Big Walk, the long-awaited latest game from Untitled Goose Game developer House House, has finally arrived for PS5, Switch 2 and PC, and early reviews are already positioning it as one of the year’s best multiplayer video games, if not one of the year’s best video games period. As it currently stands, the game is currently sitting on an astonishing aggregated score of 93 on Metacritic.
I doubt anyone would’ve expected less from this joyfully weird, new joint from the talented studio, but it’s clear that Big Walk represents something of a moment in the medium right now. It seems like everywhere I look, folks are talking about playing Big Walk, excited to dive into this fresh “third space” with friends and connect over a facsimile of the Australian bushland peppered with puzzles and mysteries to solve.
The best part? If you’re a PlayStation Plus subscriber on any tier, you can download and play Big Walk on PS5 right now as part of your subscription.
Let’s take a look at some of the high-profile reviews that have come through so far for The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales
Big Walk Reviews
Gamespot’s Mark Delaney calls Big Walk “One of the best co-op games ever,” scoring it a huge 9/10 and opening with the glowing endorsement that, “By inventively stripping down the medium to its most essential parts, it invites novices and experts alike to build it back up from scratch, coloring in its mysterious world with their friends by their side. We need a new word for whatever kind of game Big Walk really is, but here’s one for now: unforgettable. “
Elliot Attard at Checkpoint Gaming slapped a highly-respectable score of 9.5/10 on the game, concluding that, “Big Walk is a big win. Evolving the social game format in a way that feels almost unrecognisable, House House has produced something that is as compelling as it is confident in achieving what it set out to achieve. With huge regard given to player freedoms, this title powerfully examines and challenges communication in a way I’ve not seen before in a game and may never see again. Grab your friends, go in blind, remove all other distractions, and experience a game world at the top of its class.”
Restart.run scored Big Walk full marks with a 5/5, reviewer Imran Khan writing that the game, “…is a game about little victories and the calm, quiet space between them. Maybe you have to luck into that context a little bit, but I think that’s true for any game when you really break it down. If you can put all the pieces in place for an ideal time with Big Walk, you are likely to find one of the best games of the year waiting inside.”
Polygon’s (appropriately) team-concocted review in the (appropriate) format of a daily log is a very entertaining read that ends by affirming, “There are a lot of multiplayer games that feel like a fun idea that I just so happen to be able to play with friends. Big Walk is different; it’s explicitly about playing with friends.”
Kotaku’s Rebekah Valentine emphatically pushed back on describing the game as “friendslop” in her unscored review, and recounting the immensely good time had with friends, “Its magic is brilliant, and it also is single-use. Once you know the tricks, you can’t be surprised by them again. But oh, the memory of being surprised that first and only time! Everyone is busy, life is hard, and the world is falling apart. There is no better time to call up your friends, get everyone to give up one night a week for about a month or so, and use that time to go on a Big Walk together. I hope it makes you all as happy as it made us.”
Big Walk is out now for PS5, Switch 2 and PC, and is available for PlayStation Plus subscribers to download and play at no extra cost.
Born into the world of video games through SEGA, and in particular Sonic the Hedgehog, Kieron’s gaming tastes now consist of the latest, shiny AAA thing, an indie darling or two, and an embarrassing number of hours of Balatro.