DLC Review: Tekken 7 Geese Howard - A Hugely Rewarding Guest Character

Geese Howard demands your respect in Tekken 7. The Fatal Fury and King of Fighters veteran makes the jump to Bandai Namco's 3D brawler as the game's first additional guest character. Much like Akuma or Eliza, Geese is a technical combatant, boasting a meter that fills up as he lands hits and takes blows. On activation, Geese can use his meter to enter max mode, primarily allowing him to cancel out of certain moves and string together potentially huge combos. The skill ceiling is high, but the rewards are plentiful.

Indeed, to really get a handle on what Geese is capable of, you need to explore his max mode options. Without access to his extensive max mode combos and special attacks, his damage output is somewhat lacking. Compared to most Tekken 7 characters, his bread and butter juggles aren't all that effective, and his move list can even seem quite stunted.

Wrap your head around Geese's max mode, however, and you start to see glimpses of his true potential. At the time of writing, Geese has been available for less than a week, but competitive players have already come up with some insanely damaging combos. Again, just like Akuma, Geese becomes a huge threat when he has access to a full meter, able to tear off more than half of his opponent's health under the right conditions.

It goes without saying that for the average player, Geese isn't an easy character to learn. Many of his special attack inputs are borrowed directly from The King of Fighters, so you'll need capable execution skills to pull off his deadliest combos. Geese requires patience and practice, but persevere and you'll discover one of Tekken 7's most rewarding characters.

Moving on from Geese himself, DLC Pack 2 also includes a brand new stage: the Howard Estate. As its name suggests, this is Geese's not-so-humble abode, decked out in decorative suits of samurai armour and American flags. From the flickering torches to the swirling cherry blossom, this is easily one of the game's most intricate and impressive arenas -- and it's made even better by the fact that it's so much fun to fight in. 

The Howard Estate has three breakable sliding doors that you can smash your opponent through, leading to some massive juggles if you have the skills. Once they're out of the way, you can then break through a balcony, which gives you access to the downstairs area of the stage -- a peaceful looking garden complete with pink petals. Overall, we'd say it's one of the best stages in Tekken 7.

So, what else does DLC Pack 2 bring to the table? Sadly, not much. Geese has a few unique -- and cool looking -- outfits that you can unlock, but that's about it. He doesn't get his own character episode, and the only Geese-related thing that's added to the gallery is his reveal trailer. We know character episodes don't really add much to the game anyway, but it would have been nice to at least see Geese appear in a cutscene and state his intentions.

Relatively minor gripes aside, you can't go wrong with Geese Howard if you're big into Tekken 7. The stage that he comes with is one of the game's best, and although he's a tricky character to master, taming the beast is incredibly rewarding. The goose is definitely loose, and he's coming to take 90 per cent of your health bar away.

Have you tried out Geese Howard in Tekken 7? Give in to your fears in the comments section below.