If there are games akin to Gang Beasts, Human Fall Flat and even Rubber Bandits, I am usually all over them. With a five-year-old son in tow, anything that is absolute madness and provides spontaneous yet hilarious moments is always worth the money in my house. Filthy Animals: Heist Simulator bears all the same similarities and madness with local and online co-op. It’s been absolutely ages since I’ve encouraged my family at home to actually sit together and play something. This is mainly because I feel that decent four-player same-screen games are lacking these days, but this is a game that absolutely suits playing with your mates or loved ones. You can tackle all the elements of the game as a solo player, but it is a little tougher and not as much fun. Either way, you’re in for a humourous time however you choose to play.

Introduction

Filthy Animals: Heist Simulator is developed by Pewter Games Studios/LoPoly Games and published by Green Man Game Publishing. The game is now available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Playstation 4|5 and Windows PC. If I had to describe this game, it is almost as if Gang Beasts and Payday 2 had their own child. The game requires the patience of a saint but that is all the fun of it, think of the times when you have perhaps played Overcooked with friends and been in fits of laughter whilst trying to bark orders at one another, then you’re on the same page with this one. The game is designed to be played by 1-4 players co-operatively across a plethora of 20+ levels across 9 different locations, so there is plenty of content to be cracking on with here.

Gameplay

The game does feature a tutorial which I highly recommend playing. Not only will this introduce you to the mechanics of the game, but it will serve as an explanation of how to tackle the heist element. Going in blind as I did at the start just to muck around with my little lad, just left us confused on what we were actually doing. You’ll get to choose between four different animals before you dive in, a chicken, moose, alligator or monkey. They don’t differ much in how they play other than their aesthetics, although they do have alternative charge abilities.

The premise of Filthy Animals: Heist Simulator is to jump into each level and rob as much as possible. Each mission also has certain objectives to tick off as you progress. For instance, the first level asks you to learn the basics since it serves as a tutorial. It’ll also ask you to retrieve a guitar and collect the letters F-I-L-T-H-Y, taking some inspiration from the Tony Hawk games. Movement is absolute madness and almost identical ragdoll physics that you see in games like Fall Guys and Gang Beasts.

Interact With Everything.

What I really like about Filthy Animals: Heist Simulator is that almost everything seems interactive. Vending machines will dispense cans of drink which will give you temporary abilities. These cans are coloured differently, neck a yellow one and you’ll be able to fart sending your character flying across the map. Now whilst this may be off-putting if you’re trying to be all serious about things, my son was crying with fits of laughter. I’ll let you find out what the other cans do! You can pick items up, throw them, knock stuff over, eat tacos, punch others in the face and even come back to life through the toilet bowl. It is insanely wacky but I loved exploring each unique location and every little niggle and nugget it had to offer.

Graphics & Audio

Visually Filthy Animals: Heist Simulator holds up really well and that is all down to the fantastic level design. Occasionally it can look a little cluttered everywhere, especially once you’ve wrecked the place. But without so much to interact with and see, it would become a little stale and boring. Whilst I felt only four characters were a little light for selection, they were well illustrated. I found the music super repetitive to the point I had to turn it off, unfortunately. Whilst some may like this, I found myself still hearing it on a loop in my brain after I had deactivated it in the menus. Sound effects are solid and there are some occasional voiced bits of narration which are well done.

In Conclusion

Filthy Animals: Heist Simulator may not be revolutionary in its style of play. But it sits amongst the funniest four-player co-op games I’ve ever played and has already unlocked core memories similar to engagements I had with games like Overcooked and Moving Out. The game never takes itself too seriously at any stage and is just bloody great fun and would be a dream if you wanted to create video content with it. Considering this is only Pewter Games Studios’ second project in the huge and congested indie space, they have done an excellent job with this one and you can see it was ambitious for them, but they have nailed it. I absolutely recommend this one if you’re after chaotic nights full of laughs, though the solo players out there may not see as much appeal, there is still fun to be had online!