Gaming Trend

Gaming Trend Review

by Tim Wilson

One of the best things about the Xbox Live Arcade is that it gives developers the chance to introduce innovative ideas that can’t sustain a full-price title. From insanely addictive PopCap titles like Zuma or Insaniquarium to near works of art like Braid, the Xbox Live Arcade is a showcase for great little “timewasters.”
 
Proper Games attempts to bring another addictive casual title to the fold with Flock, a quirky animal-herding title that shares some common traits with classic “wrangling” games like Lemmings and of course, Sheep!  In Flock, you pilot an alien spacecraft in an attempt to herd animals back to your mothership – the cleverly dubbed “MotherFlocker.” Doing this won’t be easy – the animals you encounter will react realistically to physics and each have their own set of behaviors. Is Flock worth your hard-earned gamer points, or is somebody trying to pull the wool over your eyes? (Sorry….couldn’t resist).

Few puzzle games set out to wow you graphically, and Flock is certainly not going to push the console’s graphics processor to its limits. However, the game succeeds visually with its wacky cartoon style. Your UFO craft looks like something out of a 1950’s sci-fi movie, and the landscape is rendered in a puffy, almost cuddly look.

Because you’ll be herding swarms of tiny animals, it’s important that they animate well. Here again, Flock succeeds in carrying over its whimsical style to the creatures you’ll be abducting. Animals look like stuffed toys, and seem hilariously clueless as you run them around the levels.
 
The simple concept of the game could have easily been done in a simple flat-cartoon style, so it is nice to see the level of detail the developers put into the game. Water looks astoundingly good considering you really won’t be doing much with it, and the game incorporates lighting and shadow effects to really make the game seem like a realistic miniature playground.

Flock chose to go with a quirky and mischievous score that fits perfectly with the UFO theme. Evoking the sound of the great old 50’s drive-in alien invasion movies, the score makes it easy to feel like a classic “little green man” scooping up livestock for questionable purposes. While it can get a tad repetitious over the long run, it’s still a charming addition.

There are of course, plenty of animal sound effects to go around as you scare the critters back to your ship. These are well done and add another layer of humor to the game’s fun style.

In the game you control your flying saucer craft by using the analog joystick. As you progress, you’ll earn additions to your ship that add a few features. One of the first bonuses, for example, is a speed boost you can use with the tap of a trigger button. Other than that, the controls are very simple, and after progressing through a couple of levels you’ll know all you need to know.

The downside is that the ship’s control is very tough to master. You herd animals by chasing them around with your ship’s “beam” of light. Hovering directly over an animal will usually cause it to just cower in fear, so to get them moving you need to stay just behind them. The effect feels sort of like trying to push a marble around with a pool cue while standing at the long end of the stick. Certainly this is part of the game’s whole point – flocks of animals shouldn’t be easy to corral. So it’s very tough to decide where to draw the line. Is the control scheme intentionally a little clumsy to more accurately simulate the difficulty of herding animals via spacecraft, or is it just poorly implemented?
 
The same goes with pathfinding for the animals – is there an element of random behavior to make them occasionally just not act the way you want them to, or is it a fault of the game? Unfortunately I could never quite put my finger on it. Perhaps it is a little of both. Whatever the case, expect the controls to sometimes try your patience as you sluggishly maneuver your ship around a tiny creature and watch it not run the direction you wanted it to.

The goal of each level in Flock is pretty simple – herd a select number of animals (your quota) through the map and into the beam of your mothership, where they will be sucked inside. Once you fulfill your quota, you can choose to end the level then and there, or continue playing until you’ve captured all the animals. Gold, silver, and bronze medals are awarded for getting the quota in a certain time period, which gives you some incentive to go back and replay levels.

There are, of course, a few obstacles in your way. First and foremost are the animals themselves. Sheep are the first animal you’ll be herding, and as you may expect, they’re rather mindless. Single sheep will tend to run willy-nilly as you chase them around, but when herded together tend to run in the same direction in a “flock” mentality. Therefore your best chance for success is to get them clumped together so that you can control large numbers of them at one time. Sheep are timid creatures, and a gentle nudge from your UFO’s beam will be all it takes to get them running.

After a few levels, you’ll need to herd other types of animals, each with their own behaviors. Cows have the ability to knock down fences due to their size, which is critical in levels in which fences block particular paths to the mothership. Cows also tend to stampede when pushed too rapidly, running in a straight line until stopped (or falling to their deaths!) Chickens have the useful ability to fly short distances, making them excellent candidates for traversing small gaps. Pigs are useful for cleaning up piles of poo that dot various levels, as most animals will do everything they can to avoid getting dirty.

In addition to the animal types, the levels themselves provide hazards in the form of puzzle-oriented landscapes. There are barricades such as fences and the aforementioned piles of manure to maneuver around, as well as ramps and cliffs that are often one-way routes. While you’ll have little difficulty in the early-going figuring out the quickest path to your goal, later levels require a bit more thought. For instance, one peculiar quality of sheep is their habit of shrinking when getting wet (because they’re made of wool, of course.) This attribute can be exploited by getting sheep wet enough (via strategically placed geysers) to pass under fences or other small openings. In later levels there are also catapults you’ll have to use to get creatures over gaps. These require the hefty weight of cows to trigger.
 
One of the most insidious obstacles is the edge of the map itself. While the early stages bail you out by placing hedges and trees to keep your creatures from falling off, later levels will require careful maneuvering to keep them from plummeting to their deaths. Animals will attempt to save themselves from falling, but if pushed too hard will fall.
 
If evading obstacles, finding the quickest route to the goal, and herding a bunch of stubborn animals sounds like a lot to do at one time, that’s because it is. While the first few levels are a breeze to work your way through, things get increasingly more challenging as you work your way through all fifty. Flock does occasionally get frustrating – especially when your animals don’t behave as you predicted or your ship doesn’t offer the precise control you think you need. Whether you’ll find this a fun challenge or aggravating game design is dependent on the amount of patience you have for repeating stages to find the best solution.

Flock boasts a couple of additions to the single player experience. For starters there is a single-system co-op mode which enables two players to work together to get through the levels. This is a nice addition that most puzzle games don’t offer. Another addition is the inclusion of a level editor so that you can dream up your own levels. As you beat levels in the single player game, you unlock more pieces for the level editor. While I personally didn’t have the patience to construct my own levels, it may be of value for those who like to tinker with that sort of thing.
 
At 1200 points ($15), Flock is not exactly one of XBLA’s cheapest games. Running through the entire game doesn’t take more than a few hours, so the real value of the game will depend on how much you enjoy beating your own times. Earning gold medals is a difficult task, and attempting to do so for all fifty levels will be quite a challenge. Of course, you can also go for the standard Xbox 360 Achievements. 
Flock has a lot going for it. It’s a unique action-puzzle title in a genre filled with too many uninspired Bejeweled clones. Its presentation is top-notch, with great graphics for a puzzler and a whimsical style that will bring a smile to your face. However, the controls can be a little cumbersome and the animals you’re herding will occasionally lead to fist-pounding frustration. If you have the patience, however, Flock is a fun little distraction. Whether it’s worth the asking price depends on your tolerance for the controls and whether you care about improving your scores to earn better medals. My suggestion is to give the demo a whirl and see if Flock is right for ewe. (My apologies again).

Gaming Trend Score

70

1. Graphics: 80
2. Audio: 70
3. Controls: 65
4. Gameplay: 70
5. Value/Replay: 65
6. OVERALL:70