No, its not a bogie on legs. Its a Lemming! (Lemmings (PS2))

Member Name: Ovetta2001

Product:	Lemmings (PS2)
Date:	23/01/07 (210 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Classic, Rewarding

Disadvantages: Repetative, Frustrating, eye toy

Lemmings – The all time classic. Starting up in 1991 and originally containing 120 levels, Lemmings was – and still is one of the most popular and recognised games! I remember playing this on my PC when I was a wee annoying child, I used to get so frustrated but at the same time was fascinated with the little bogies (that’s what I thought they where) with legs. You can now get it on many different machines including the PSP, PS2, PC and even your mobile phone!

- -Storyline- -
For some reason – which is never explained – you are promoted to God. Your job you ask oh wise one? Keep the population as high as possible. Your minions, after a hard day’s work of worshiping are heading home. They walk around in groups of twenty and are all obviously absolutely terrible at map reading and taking direction and stopping without being told and using their remaining brain cells. To be honest, they are just a crazy and suicidal bunch. All you need to do is get them home safe and sound. Simple right? I laugh in your face, you trust too much…

- -Game Play- -
The aim of the game seems simple. Get the Lemmings from their drop off point to the ‘bright lighttttttttttt’ – known as the other door. Each level has a percentage of Lemmings you have to help get to the end. Of course though the Lemmings don’t want to make it easy for you. All they do is walk back and fourth between walls. They will walk over cliffs and into lava if you don’t stop them too. Or they will just bump between two walks for eternity. Your job is to guide the Lemmings by designating them jobs. You do this using your left analogue stick and the X button to select each Lemming. To change the job you simply tap the L1 and R1 buttons.
There are several different jobs for the Lemmings to have. They could take up as a local lollypop lady and prevent the others from walking over the edge or they could become a member of the Army’s parachute regiment and float down to safety using an umbrella instead of dropping and splatting like a fly on a windshield. There are also Diggers, Miners, Climbers, Bashers, Builders and Bombers – Known as suicide bombers to my family. One catch of the game being that you cant just designate jobs willy nilly, at the start of each level the icons representing each job has a number below them. That is how many more times you can designate that job. Sometimes this is helpful as it gives you an idea of what you need to do. Sometimes it’s just plain annoying.
One of the most annoying things about the game is that you are meant to save al the Lemmings but sometimes that is impossible. For example, once you have designated a Lemming the job of lollypop lady (stopper) all they do is stand there and you can’t move them. And of course once a suicide bomber has done their duty there is no way they are going to go all resident evil on us and turn into a zombie so that’s another Lemming down. On top of this if you some how end up getting a bunch of Lemmings stuck in a confined space, get ready for your eyes to hurt, All the Lemmings merge into one oversized brussel sprout and it is really difficult to know who is what and what to do next – normally causing you to start the level again.

Getting your lemmings to the end is extremely rewarding and you feel like you have saved a little piece of mankind as each one reaches the door to safety…That is until you get past level 4. Then it gets difficult. Lemmings have to do multiple things and one mistake means you have to start all over again. One level took me over 20 attempts to figure and on another in the end I turned the PS2 off for a day.

The Eye toy is a totally new option to the game. All you have to do is plug it in to your PS2. If you don't, the game will prompt you to before you play. Then you need to find somewhere to place your eye toy. Normally on top of the television is fine but if your television is too high or your fancy and have a HD television you will have to find somewhere else - but to be honest, it wont work as well!

When using the eye toy in the game it is useful but the novelty also soon wears off.
When you play, the plain background disappears and you're given 15 minutes of fame when your mug is placed there instead. If you are really sad (which I am) you a pretend you're an evil oversized monster and you are reining down on the Lemmings and eating them.
On the other hand if you want to play you can actually use it within the game to help save your Lemmings and get them to their destination. For example you can use your arm as a bridge instead of making loads of lemming do it - sounds good right? Wrong. First off, you have to keep the rest of your body out of the screen. Meaning you have to hide under it which is annoying. Second, you have to hold the position till all the lemmings cross which can take a while as they walk slower than a snail. By the time they have crossed, your arm is in a world of hurt. Misusing that as well, I personally think its cheating. You're meant to make the Lemmings do it! The point of the game is totally lost if you can do most of it for them!

- -Sound and Graphics- -
The graphics have remained retro. If they where anything but in their original state it wouldn’t be the same. I do remember it being a bit blobbier when I was younger though so either I had a wear eye sight as a child or they have cleaned it up a little bit. The sound, I swear to god is made to annoy the hell out of you. Sometimes the music is easy going but sometime it feels like you’re stuck inside a Barry boy’s car with really fast pasted music. And of course the harder the level the more annoying you find the music. I would seriously advise muting the television if you are struggling as the music is distracting!

- -Controls- -
As mentioned before, the controls are kept nice and simple. You use L1 and R1 to toggle between the available jobs and you click on the Lemming with the X button to designate them what is needed. With the eye toy make sure only the points of your body needed are on the screen, which will drive you crazy after a short time.

- -Availability- -
Prices are still quite high but the game is easy to get hold of. Most places are selling it for around £25-£30 so I would advise waiting or possibly getting it off EBay. Amazon does sell it for cheaper but you have to ay for delivery too. If you cant wait though:
Amazon - £20.99
Blah - £27.99
Duck - £28.94

- -My view- -
I do love the game, it’s a serious blast to the past. It can be rewarding finally passing a level but it can be extremely frustrating when you can’t figure it out! Some pf the levels are a bit difficult considering it’s rated a 3+ and if purchased for a younger child I would seriously recommend that an adult was near by for possible guidance – or just anger management. The eye toy feature is a serious let down and a waste of time. If you have the eye toy already then great but if you don’t, don’t buy it just for this game! Overall though, a fun game suitable for most – as long as you can stay calm.

Summary: The classic returns but makes little impact