As the game project grows larger, that feeling of a major step forward becomes more rare. At the start of development, progress is always fast because everything you add feels like a major step forward. “There are days when you’ve worked on a load of stuff, and at the end, you’re like, ‘What have I actually done?’. “When working on a game solo, it’s easy to get lost in the details and lose track of the global scope,” says Lems. Since Mighty Goose is a solo project, Lems is handling pretty much every side of development by himself – all except the synth soundtrack, which is being handled by Swedish composer Dominic Ninmark, whose work you may have heard on another cracking run-and-gun title, Blazing Chrome. It’s just fun, like a modern version of the cheat codes we used in old games.” Part of the design philosophy in Mighty Goose is that when the player has invested a fixed amount of time in the game, it’s only natural to reward them with the power to break the game. Some of these upgrades and side characters are intentionally overpowered. “Through customisation and experimentation, players will be able to make a ‘build’ to tackle the difficult segments of the game in a different way. “A lot of these are hidden and have to be found first,” Lems explains. If the idea of a relentlessly tough final stage fills your heart with terror, though, fret not: as well as those weapons and vehicles mentioned above, there’ll also be upgrades and unlockable companions that, Lems says, will help even the odds for the less skilled players out there. I’m sure there’ll be individuals out there who will still be able to manage, but those will be the exception rather than the norm.” Speaking of ultra-tough, the final mission is going to be near impossible. “I’d rather draw inspiration from Metal Slug, where every death at least feels like it’s the player’s own fault. Relying on memorisation rather than skill is something I want to avoid. “I want it to be tough in a fair way, though. “I’m designing the game to start out easy and ramp-up to ultra-tough as it progresses,” Lems says. In line with those run-and-gun games of the past, Mighty Goose will soon ratchet up the challenge. It’s just one of those vehicles which is cool and silly at the same time. The player can increase its speed even further by using its boost ability, which sends the bike flying in the current movement direction. “It’s a fast-moving ground vehicle which can do agile bunny hops. “One of my favourite vehicles is the Mono-Bike,” Lems tells us. In addition, there’ll be four weapons to pick up, and four vehicles to uncover as you progress through the game’s five stages. These blue-clad enemies are heavily armoured and have a seemingly inexhaustible supply of tanks and other sci-fi hardware, but fortunately, our goose isn’t a slouch in the weaponry department, either: the bird’s wings are fitted out with a pair of gigantic cannons, while its robot legs allow it to leap around the screen with ease. Interestingly, Lems says he came up with his goose character several years ago – so a while before House House unleashed its own obnoxious goose on the world – when he was roughing out ideas in his sketch-book.īefore long, Lems had his concept worked out – that of a combat-ready goose sent out to fight an army of one-eyed humanoids collectively known as the VOID. Now, though, Lems is going it alone, having set up his own indie studio and committing fully to his debut title. Last year, he worked with developer TurtleBlaze on its 2D Metroidvania, KUNAI, and was responsible for creating its Game Boy Color-inspired artwork. Mighty Goose’s punchy pixel visuals matched with its marvellous action makes it one of the best indie games out at the moment.If the style of the gorgeously outsized explosions and sprite designs dotted around these pages looks familiar to you, that may be because Lems’s work has graced the pages of Wireframe in the past. My main issue is the length of the game which was bittersweet but left me wanting more. There may prove to be a little too much chaos at times making it hard to ascertain what's actually happening but that’s an oversight. There really wasn’t a dull moment in this game with each adrenaline-packed level sending chills down my spine. Mighty Goose doesn't really add anything new to the genre, but its over-emphasis of what makes run ‘n’ games great is where the beauty lies. It may come off as cheap but some gamers will relish this feature as it makes downing enemies and performing kickbacks easier before they get the machine gun. The main thing that will make a huge difference at the start of the game is deciding whether to use the auto fire.
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