Every year when I go to PAX or E3, I almost always visit Adult Swim Games’ booth.  And every year they show off Duck Game, which has been on PC for a while.  And even though it’s not a new title, Duck Game always draws a crowd of both adults and kids at these events.  Just goes to show you that just because they’re called Adult Swim Games, it doesn’t mean that all their games are for adults only.  When I heard that Duck Game was going to appear on the Switch, I knew I had to review it!  Anyway, Duck Game is a silly 8-bit styled multiplayer-centric battle-fest where you play as a duck and pick up weapons to shoot the other ducks.

Each 2-D arena has weapons scattered about, and the layouts kind of remind me of Smash Bros.  Weapons include real guns like pistols and rifles, as well as blunderbusses and silly guns like lasers.  You can also throw bombs and use melee weapons like swords and chainsaws.   You can make your duck jump and glide, as well as pick up and throw objects and fire guns.  You can also press buttons to do silly useless things like quack and flop on the ground.  Play control is good, but sometimes I would get confused as to which buttons pick up and throw things.  But then, I always get mixed up when games use a lot of buttons.  If you get shot once, you’re out of the game, and the last duck standing wins.  Whoever wins the most rounds wins the game.  You can play couch multiplayer or go online, but you have to pay for Nintendo’s online service to do the online stuff.

Luckily they have a single player mode for when you’re by yourself.  You walk around a basement full of arcade cabinets, and each one has challenges and missions for you to complete.  When you do, you earn tickets that you can spend on outfits and costumes for your duck.  The only bad thing is that sometimes the goals and objectives for these missions aren’t as clear, and they don’t always tell you how to use certain weapons.  But it’s still nice they included a single player mode for solo time.  Overall this is a nice little multiplayer distraction that anyone can pick up and play, and I can understand why it draws a crowd when I see it at shows.  I liked the 8-bit styled graphics and gameplay is solid, silly, and fun.

Kid Factor:

Duck Game is rated E-10 with ESRB descriptors of Alcohol Reference, Comic Mischief, Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, and Use of Tobacco.  You do pick up guns and other weapons, both realistic and silly, and attack the other ducks with them.  I didn’t notice much blood at all.  Usually when you shoot the ducks, they just fall back and feathers fly everywhere.  The other descriptors mostly refer to the hats and costumes you can outfit your duck with.  Even though you do shoot ducks with guns, I’d be OK with most any kid playing this, as it’s just silly cartoony fun.

Tags: Game Reviews