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| Sheep | // review |
| Sheep is one of the oddest, yet strangely addictive games I have played in a very long time. The premise is simple - herd your sheep from one end of the level to the other. The reality? It's a lot harder than you think. Herding the sheep involves running behind them, and guiding them by changing the direction the sheep run away from. This is what makes the game unique, and in some cases so frustrating, as guiding the sheep by making them run away from you is not as easy as it sounds! You play the game from a semi-isometric, semi-top down viewpoint that gives you a good clear view of the part of the level you are currently in. There is no overall map of the level, though each is small enough and laid out well enough that you won't get lost. Carrying on the cute theme of the game, the graphics have an almost cartoony feel to them, without being slapdash. Each sheep has it's own distinct animation, as does your player character. You can make certain changes to your sheep whilst playing, such as running them through a sheep dip to change their wool colour, or if you get them caught in the hay bailer they'll come out looking like a hay bail with legs. Control is through either keyboard, joystick or mouse, with my personal preference being the keyboard. You can interact with the levels in a limited way, with some gates needing opening or switches needing to be pulled. You can't redefine the control keys, but the layout is logical with directional movement provided through the arrow keys, run being the left-shift key and the action key (for gates and switches, and for ending the level once you herd all your sheep to the exit) being left ALT. I found myself using the run key a lot, as it gave a quick way of getting behind your flock to change their direction. Thankfully, Sheep also includes four training levels that teach you the basics of the game controls before you start the game itself. Spread over a total of 31 levels (including bonus levels), you use your chosen character to herd your sheep through each level. There are four distinct breeds of sheep in the game, and each one reacts slightly differently to the pitfalls present. At the beginning of each level you are given a choice of which breed to use in this level, however once used you cannot choose that breed again for a later level in the world you are playing, so getting to know the levels and how the sheep react within these levels is necessary if you want to complete the game successfully. Each of the four main characters has different strengths and weaknesses when it comes to controlling the sheep as well, making playing each world with each character a different experience. Each world that you play through has a distinct feel to it as well as a distinct graphical appearance, and the levels within follow this theme. The first world, Polygon Farm, is based on a farm theme (as is fairly obvious from the World name) with obstacles such as tractors, hay bailers and the like to overcome. Scattered throughout each level are various bonuses, like fences that you can herd your sheep over, or hay bales that need to be knocked over to release more sheep. You also have to open gates to allow a clear path, as while your character can run over cattle grates, your sheep can't. You could of course carry your sheep over the cattle grates, but whilst you only require 10 sheep (generally) to complete a level, the more sheep you save the higher score you get, and if you save every sheep on the level you get an extra bonus. Whilst herding your sheep through the level, you must watch out for the many traps spread around. Some will only stun your sheep, meaning you have to pick them up, whilst others will kill your sheep, and if you don't have enough sheep to complete the level, its game over. Some of the puzzles require a little creative thinking, and to help you out in getting sheep to strange places to sit on buttons or set off exploding barrels you can catch and carry a sheep to the required destination. You can't carry them everywhere, and they can still be affected by traps if you're not careful enough. Some traps can be bypassed, and in some cases you can herd your sheep through a sheep-changer which will equip your sheep, for a short time, with the protection needed to get past certain obstacles. In one later level you can gain bonus points by knocking down stacks of logs, however these stacks will crush your sheep unless you first pass them through a machine which equips them with some metal armour. The puzzles are not that difficult, at least on the easier skill levels, and the real difficulty comes with controlling your sheep - especially when they refuse to go in a certain direction no matter what you do, or when they make a beeline for a deadly trap whilst blithely ignoring you. Sheep has a very nice backing soundtrack to amuse you as you play, and the sound effects are spot on, with the sheep bleating their way around each of the levels. If you accidentally run a sheep into a flame, you'll hear the sound of wool burning (not good), if you herd them over a low fence for a buns they'll all yell 'hup!' as they jump over the fence. The sound effects really do suit both the mood of the game and the effect they are portraying. Also included is a fairly coherent storyline that, while not actually part of the gameplay does add to the experience. Between each level there are pre-rendered movies that set the scene for the next world. On the whole, Sheep is an extremely enjoyable game, and definitely goes for the cute factor. This is arcade gaming in it's purest form. One query I have is why the Playstation version contains a multiplayer mode, whereas the PC version doesn't. While the whole premise of the game is very simple, playing it online against other people could have been a very enjoyable experience, even if only in the two player version present on the Playstation. The thought of Sheep Deathmatch or Sheep Football does rather appeal, even if only from the name. | |
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