Flocking Good Fun (Sheep (PC))

Member Name: Lunah_C

Product:	Sheep (PC)
Date:	16/12/06 (188 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy and Simple

Disadvantages: May take a bit of logic

~~The Story~~

Many years ago, highly intelligent beings came down to earth from another planet. They came to observe and take care of the developing life here on Earth. The only problem is over the years they have lost sight of their purpose and preferred to take pleasure in the lush green grass and live life the trouble-free slow human way. This has resulted in them gradually evolving into mindless dumb creatures……sheep!

The aliens return to save their comrades, who are now under threat thanks to the plans of an evil scientist. But they cannot do it alone and require help. They gather up a group of four earth beings which will herd the sheep to their rescue, but working with brainless sheep, and a collection of traps and enemies along the way it will not be an easy one.

~~The Game~~

The Game starts with a brief background story and some tutorials to help you master moves and learn the controls. You have the option of Keyboard, mouse or if you have one a Joystick.

After setting your options you then pick which herder you would like to guide the sheep through the mazes to safety.

Bo Peep. As you would expect a natural with sheep, but a bit on the soft side.
Adam Half Pint. A little firmer handed than Bo, so may get more results, but lacking in the friendliness of Bo that appeals to the sheep.
Motley. Very energetic and very enthusiastic canine, but perhaps a little too eager at times scaring the sheep in the wrong direction.
Shep. A real old sheepdog, perfect for the job, except he really is an old sheepdog so sometimes his age can slow him down.

All have different characters and qualities and each will have a different effect on the sheep. Some can be an asset whilst others will just make the job twice as hard so choose wisely.

You then set out on the main journey through a succession of seven separate worlds. Each of the seven worlds consists of four levels. There are four types of sheep in the game, all that need to be rescued and so you must decide which sheep you will chose on each level. Depending on which type of sheep you chose will depend on how easy or hard the level will be to complete. The four varieties are

Modern Pastoral. A typical sheep that is afraid of just about everything, but on the other hand quite easy to herd.
Modern factoral. Not afraid of anything, sounds great but it means they need to be guided wisely as they will easily fall prey to traps and enemies.
Long wool. These fuzzy creatures just love music, and will happily follow your herder, as long as they are playing music that is. They are somewhat adventurous and have a little bit of courage to keep them moving round the course.
Neo genetics. A more modern variety. Fairly confident around vehicles and transport, which is handy when crossing the airfield, and quite knowledgeable with computers and you never know when that might come in handy.


On each level, in order to complete it a minimum number of sheep must be rescued in the given amount of time.

You control the herder, using the keyboard, mouse, or joystick. I have always played using the mouse. When you use the mouse control, a small white dot, appears on the screen. The herder will follow the dot with the speed depending on how far away from the herder you move the dot. Be careful though because if you run too fast behind the sheep they will get startled and start to scatter. If necessary you can creep up slowly behind a sheep and pick them up when you reach them. This is very handy for the odd stray sheep.

Along the way there are some items to help you. Sweets, radios and throbbing hearts will all have an effect on the sheep, though this is dependant upon the type of sheep you are herding at the time.

There are also a number of distractions. Carrots, lovely lush grass, everything a sheep could want. But, stay focused, these are not sheep, and must be rescued.

The more sheep you successfully save, the more points you will get and the more bonuses you receive. The amount you save will also effect the amount of sheep you need to save in future levels.

As you would expect the levels get harder along the way. You will encounter more enemies and traps, some will just stun or flip the sheep over, whilst others may flatten, blow up, or even electrocute them, severely reducing the amount of sheep you have available to save.

The types of enemies and traps in each level tie in with the themes. Combine harvesters and kicking horses on the farm, archers with stray arrows in the medieval Village Fete, and giant robots slicing and dicing sheep in Lost in Space.

Whilst it may seem quite violent at times, the whole game is done in a cartoon way and there is humour throughout.

The levels also contain puzzles to solve. It may be a locked gate that needs to be opened or a bridge to be crossed. Sometimes there may be more than one way around the level, but some routes are safer than others.

On Successful completion of a world you will be rewarded with a video sequence showing the journey of one of the sheep which helps you to understand the bigger picture.

You will most likely get a great reward at the end too, but as yet I have not made it that far.


~~Playability~~

The game itself is very addictive, whilst also very frustrating. If you are the type of person that must finish all games then this will certainly be a good challenge to take on. With a series of traps and puzzles to solve, all in an allotted time, and an array of enemies to try and slow you down or even kill your sheep this is certainly a difficult game. some of the puzzles need to be thought about quite logically in order to solve.

However it is easy to master and even if you cannot complete the game there is always the fun of beating your own time scores on the levels you can manage.

I find that each time I play I can get just that bit further so maybe one day I will succeed.

I have had the game for a number of years now and still enjoy it. With 16 different options for each level, depending on herder and sheep chosen, each game will never be the same.

The game is suitable for all ages, and in our house has been tested and tried by all.

The Graphics too make the game a winner.

~~System requirements~~

Windows 95, 98, ME or above
Pentium 200MHz
32Mb RAM
Basic graphics card
Soundcard.


~~Price~~
Being an older game it is not often found in high street shops, but many online stores still stock it and it can also be found on auction sites. Most seem to average around £2, which is very good value for this highly entertaining game.

Summary: A game suitable for all the family. Fun and challenging all in one.