The Rest

Controls

Simplicity is what the developers were striving for when they created Sheep. If you play with a mouse, the controls (aside from moving the mouse) boil down to three keys. Original settings use mouse1, mouse2 and the spacebar. This might pose a problem for those of you with only one mouse button, as you might need to get an entirely new computer or mouse. You aren't allowed to remap keys.

So what exactly do these three magical buttons do? One button makes you run, the other lets you pick up sheep. The last button lets you yell or bark, scaring the bejeebus out of the sheep, causing the little guys to run so fast that their hearts might just *pop*. This last button also serves to use items that you find along the way.

Up, Up...

They fear

Playing the game wasn't exactly hard, but my other hand was at a loss. It waited patiently on the usual WASD keys hoping something might happen. My thumb occasionally moved to press the spacebar; but other than that, my left hand sat idle. Of course that happens to me when I browse the web or perform any other task that only requires the mouse. The FPS style of play has invaded all areas of my computer usage. A pox on you id, a pox I say.

Graphics

After playing Alice, Ground Control, and Teletubbies 2, Sheep raises the bar for graphical perfection to dizzying heights. These perfectly rendered fluff balls are little gobs of chops waiting to be eaten. When it comes down to it, the game actually doesn't look all that bad. On a complexity scale of 1-10, Sheep is somewhere around 0.5. The graphics are really basic; there aren't even any graphical options. You can't change anything, and that includes the resolution of the game. Don't expect your GeForce2 to be doing much, in fact I'd wager money that a S3 Virge could handle this game with flying colors.

Poor sheep

Chops anyone?

What makes it even more interesting is that Sheep still manages to outclass Diakatana by god knows how much. It doesn't have fancy lights or 8,000 polygon sheep or anything like that. Just take a look at the graphics; it's basic. The sheep look like sheep - really, really cute sheep. If they had Sheep! licensed toys, I'd probably buy them.

Sounds

Bleating, baaing and other assorted sheep related sounds fill the air as you herd your flock about. As far as how "sheepy" these sheep sound, they are sheepish enough for me. Aside from our cloud-like characters, other sounds were equally well done. Tractors, barks, beeps and boops and yells sounded as good as expected.

Festive

Urp urp.

Music

There is a surprising amount of music in this game - 23 minutes worth to be exact. You've got your groovy rasta beats, your random techno, there is even a bit of sheepy jazz. The music is mostly playful in nature, although there is the occasional track that is actually worth listening to. The menu music is the only choice piece of audio that will compel you to wrap a mouse cord around your throat.

Even cooler, you can take all the audio and replace it in case you feel like blaring some Metallica or Bach while you push around the furry creatures. The files are in the wav format, making it rather easy to listen to any of the tracks outside of the game.