I’m Canadian. I love hockey. My love for the Ottawa Senators has been unwavering for decades now, despite the fact – let’s be real here – that they’re maybe not always the best team around. Hey, we’re getting there! As a hockey fan, I can tell you nothing gets other fans riled up quite like a good old fight. The fights in the NHL aren’t quite what they used to be, but Goons: Legends & Mayhem promises to bring good cartoon brawling to hockey in video game form.
Goons: Legends & Mayhem is inspired by games like Mario Strikers: Battle League and Windjammers, and uses outrageous special abilities to help players get the puck into the net. The 3 vs 3 game includes a full story campaign, but I feel like the real fun will be when you sit down to defeat your friends. The story campaign brings players on a journey across different ice rinks: one is nestled in a forest and another is on a pirate ship, for example. The goal is to stop the Great Mascoteer’s mission to ruin hockey. Defeat bosses, collect stuff, upgrade characters, and unlock cosmetics.
There are eight characters divided into three classes: the sharpshooter, the enforcer, and the wingman. The sharpshooter is pretty straightforward, as their job is to get the puck into the net. The enforcer is focused on defence. And the wingman is a bit of a wildcard that can either support their team or be a massive pain in the butt to the opposing team. Each character has their own special ability; these include things like exploding mines, teleportation, and freezing opponents into ice cubes. Each of the six environments has its own special mechanics, hazards, and a goaltender.
Developed by RageCure Games and published by Firestoke, Goons: Legends and Mayhem will be released for PC, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox this year. There’s no word on which PlayStation and Xbox consoles, though.
