Once upon a time there was a Nintendo game called Duck Hunt. Duck Hunt was a system-seller all the way back in 1984, when it was released as a launch game for the NES. Fast-forward 36 years and we’ve got …
Once upon a time there was a Nintendo game called Duck Hunt.
Duck Hunt was a system-seller all the way back in 1984, when it was released as a launch game for the NES.
Fast-forward 36 years and we’ve got Chicken Range, from GS2 Games. It’s like Duck Hunt for the Switch generation, proving once and for all that shooting avian targets never gets old.
With tongue firmly in cheek, Chicken Range sees you clearing a series of stages in which chickens are passing back and forth across the screen. These chickens are plump and cartoonish, and the whole game has an almost South Park-like aesthetic.
Unlike in Duck Hunt, however, these are no harmless fowl. As they crowd into the playing area they hurl eggs at you, gradually covering the screen with yellow goo and obscuring your view. When the yolk levels become unmanageable, it’s Game Over.
Every go is doomed to eventually end in eggy failure, but you can influence how long you last by shooting. You can take three different guns into battle with you, from a flimsy little pistol (with tons of ammo) to an AK-47 (with a more limited supply of bullets).
Later on you’ll unlock more weapons to choose from, including RPGs and alien ray guns. And you’ll need them, since the chickens become increasingly tough to kill, with riot shields giving way to armored helicopters and even tanks as you advance through the campaign.
There are 15 levels in total, and you’ll need to be seriously quick on the trigger to clear them all. Chicken Range is seriously challenging, not least because its stages are double the width of the screen, so you need to constantly swivel left and right to stay on top of the chicken infestation.
Chicken Range comes either as a standalone game, with a range of different control methods to choose from, or in bundle form along with a unique gun controller for that authentic chicken-shooting experience.
You can download Chicken Range right now on the Nintendo eShop.
