Here I am trying to nurse a hangover, still attempting to process that last night I was playing a game called DEEEER Simulator. Which for some reason is about a low-poly deer decked out like a Gundam, battling a police force made out of sheep, polar bear transformers, and a rabbit riding inside a hippo’s mouth shooting at me. Yes, this all really happens in the game and no, it doesn’t get any less weird.

DEEEER Simulator is essentially a GOAT Simulator spin-off, and to be honest it’s not even as good or content filled. That’s not to say DEEEER Simulator doesn’t have its moments of dumb fun similar to GOAT Simulator, but I wasn’t exactly dying to keep playing these almost interchangeable games. Anyway, the premise is you play as a deer creating destruction and completing silly challenges until you raise your “wanted” meter that goes from rank D to A. Each rank will have you encounter a new enemy police force, and once you reach rank A you can fight a boss. There are two maps to destroy; the second is unlocked after defeating wanted rank A and solving a “puzzle”. There is an ending to the game, with an end boss fight and even a weird ending cutscene, but there isn’t really a cohesive story here.

Not having a story is completely acceptable though. Not every game needs a narrative and can be just a crazy fun game to play. The developers knew what they were making wasn’t meant to be taken seriously, and that’s just fine. For example, the first thing you do is create a human character, with a fairly hearty customization system, just so you can watch a cutscene of you jumping in font of a bus to save a deer. The scene fades black and then you’re just playing as a deer. Is it the deer you saved? Is your soul in the deer? Who the hell knows? All I know is the next thing I got to do was pick up some pistols that replaced my horns and started shooting at everything.

DEEEER Simulator is just a big playground with a bunch of silly stuff to do. Destroy the entire town, give humans antlers and make them dance and Naruto run, ride horses, drive cars, and pilot mechs. Destroying cars and buildings is how you will find most of your weapons, and there is a good amount to discover. Collecting weapons will have them attach to different parts of your body, essentially turning the deer into a war machine. In the second level you’ll basically be able to turn into a Gundam with lock on missiles and jet packs. The key here is to explore and interact with everything around you. Although, granted, the levels are small and there isn’t a massive amount to do anyway.

The controls are wonky and basic, but they work well enough I suppose. Unfortunately, it’s when you have to come in contact with the other characters and stuff in the levels that things become frustrating. You’ll often clip through structures, which happens a lot when you’re trying to land on buildings or while using your head to Spider-Man swing yourself around. At one point you will need to fight a massive police corgi chief who calls in sheep, polar bear transformers, and rabbits to mighty morph itself into a giant mech. When he shoots his arms out (the polar bears), you need to run up the arms to hit a self-destruct button. Yes, it is as ridiculous as it sounds, but keep up with me. The act of running up the arms is a glitchy weird mess that was aggravating.

Visually, DEEEER Simulator is very limited with its low-poly graphical style and simple designs, but somehow it’s kind of charming in its own way. It’s by no means a good looking game, but its confidence in its presentation and the over-the-top designs kind of make up for it. Unfortunately, even with its small scale and simplistic design the performance isn’t great. It gets choppy and sluggish especially when things get busy onscreen, which is surprising.

Sound design as a whole is a conundrum in this game. On one hand you have some extremely basic and low quality sound design, on the other hand its OST is oddly epic. You go from the most basic gun, car, and destruction sounds to some amazing battle music done by an orchestra. Accidentally shoot the giant Koala and you’re met with laser beam eyes, and some of the most extravagant in your face music. It’s actually kind of impressive.

DEEEER Simulator is by no means a well put together game. It lacks polish, optimization, and animations. Its content is random, short, and its levels aren’t huge. However, there is something charming and fun about it. Its over-the-top and outrageous ideas, designs, and activities give you plenty of “WTF” moments. These moments of stupid fun are here, even if they don’t last all that long.

 

Graphics: 3.0 Everything is low-poly and generally not great looking. There are some humorous designs though.	Gameplay: 5.0 It’s a basic and sometimes glitchy mess, but overall the gameplay and physics work.
Sound: 5.0 There are some basic low quality sound effects, and at one point you can strap a jukebox to you back to listen to the soundtrack. The boss fight music is pretty epic though.	Fun Factor: 7.0 Despite its lack of polish or really any structure, DEEEER Simulator does have bits of fun with its “WTF am I even doing” moments. They don’t last long, but they are there.
Final Verdict: 5.5

DEEEER Simulator: Your Average Everyday Deer Game is available now on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

Reviewed on PC with an i7-9700k, RTX 2070, and 16gb of RAM.

A copy of DEEEER Simulator: Your Average Everyday Deer Game was provided by the publisher.