Remember the original Goat Simulator, and the various YouTube and Twitch personalities hopping on it due to how crazy and silly it was? Well yeah, it’s been a long time since the release of the OG Goat Simulator (April 1, 2014) and out of about 60k reviews on Steam, for example, it has a 90% positive reception among players on Steam. Many people have been looking forward to this sequel (you will notice the absence of Goat Simulator 2, but more on that later.
Why isn’t there Goat Simulator 2?
According to sources, the development team was arguing whether to name the sequel Goat Simulator 2 or Goat Simulator 4 (for meme reasons) but they eventually settled for the number 3.
It is definitely poking fun at a lot of franchises that have their numbering completely mixed up and not going in chronological order (Kingdom Hearts, Battlefield, to name a few), and trust me, that’s only the beginning of satire, trolling, and memes in this game.
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What’s so funny about Goat Simulator 3?
Everything! It all starts from the intro sequence (which I won’t spoil, even though it would have given me so much more material to write about, don’t worry), and moving forward through the game, there are so many satirical moments, pop culture and gaming references, and meme references which most players will instantly recognize. There are also some word plays and puns along the way, so expect a lot of funny quest names, etc.
Even if you don’t pick up on something that is referred to, it’s still bound to cause at least a chuckle because of how well this aspect of the game is packaged and presented.
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Is Goat Simulator 3 any good?
Goat Simulator 3 is very good, indeed. I’ve had no significant inconveniences playing the game so far – the game runs well, and doesn’t crash (PC). I am trying to balance between going through the content of the game and writing guides about the content to help Prima Games readers solve some of the stuff within the game and, honestly, I am close to taking a vacation just so I can play through the entire thing (which would technically be a so-called “workation”, and this game deserves it). I am still in the first zone of the game and there’s already so much fun stuff to do and fun items to pick up. It’s a great sandbox open-world game! I have actually laughed out loud too many times, and I’ve had coworkers stop by and watch the shenanigans I am doing with my Goat multiple times. I presume that there is enough content in the game to warrant the release day price tag, and it’s most certainly a 100% legitimate buy on any discount.
At any rate, the game is an ironic, satiric, comical masterpiece, and it’s apparent that the developers have invested a lot of time and resources into this project to have it function seriously from a technical standpoint.
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What is bad about Goat Simulator 3?
I’ve tried to be as critical as I could regarding Goat Simulator 3 but I couldn’t find any big issues with it so far.
One “problem” that I see is the (current) lack of cross-play, which disallows me to test out multiplayer content with someone who has a copy on PlayStation 5, for example. Cross-play was unimaginable for most games until recent times, and now it’s basically a standard, even for most FPS games. I hope that Coffee Stain Studios will find a way to implement cross-platform gameplay somewhere down the line because, once again, this game deserves it.
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Pros:
- Immersive gameplay and lulz that have you coming for seconds
- A lot of hours of fun can be had, so it’s not something you will beat in one sitting
- You always find new stuff to mess around with so it’s difficult to get bored, the game is absolutely not monotonous
Cons:
- No cross-platform multiplayer
- The graphics could be somewhat better (tested on 4K resolution, Epic Graphics Quality) but that does not ruin the game at all for me.
Score: 9/10, Goat of the Year award from me for sure.
A copy of this game was provided by the publisher for review. Reviewed on PC.
