REVIEW: ‘Untitled Goose Game’ — HONK (Xbox One)

Untitled Goose Game is a silly slapstick-stealth-sandbox featuring an up-to-no-good goose and a host of unsuspecting village folk. Developed by House House and published by Panic, you play as a goose in all its glory: honk to your heart’s content, paddle around in circles, flap your mighty wings, and, of course, rain havoc on the local townsfolk who are just trying to make a living. You’ll roam far and wide, from peoples’ gardens to street shops, all the while ruining peoples’ day. After coming out on PC and Nintendo in September, the game has made it to Game Pass on Xbox One and its time to look at how the HONK works on this platform.

Untitled Goose Game is simple gram with relatively simplistic objectives, but that’s where the fun lies. As you waddle your way through the village, you’ll be notified of new objectives on your To Do List. Opening the To Do List will show you various tasks you have to accomplish. Some are relatively simple, like steal the groundkeeper’s keys. While others, such as make the groundskeeper wear his sunhat, are less intuitive and require a little more thinking to accomplish. But overall, the tasks on your To Do List are easy and shouldn’t take very long to accomplish.

After finishing a To Do List, you’ll get an extra objective added to your list and a new location will be made available. Moving to a different location unlocks a new To Do List and new objectives. There are four main locations you get to run around in and each has its own unique objectives. There are also some hidden objectives so it always behooves you to search every nook and cranny and be as destructive and as much of a nuisance as possible.

As a goose, your world looks quite simple: the graphics are rather plain and objects are flatly shaded. But this simplicity has a certain appeal to it: it all looks crisp and clean and doesn’t take away from the fun you’ll have running amuck as a goose on the loose.

Along the same line, the buttons are few and the movement is simple. You have a button to honk, run, crouch, pick up objects, and flap your wings. The button layout is easy to remember and use. The game also does well in teaching you the buttons as you advance through the first area and gives you hints here and there that help you in your shenanigans.

I had very few problems with the controls themselves but I did have a problem with running. When running, you can’t turn very quickly. So, the idea is for you to run and then let off the run button whenever you need to turn and then continue running. This mechanic seems pretty simple but can get annoying when you’re under pressure and trying to run away from an angry groundskeeper trying to get his keys back.

On top of this, the villagers run faster than you can so to have to slow down to turn was irritating. But this mechanic does increase the risk of being caught which means your actions need to be more thought out and deliberate. So, I do understand the mechanic, but it’s just not something I liked. There were also a few times where objects would clip through others. Although clipping objects can be a bit of a problem, it occurred very rarely, perhaps twice in the four hours I played, and often resulted in a hilarious image or situation.

The ending is a great and creative finale that brings everything back to the beginning of the game. The beginning of the game is quite unsuspecting and the ending creates meaning for the starting area of the game along with just being hilarious and fun. Once you finish the game, you’ll get a few more objectives to accomplish across the various areas you’ve visited. So, although you’ve technically finished the game, there’s still more you can do.

Untitled Goose Game is an easy-going game that is super simplistic but also super fun. The slapstick humor is great and the objectives shouldn’t cause anyone much frustration. If you’re looking for a cute, easy, but fun game that’ll only take you a few hours to finish, check out Untitled Goose Game.

Untitled Goose Game is available on Xbox Game Pass.