal Slug will surely get a kick out of.

PUBLISHER provided us with a Mighty Goose PC code for review purposes.