Goat Simulator 3 is still a silly game about being an annoying goat

There is a very convenient way to accurately and succinctly summarize the degree of absurdity Goat Simulator 3 strives: There is no such thing Goat Simulator 2.

Those familiar with Coffee Stain’s goaty and chaotic antics will likely recognize it Goat Simulator like the hugely popular sandbox game of yesteryear. For those unfamiliar, the premise is simple: you’re a goat with a penchant for misbehavior and tasked with causing as much uproar as possible. From headbutting civilians to everything in sight, it’s a game mostly about complete and utter chaos.

The sequel – again Goat Simulator 3, because in goat language three comes after one – based on similar principles of chaos. What may surprise people, however, is that it’s a form of chaos filtered through a layer of sophistication. It’s obviously not an Arkane game (imagine if Goat Simulator took place in Dunwall…), but it’s a definite improvement when viewed alongside the original. While it’s not exactly my cup of tea, I can admit it knows what it wants to be and is doing everything it can to become just that.

Ironic, Goat Simulator‘s Its greatest strength has always been how crude its mechanical construction was. The game, which originated as a joke project for a game jam, was riddled with the kinds of bugs that were meant to make it almost impossible to play – but due to its nature as literal goat simulator, they just made it funnier. From the noisy ragdolling of the goat Pilgor to the wild emergent shenanigans that could emerge from invisible gaps in the seams of the sandpit, Goat Simulator quickly established itself as an excellent game to play with friends.

Image: coffee stain

This is one of many details that the developers of Coffee Stain were obviously aware of when working on it Goat Simulator 3. While the original game supported couch co-op, the sequel features a dedicated online multiplayer component, allowing up to four players to compete in a variety of mini-games, including proprietary versions of Golf, Treasure Hunt, and The Floor Is Lava. If the original game was jagged rock, Goat Simulator 3 is the product of what happens when you mine that rock for gems and embed them in something more beautiful. It’s not a diamond necklace, but it’s like… a smooth slab of granite with a few stones that look like diamonds. Like I said, it knows what it wants and is very good at staying true to it.

But it is also ambitious in other respects. Rather than being a pure sandbox designed solely to allow for chaos, Goat Simulator 3 has a story mode. It’s not exactly aiming for prestige storytelling (I’m not joking when I say it’s literally about the goat illuminati), but it’s meant to serve as a kind of general guide to weave all the individual instances of absurdity together. To advance the story, you’ll essentially be visiting Ubisoft open-world-style towers sporadically scattered across the map, each of which will help you open an imposing and mysterious door that leads to the Goat Castle. What’s behind this is unclear – but chances are it’s probably pretty wild.

The main story is obviously not overly demanding – an enormous chunk of it Goat Simulator 3‘s Its appeal is the fact that it generally asks very little of you and mostly leaves you on your own. But the scope of this playstyle has also been expanded and repeated.

For example, somewhere on the map there is a house owned by an old lady with a rocket launcher. If you get close to her, she’ll start shooting at you, but if you hit her with your firecracker or headbutt her, you’ll open a secret passage to her basement, leading to… a retro demiseCorridor shooter in the style of a dozen other bazooka grannies. Once you’ve defeated them all, you can actually unlock that character as an attachment – and since you can play as a shark, giraffe, and more in addition to a goat, the challenge is “How bizarre can we make this game?” ” was obviously a regular topic of discussion during development.

You can literally play Goat Simulator 3 as a shark on a skateboard being ridden by an old lady with a rocket launcher.

Image: coffee stain

Eventually, Goat Simulator 3 is probably what you’re thinking. It’s a more polished version of the first game with tons of new features, most of which clearly stem from careful observation of elements of the original that resonated with people. Mobility is a little tighter, the sandbox is a little more responsive, and the random achievements have a little more sense and purpose. But ultimately, being a really annoying goat is still a silly game – there’s a pretty low ceiling to how serious that can be.

More than anything else, Goat Simulator 3 feels like a great party game to play with friends. Everyone at my demo session at Gamescom, including people I wasn’t in a lobby with, was laughing almost 100% of the time I was there. It doesn’t deserve any special credit for its work in innovation, system design, or anything else. But it’s difficult to criticize something that has a very clear design ethos and manages to adhere to it with near-perfect accuracy.

If you think you might be interested Goat Simulator 3you will – and that’s the truest thing that can be said about it.

Goat Simulator 3 Heading to PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X on November 17th.