No Sheep Were Harmed In The Making Of This Product! (Sheep (PS))

Member Name: nursingstudent

Product:	Sheep (PS)
Date:	21/09/02 (132 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cuddly characters, Lots of levels

Disadvantages: Characters are hard to control, Time limits are restrictive

For the ultimate in frustration look no further than Sheep. I was lulled into a false sense of security with this game, cute cover, happy looking sheep on the front, bright colours, appeared to be a game that children could play as well as having enough going on to occupy an adult. Turning over the box the appeal grew - interesting graphics, an intriguing story line and a whole host of worlds and levels to explore. Time to read the spiel... "They've travelled millions of miles, across countless galaxies, finally arriving on the planet we call home. Their mission was simple, “Pose as stupid creatures and study the habitat”. The sheep soon forgot their mission and preferred instead to enjoy the sunshine and wallow in the lush green pastures. Now it’s time for them to return home”. Quite a novel idea and unlike any other computer game I had come across, the idea that sheep could be anything more than dumb creatures was quite an interesting concept!

So what is the gamers task within this unique scenario? “Your task is to guide the sheep back to their celestial ancestors, saving them from the perils of electric fences, shark-infested ice cream and combine harvesters. It’s not as easy as it sounds, especially when your sheep flock off in the other direction”. Sounds a lot of fun doesn’t it? Just how much fun can you expect for £14.99? A bit more than this game provides unfortunately. Playing the game turns into more of a blood-pressure rising fight to control these woolly individuals who just don’t want to cooperate. Funny and cute at first, their non-compliance soon turns into a frustrating chase around the screen which leaves you annoyed and frowning. Surely sheep herding in real life can’t be THIS difficult!!

You are further flummoxed by the fact that there are four different types of sheep to rush around after, each type has its own character type with different way
s of behaving, very confusing as they all look pretty similar at first glance. The Pastoral sheep is a blue faced chap who is your normal, run of the mill scared sheep, timid and shy, difficult to herd. The Factoral sheep is a brown coated creature who cannot distinguish between danger and safety - not good when being approached by a combine harvester... Sheep type 3 is a Long Wool, this would is as thick as the others and a whole lot shaggier. Finally we have Neo Genetics, a cool looking sheep with glasses and a penchant for computers, still incredibly dumb though.

Approaching your flock as a either Bo Peep - shepherdess by day, rock band singer by night, Adam Half Pint - ex bank manager turned private eye, Motley - sheepdog with an inferiority complex or Shep - the sheepdog with retirement in mind, with stealth and baited breath you have to coerce them around a course and avoid the hazards that are put in your way. The courses are lovely to look at, very well designed and presented although they can sometimes be a little confusing and difficult to navigate (especially when you are trying to control 18 critters who wont do as they are told). The first level starts in a traditional field, just where you would expect to find the little darlings, obstacles include bales and combine harvesters who are inclined to turn your little woolly friends into lamb chops if they decide to run in their path. Very unpleasant. And they don’t reincarnate, so if one dies you lose it for good and this can be crucial if you need to collect a certain amount of sheep to clear the level. Further levels include a medieval castle and outer space, not so traditional. Other levels have wonderful titles such as Jurassic Playground, Clubnation and Temple of Loom. Also included is a vital training level which teaches you your basic moves and herding skills before you are let loose on the real flocks.

You have to be aware throughout the game that there is a tim
e limit on how long you can take to manhandle your sheep, on first inspection it would seem sensible to creep slowly around your course, taking time to round the sheep slowly, guiding them around the hazards a few at a time, getting them to the exit in small groups. You can even pick the blighters up in your arms one at a time and get them to safety individually, but with the clock ticking in the background this is not feasible and your time will run out before you manage to complete your mission. Therefore you have to use a mixture of creeping about and running full pelt when you have the creatures heading in the right direction in order for you to get them from A to B in the allotted time. Sometimes the issue is further complicated by switches that need to be activated in order to release other sheep that may be held for example, in holding pens or towers. To do this you have to pick up a reluctant sheep and plop it onto a switch, not easy if you can’t catch one!!

Apart from the frustration of the sheeps inability to react to your herding skills, the most annoying thing about the game are the hazards which are scattered throughout each course and are designed to rob you of your sheepy friends and turn them into mince, beware the electric fences which frazzle them to death. Some nasty creatures are not meat eaters and do not eat the sheep, they just knock them over and leave them stranded on their backs - you have to go back and put them back on their feet otherwise they will perish eventually. It is very difficult to complete a level with a full head count, casualties are bound to happen along the way, you just have to make sure that you fulfil the criteria of the level, for example, rescue 10 sheep in 4 minutes... sounds easy enough doesn’t it? Believe me, it isn’t!! Especially when these sheep seem to be magnetically drawn to each and every hazard available! In addition to safely gathering your sheep you are also expected to
find the bonus gold sheep on every level in order to access a bonus game, phew - so much to do, so little time!!

The sheep herder can be controlled in a number of ways according to your own personal preference, either by joypad or joystick, keyboard or mouse, I personally use the mouse as I feel it gives me a little more control, and you need all the control you can get in this game, even subtle movements can shift the sheep in a certain direction. All the usual features you would expect are present with this game, the high score screen, the ability to change the level of difficulty and save and loading features which enable up to four different games to be played on the one disc, useful if you have kids that want to play too. Talking about children.... my kids were as pleased as punch to get this game but soon got fed up with losing their sheep, the level of concentration and skill needed to complete a course is quite high and the novelty of the fluffy little baa-lambs soon wears off. We even bought the Playstation version for them as well to see if that format would be easier but it was the same, tantrum-inducing frustration. It is a shame that this game is just SO difficult for children as the characters are so appealing to them and the course layouts are very child orientated.

All in all, Sheep is a game which could provide hours of entertainment for the whole family if it was just a little bit easier, the concept is good, the graphics are fantastic and the whole game is very original, I just wish the sheep were a little more compliant and the hazards were not quite so devastating .

Boring bits that might be relevant - this game needs Windows 95 to run on a minimum Pentium 200 MHz (AMD K6 233 MHz/ Cyrix MII 300), 32 Mb free RAM, DirectX7 (you don’t need a 3D card), DirectX supported soundcard, 25mB Hard disc space, 8x speed CDROM. Anything higher than those specs will obviously be a bonus.... although it won’t make th
e game any easier to play!!!!

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