Pigeon Simulator Review (Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 & PC)

Let’s be honest, it doesn’t take a pessimist to come to the conclusion that a game like Pigeon Simulator isn’t likely to be in line to snag any major accolades at The Game Awards. And yet, there is a niche audience for these oddball ideas. Take Goat Simulator, for example — a game that literally centered its premise around a head-butting farmyard animal with a god complex. It’s the same basic concept here, only, you don’t take to the reins of a sadistic gruff, but a pigeon with a knack for stealth and unraveling government secrets and/or conspiracies. Weird, but we’ll roll with it.

Pigeon Simulator isn’t what you think it is. Well, it is, but there are several layers lathered beneath the wing here that, in all honesty, you wouldn’t naturally expect to find in such a Goat Simulator-like world. Oh, if you happened to gaze beyond the outer shell of this rather silly rock dove-centric universe, then you would find a game that’s not just about mirroring the motions of one of the world’s most hated park animals, but a game that takes other aspects under its wing. There are anomalies to defeat, secret files to extract, and, above all, eccentric poops to eject from your back end. A bit of a mixed bag here, really.

Before we carve any deeper into this rather unusual pigeon hole, it is worth noting that Pigeon Simulator isn’t of a similar style as the likes of Goat Simulator or Bee Simulator. There is, however, a similar kookiness to it that, honestly, you can more or less expect to witness over the duration of its short but unorthodox lifetime. The question is, is it worth taking flight for, or is it an experience that you would be far better off without? Let’s talk about it.

Dull Wings

Pigeon Simulator sees you and up to three friends taking to the skies of a fairly sizable borough to find, extract, and effectively take precision-based dumps on various anomalies that populate the world. And yes, this is a game. What is it, if not a tip of the hat to the likes of Phasmophobia? Why, a simple extraction shooter with wings, really.

The idea here is simple: venture out to one of several areas as a pigeon, and take enormous dumps on your targets before extracting them and bringing them back to a drop-off location of some sort. Simply put, the more anomalies that you extract, and the more levels that you chomp through, the tougher the anomalies and environments become. Herein lies a simple stage-locked progression loop, albeit a rather dull and repetitive one that, frankly, doesn’t bring much to the fledgling solo player who wants to embark on an epic quest of some kind. This, sadly, isn’t that.

There’s a novelty factor here that, admittedly, you will find rather amusing for the first handful of hours or so. Beyond that, however, there really isn’t much to dig your heels into here, as the game is more or less a one-and-done ordeal that exhausts all of its potential before it sinks its teeth into you. You extract, and you travel to a new location, where you frequently find the means to upgrade your tools—a grappling hook, of all things—before launching yet another mission to, well, do the same thing again in the hopes that you’ll obtain more upgrades and a new lease on life. That’s it.

Fly Like an Eagle?

While the flying mechanics aren’t all that bad here, the world and the environments that you spend your time bolting around in are, on the other hand, boring and short-handed. What I mean to say here is that, although the act of mindlessly soaring through the greyscale boroughs can be a lot of fun (with friends, but not in your own, sadly), the in-game world doesn’t do much to keep you exploring beyond the basic tasks. There is a slither of chaos to amplify its barebones locale, for sure, but the fact is, it lacks the wow factor to keep you entertained for the long haul flight.

Pigeon Simulator isn’t blessed with classic good looks or the grace of a thematically appealing sandbox. No, if Pigeon Simulator is anything at all, it’s a short and not-so-dignified co-op game that strikes the right tone to extract a giggle, but falls short of a full belly laugh. And after a while, that chuckle dwindles into a rather sorry excuse for a half-baked reaction, which then leads to a depressing moment of silence. The levels pan out, but the fun, really, just isn’t there to keep you company.

Perhaps there’s a good game here, or maybe there’s a bad game that has the momentum to exhume its weakest components and rebuild them. To be honest, I’m not sure if there’s anything here at all. It’s Pigeon Simulator with a lack of feathers and a weird fixation on anomalies and dumping. I’d like to imagine that someone, somewhere, will find such an unusual idea amusing. I guess, when all’s said and done, I’m just not one of those people.

Verdict

Pigeon Simulator bears the brunt of a novelty that, after being exhausted through the process of flapping and soaring through its boroughs, gradually becomes a little dull and lackluster. Don’t get me wrong, it has a little something special stowed beneath its wings, yet it lacks the strength to take flight and ascend as a better, more refined aviation experience than its ilk. There’s promise, though I wouldn’t say that it stands out as a truly great or memorable game, as it lacks the depth of a full-fledged simulation game and the finesse of a sturdy-hooked progression ladder.

With all of the above said, Pigeon Simulator is likely to appeal to its target demographic—the same folk who enjoy pulverizing pedestrians as a goat or waxing honeycomb clusters as a bee, that is. If you happen to fall into that category, you’ll likely enjoy scraping the barrel of all its anomalies in Pigeon Simulator. Oh, and then dropping a big ol’ pile of steaming manure on them.