Flockers Hands-On Preview

When looking at the various weapons you can use in the strategic-war series Worms, it’s hard to see where Team 17 got the idea to include banana bombs and exploding sheep amongst the artillery. The studio’s latest release Flockers looks at the history of the exploding sheep as you rescue as many sheep as possible from a dangerous factory in this modern take on the classic puzzle game Lemmings.

Very similar to the 1991 release Lemmings, Flockers has you controlling a group of premature woolly bombs as you look to survive deadly weapons, intricate obstacles and progress as many of the sheep as possible. While there is no story or campaign as such, Flockers creates stories of its own as you take on various puzzles and obstacles.

The game was released via Steam on the 6th of May and, although it is still in Early Access, there are 25 levels to try for £11.99. While that may seem steep for an Early Access title, there is definitely something about Flockers which may keep you looking after those sheep for many months to come.

While you don’t control each of the sheep directly, you dictate how they manoeuvre around various objects in this manic factory. With high walls, lethal rotating blades and large drops, Flockers constantly has you on edge as you look out for the wellbeing of each and every one of these sheep. The ways in which you can interact with the sheep are both precise and comical. In order to progress past heights and gaps, you can instruct a small number of sheep to create a platform so they can reach extra distance from a gap and dictate their direction as once they hit a wall they will proceed to go in the opposite direction.

The powers you can install in your sheep are comical and are reminiscent of the humour found in Worms’s games. Although numerous sheep can help the remaining sheep overcome small gaps and ledges by stacking themselves, there are a few powers which allow you to vastly improve certain aspects of the sheep’s abilities. These include’ Jumper’, which makes the sheep leap a great distance so they can clear larger gaps, ‘Super’ which allows the sheep to fly up the sides of high walls, all while wearing a red cape, and ‘Release’ which free the sheep from formations which you have instructed them to form. These are fun to see and do in the early levels, but you realise just how important they become in the later stages.

The gameplay in Flockers soon becomes chaotic and has you prioritising the front of your flock before the rear as you always think you have more time with the latter. By the time the gameplay seems to be overwhelming, you are more than experienced to deal with it as it becomes a balancing act between making sure the sheep at the front are well equipped and keeping the rear fresh in your thoughts too. This aspect of the game is almost reminiscent of the Worms’s series as you have to be one step ahead of the game or else you will suffer the consequences.

 

The controls in Flockers aren’t revolutionary or ground-breaking; they are very straight forward and entirely relies on you using the mouse. The game basically has you pointing at which sheep you wish to interact with or where you wish to place the sheep-filled platforms. While you are often looking after a group of around 30 sheep, you have to give each sheep the ability to fly one at a time which creates a tense atmosphere as you often have to perform this while being close to a deadly object.

Flockers often offers players the chance of competing with their friends and the gaming community as a whole with simple leaderboards. This is sometimes a feature which is overlooked in modern games, but you are shown which position you are in the leaderboard immediately after finishing a level. The score takes into account how long you have taken, how many sheep were saved, how many abilities remained and a ‘golden fleece’ reward. In addition to the leaderboard, you can gain up to 3 stars in each level for the higher score you receive.

Many often criticise the Early Access feature for producing games which aren’t finished or seem to be a poor representation of what has been described in the build-up to a game’s release. Flockers more than dispels that opinion as it offers a fun and classic experience while establishing its own take on a historic concept. I am looking forward to being able to put more time into this game and review it once it has finished in the Early Access stage. Team 17 have built something inventive, hopefully the future of Flockers won’t fail to detonate.