There I am, about a third of the way through Sheep, when I get stuck. I'm on the final and most difficult level of this particular world, and the only breed of sheep I have left to choose from is the Long Wool, arguably the dumbest of the dumb. And I...just... cannot...get them...to do what I want. Argh! Crap! Motherflocker!
So I'm seething as my flock is reduced again and again to so much mutton. Eventually I just give up.
And that's the problem with Sheep. A brilliant idea, a fun game, but it's ultimately undone by some annoying design flaws and bugs. Like the fact that every time you start a level, it switches off the analog, forcing me to waste a few precious seconds to switch it back on. Also vexing is the lack of a "Retry" option: Fail to complete a level, and it's game over, time to reload from your past save. Which brings me back to my first point. Since you basically need to save after each level, and there's only one save file allowed on a memory card, you're stuck with the choices you made in the prior levels. You can't use a sheep breed you've already rescued, you can't change herders. You can easily get saddled with a flocking mess, just like I did.
Yet Sheep is still one of the most quirky, innovative games out there. If it were just $10, I might not have been so bothered by all the bugs. But at full price, it's more of a rental.
Sheep
Publisher: Empire Interactive
Developer: Minds Eye Productions
Web Site: www.empire-us.com
Final Score: 3 points
Players: 1-2
Memory Card: 1 block
