The Ship Is Thy Shepard -- Flock! Review

GamerNode - Flock! is an interesting and novel puzzle game from Capcom and Proper Games, in which players must use a small flying saucer to herd a variety of farm animals across vibrant, elaborate, and hazard-ridden landscapes toward the Mother Flocker mothership to be abducted for who knows what otherworldly reasons... and points.

These hapless creatures flee from the Flocker's ever-shining cone of light, no matter what pits, predators, or other obstacles may be waiting in the opposite direction. The key to meeting the abductee quota in each of Flock!'s 50+ levels is to carefully avoid these things. This won't be easy, however, as the animals aren't exactly organized, and often end up either scattering wildly or getting stuck on whatever it is that the player is trying to avoid. At times, the critters' degree of responsiveness feels almost equivalent to the marbles in those old, tilt-controlled wooden labyrinths.

In addition to simply chasing the animals around, the Flocker can make use of tractor and depressor beams to alter terrain and manipulate environmental objects. For example, a player may need to pick up a gate and use it to bridge a small gap, send a boulder rolling down a hill to break through a fence, or stuff a bale of hay into a pit to create a path for the animals. Each of the four species behaves in different ways and have different abilities. Cows stampede through fences, chickens fly across gaps, pigs absorb mud, and sheep shrink when wet (wool, get it?). These traits are all useful in their own ways, and must eventually be used together to successfully complete certain levels.

Sometimes the power of love needs to be called upon, as well, making male animal follow females single-file, or bringing a couple together in order to... increase the population. Unfortunately, after extended Flock! sessions, the game begins to feel just a bit empty and slow; despite the differences between the animals and the suite of environmental hazards, a sizable portion of the game feels repetitive and borderline chore-like, and the introduction of new gameplay elements occurs at intervals that are too wide. Perhaps as an XBLA/PSN title, this issue is a lesser concern than in a full retail game (although the caliber of many downloadble titles is fast approaching and even exceeding that of their retail counterparts), but the sort of bite-sized gameplay that players will inevitably partake in with Flock! seems to lend itself far better to a handheld gaming system than to a home console at all.

The monotonous nature of Flock!'s levels is theoretically curtailed by the inclusion of a level editor and the ability to share creations with other players via XBL. Thus far, the pool is fairly shallow there, so the creativity of the Flocking masses has yet to shine through, but the editor itself is very user-friendly and makes it easy to put together nice creations. Players only have access to the items that they've unlocked in the single-player campaign, though, so any budding designers will have to play through that first.

An alternative to the single-player mode is a cooperative multiplayer romp that makes the game more interesting and fun, thanks to that extra human touch. Players can split duties, get in each others' way, or simply go mess around with helpless [animated, PETA-don't-sue-me] creatures and boulder physics.

Much of the fun of Flock! comes from the obviously humorous and playful nature of the game's overall concept and its animal stars... not to mention the animations that accompany their untimely demise at the hands of killer moles, fish, shadow-lurking monsters, and the player's own Flocker beams. The audio/visual presentation as a whole is very appealing; the patchwork landscape, plush toy modeling, and hand-drawn GUI art are all just as quirky as the sci-fi/bluegrass soundtrack, and silly animal sound effects. The only complaint in this department is that players will be listening to the same tunes over and over again, as there are very few songs to accompany the action.

This Lemmings-inspired puzzler is unique and charming, and can be very fun for a short while. As an XBLA title, it is solid, but its lack of depth and gameplay variety prevents it from becoming a heavy hitter. The game needs more, just not more of the same old stuff.

Fun Mother Flocker -- Flock Preview

Capcom had a little game called Flock on display at this year's E3, and I had the opportunity to stop by and try my hand at the charming physics-based animal herding puzzle game coming to Xbox Live Arcade, the PlayStation Network, and the PC later this year.

The premise of the game is simple: use your little flying saucer and its tools to direct a number of animals into the Mother Flocker spacecraft, earning points for meeting and/or exceeding your quotas and for performing other fun actions on your way to fulfilling those goals.

Simply chasing behind the sheep, chickens, and other animals will prod them along, but sometimes a little more effort will be required to either clear a path or otherwise make it possible for the animals to reach the Mother Flocker. A tractor beam can lift up boulders and other objects, which are then used to take out other obstacles or begin chain reactions, and another beam is used to flatten out high, impassable grass.

Animals can be lost to the hazards of the level very easily and in a variety of ways. Falling off the edges of the islands on which these collections take place, tumbling into random holes in the ground, getting eaten by vicious moles and other predators, etc. are all ways to diminish one's chances of meeting the animal quotas for a given level. The good part about that, though, is that the animations are funny, and that you are rarely in danger of losing too many of your herd because male and female animals can be mated on special blocks of land in order to replace lost creatures.

There will be other special abilities as well, such as brief flight for chickens or the propensity of male animals to follow females in a straight line (and avoid obstacles in the process). As the levels progress, the difficulty will increase, and the more players will need to rely on these sorts of skills -- and their own puzzle-solving abilities.

When all of the initial levels have been completed, the game has only just begun. The incorporated level editor and sharing system make for unlimited expansion to Flock, allowing players to download and try out the creations of other users anywhere the internet can find them.

To put it simply, what I saw of Flock looks like a fun-filled experience, and what I heard about the game promises to make it a lasting one. This modern-day lemmings will be available by holiday '08. Hopefully I'll be able to pull myself away from it more easily then than I could on the show floor this week.