Developer: DoubleMoose Games
Publisher: Curve Digital
ReleaseDate: 20th May 2021
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Xbox, PlayStation and Steam.
Reviewed on: Nintendo Switch
*A review code was provided for this title
Back in 2016 I probably played as much Goat Simulator as almost anyone. Originally picked up after thinking it looked “a bit of a laugh”, my son – who was a toddler at the time – became obsessed with watching me play the game. Well over 50 hours of gameplay and a platinum in both the EU & US regions later, the moment passed for him and I was able to move on with my life. I look back on that time fondly now though. Not just the bonding time with my son, but the ridiculous gameplay that generated many random hilarious moments.
So after DLC, including an MMO add-on, developer DoubleMoose Games is back with a worthy sequel. Manoeuvring a goat into oncoming traffic just to see it rag dolled half way across the map was all well and good, but performing all this madness with a pensioner instead is just the comic relief we need in 2021. At first glance this may just look like a reskin of Goat Simulator with old folks, but I honestly can’t think of a better implementation of this type of game.
You begin by choosing one of four oldies, before being dropped in your retirement home room where the exit has been boarded up. Your initial goal is to find a way to break out, get down stairs and cause enough havoc that the orderly throws you out on the street. It’s a nice mini tutorial that teaches you the basics before literally sending you out into the world.
Objectives are cleverly organised in a bucket list book in a similar fashion to Animal Crossing. Lots of the entries require you to do something multiple times and they are all tracked neatly inside this menu. There is everything from electrocuting yourself a certain number of times to eating so much you explode and even dunking yourself – as a pelvis – into a basketball net. Objectives that have to be completed multiple times are all tracked nicely inside the menu too.
Completing these tasks unlocks rewards and items that can then be acquired at the various vending machines around the map. I loved this decision as it gave you real incentives to tick activities off the list and meant that weapons were always close at hand. Disaster is never far away in Just Die Already and never having to travel far for an instrument of destruction was welcome for sure.
Controls are similar to Goat Simulator while evolving enough to allow for more freedom. Jump, ragdoll, taunt and respawn are mapped to the face buttons as you would expect, but L1 & R1 allow the player to pick up and drop items with their left and right hands. Then, the L2 & R2 buttons use the item in the corresponding hand. This worked really well and allowed for some hilarious dual wielding.
It sounds simple, but the crazy, over-the-top physics make lasting longer than a minute or two without losing a limb a rarity. You can be as careful as you like and then all of a sudden literally slip on a banana peel. The carnage regularly results in laugh out loud moments though, which is amplified when playing in co-op.
We received a code to review the game on Nintendo Switch but held our review until we picked up the Xbox version on launch day. This allowed us to test out the cross-platform play, which really does add a new dimension of fun. It was also a huge hit with my kids, who used the world to create their own game of hide & seek and tig. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen an old man hop across the road with one leg after an 85-year-old woman shouting “I’m going to catch you!”
The games art style really compliments the madness as well. At first glance it looks pretty basic, but there are some really nice touches. Amputated arm and leg sockets show bone amongst the blood spraying out. Limbs that are broken often wobble awkwardly as the character moves and I even noticed the odd instance of an eye dangling out of its socket. It’s attention to detail like this that really sells the joke.
Performance on Nintendo Switch was admirable. I did encounter some FPS drops but nothing that affected my enjoyment. As you would expect, on the Xbox Series X the stability was increased. There are always going to be times characters get caught in the environment or something locks up in games like this, but thankfully you are always only a button press away from respawning in a bin, fully healed and ready to take on the world again.
Expect to grind if you want all the achievements and trophies. There are only eleven in total, but things like ‘Lose 1000 limbs’ and completing full sections of the robust bucket list will have you putting the hours in. There is also an achievement for sinking ten basketball shots IN A ROW. In my limited attempts at this, it looked like hitting the backboard ten times in a row would be a struggle let alone converting it.
Another blow for PlayStation users is that the game comes without a platinum trophy. Given that the teams previous outing not only had a platinum, but multiple region stacks this seems like a bizarre oversight. I can’t state this enough – these things matter. The game will sell less copies on PlayStation platforms because of this decision.
Just Die Already is Goat Simulator – but better in every way except achievements/trophies. There is hours of crazy fun to be had here, although I would recommend short bursts, and the inclusion of cross-platform co-op play is a stroke of genius. It’s great to see a developer evolve a concept and this is well worth the very low asking price.
-Craig 🧐
