Developer: Proper Games

Publisher: Capcom

Release Date: April 8, 2009

Systems: Xbox 360 (reviewed), PS3, PC

ESRB Rating: E

Official Web site

0:00 I remember being enamored with this cute action/puzzle game during a short demo at E3 '08, but I just didn't know if it would have any staying power. We'll see, won't we?

0:01 Some loading and some file creation take up this entire first minute.

0:02 "Use your UFO to herd any animals in the level to the Motherflocker." I love any game that can be distilled into a single sentence that way. Also, "Motherflocker" is an epic win of naming.

0:03 Level 1 is named "Un-Baa-lievably Easy." I wonder if it'll be tough...

0:05 So, basically, I'm a UFO hovering a few feet off a patchwork of sewn-together grass. When I get close to the white puffball sheep, they run away scared. I have to use this reaction to herd them towards the Motherflocker mothership. The sheep are incredibly cute as they bounce up and down and away from my ship.

0:07 On to Level 2: "Hide and Seek." Here the sheep are hiding behind trees, but my ship's antenna points out the closest ones. I have to get used to making wide arcing circles around the sheep, so I don't inadvertently push them in the wrong direction while I'm trying to get in position.

0:11 Level 3 is named "Flocking It." That's not even a good pun! Anyway, this level introduces a small ramp and a fence that annoyingly splits my herd in two. Gathering up the ones that went the wrong way slows me down enough to fall down to Silver medal status. Bleh.

0:14 Level 4: "Boost-iful" is the first one that lets me tap the left trigger for a minor speed burst. It's also the first time I send a sheep to its death, accidentally pushing him over the walls via a small ramp. His pathetic "baaa" as he falls is heartbreaking. My mourning slows me down to Silver medal level again, despite the speed help from the boost.

0:17 Level 5 is named "Twist and Turn," though I have no idea why. It includes tricky hills which require careful sheep management to avoid sending them into the drink. Reminds me a bit of Marble Madness, in a way. Single sheep seem to be getting constantly separated from my flock, thanks to the vagaries of my pushing. I realize now that I should probably leave them behind and go back once I've fulfilled my flocking quota for the level.

0:18 Level 6 is named "Sheep Go Baa." Are the level namers even trying anymore?

0:20 "Sheep are made of cotton wool. They will shrink when made wet." Indeed. The mini-sheep are somehow even cuter and bouncier than the full-sized ones. They can also sneak under the wooden fence in this overly simple tutorial level. Come on, guys, bring on the puzzles already!

0:21 Level 7 brings back the witty with the title "Honey I Shrunk the Sheep." OK, but shouldn't that have been the title for Level 6?

0:23 Urgh. So this level requires looping the sheep around a small Figure 8 track to get to the water that will shrink them and let them through the fence right in front of the Motherflocker. Simple enough, except I keep accidentally pushing the sheep the wrong way when I try to reposition my ship, resulting in having to do the whole Figure 8 twice. I have to get used to going AROUND the sheep instead of through them, I guess. My first measly bronze medal.

0:27 I end up wasting a lot of time in Level 8, "Dyed in the Wool," when my sheep fall off a ledge and back to the beginning of the level. Then, pushing them down a steep hill, I accidentally drown half of my huge flock in the ocean! Whoops. Let's try that again...

0:29 I lose a few stray sheep on the retry, mainly because I'm trying to go too fast. The balance between speed and precision is really hard to maintain, especially because it's so hard to be precise with these freaking sheep jumping wherever the hell they want, it seems.

0:30 "Level 9: Do Have a Cow" HA! Because the level has cows, see? They start slow, but can get worked up into a stampede that can knock the tops off trees (for bonus points!). Even at regular speed they can knock down fences, which I'm sure will come in handy later.

0:35 I'm a little lost in Level 10: "Cows Go Moo" (Oy vey for that name). I can push the sheep to a narrow, quiet edge near a pond and then ... I don't have any way to get them across. The game mentions a catapult, but I don't see any way to activate it...

0:36 Ah ... exploring around the level a bit, I find a cow that can push a boulder down a hill to activate the catapult. This pushes a bunch of sheep across the river and to the Motherflocker. I restart the level to take better, faster advantage of this new info.

0:39 In previous levels I've been pretty completist about getting every single sheep into the ship, but this time I achieve my quota of four sheep and that's it. I just can't be bothered to go back for the little ones that got stuck in the fences. Maybe if the controls were a little better I wouldn't mind so much. Couldn't there be an option to turn off the repulsor beam temporarily? It would help loads.

0:43 Level 11, "The Great Escape," starts with using one cow to launch another cow over to some sheep penned in by fences. I use the cow to break down some of the fences, only to send him to an accidental watery demise. D'oh. Back to square one.

0:46 Oh, come on! Apparently the sheep can't even go over downed fences. Instead, I have to use the cows to push the fences ENTIRELY out of the way so the dainty sheep can get by. Even then, it requires a deft hand and lots of patience to maneuver them through the tight passage. I think I have a lot of patience, and it's starting to annoy even me!

0:47 Quote of the moment: "Cows stomp through piles of poo with ease." You have to love a game that can include a quote like that.

0:50 Level 12: "A Real Stinker" is a relatively straightforward level with a few cows, a bunch of gates and some immaterial piles of poo. I find the cows are much easier to control than sheep. They actually have some heft, so they don't just go bouncing off to their doom every time my ship gets close.

0:56 Level 13, "Wokka Wokka Wokka" is a simple labyrinth (Get it? Pac-Man sounds?). I have to maneuver my cow to knock over some fences and piles of poo that are hemming in my sheep. Kind of annoying maneuvering around corners, but simple enough...

0:59 A new tractor in Level 14 lets me pick up and move certain fences. I wish it let me pick up the sheep instead of ineffectively pushing them around.

Would I play this game for more than an hour? Yes.


Why? Despite some control annoyances, the design is pretty tight and the levels seem to be building toward some interesting puzzle action.

This column is based on a downloadable copy of the game provided by the publisher.



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