Flock

Developer: Proper Games
Steam Release: Apr 2009
Hours Played: 1.4
Similar To: Sheep / Sheep's Quest
Rating: 5/5 Parsnips



GAMEPLAY
Flock is a mildly amusing round 'em up bordering on an arcade style game. You essentially usher cattle through fields with your flying saucer and into your space-ship. For those who like to be awarded gold medals, you'll earn these for rounding up all the little blighters leaving none behind. A level begins with your mother-ship descending from the skies and parking itself at the edge of a field. Your flying saucer pops out which you then control with the WASD keys. The idea is to round up cattle from the field by manipulating their movement with your saucer which acts like a magnet that lightly repels cattle away from you rather than draws them near. Your ultimate goal is to manoeuvre them towards a beam of light near the mother-ship so they get sucked in and taken off into outer-space. 


BALANCE & PACE
There is a par amount of cattle to gather before the level ends and a circular timer appears in the bottom right corner indicating the medal you can go for. Do this in less than one revolution and you get awarded gold, less than two for silver and less than three for bronze. Rescuing all cattle gets you a nice gold star! Different mechanics such as shrinking sheep in water fountains and rampaging bulls are gradually introduced as you progress. Levels, of course, get trickier as you go with sheer drops into the sea getting ushered in by level 13. For me, the game offers a good deal of entertainment and I like the fact that you can either take your time completing levels at a leisurely pace or go hardcore and serious for a fast time to acquire that elusive gold medal. 

PRESENTATION & DESIGN
This type of game has been done before in the form of Big Fish Games' Sheep's Quest and the excellent but little known Sheep by MInds-Eye Productions. Flock simply takes the same formula but wraps it up in an updated and improved setting. The countryside landscapes are rendered in the manner of an elaborate quilt with barriers coming in the form of rickety bridges, sturdy farmyard gates, ancient stone walls and fluffy bushes - all warm, nice and cosy, and very English. This and the gameplay mechanic itself is incorporated in the level select-screen as you hover and float over the numbered gravestone while electing which level to tackle next. The game comes packaged with a jaunty and zany soundtrack to put you in the right mood.


PROGRESS SYSTEM
Progress is represented on a map-screen which are small hilly islands looking not dissimilar to bumpy pin-cushions. A handful of levels spring up from the ground from time to time in the form of numbered gravestones. You hover over this area and move around it with your flying saucer while clicking on the levels you wish to play. Levels have a gold, silver or bronze medal over them depending on how fast you completed it and a star if you have managed to rescue all cattle without killing any or leaving any behind. Moving the saucer is a bit slow and I would like to have had a swifter level-select screen but it has character and serves its purpose.  

CONCLUSION
I was sceptical about Flock at first as it looked a little lightweight during my first impressions but after getting used to the controls and enjoying its variety of levels, I started warming to this title and really appreciated the work that was put into it. It does have a score system but the fun really comes with attempting to improve your medal times and then stopping to take it slower in order to rescue all cattle and to get that gold star. Flock is well worth a little dabble.