When I was ten years old I had a phobia, a kind of fear, a living nightmare you might say. And that was the countryside. I couldn’t stand it. The smells, the fresh air, the sound of a tractors. But worst of all my fears were the sheep. I just didn’t like them. The way they herded together in packs, the way they make a horrid noise, and the way they looked at you with their sheepish eyes. I’ve got shivers down my spine recalling it all now.
Now as a mature (ish) adult, I of course have lost my fear of the great outdoors and I can now look a sheep in the eye… at least for ten seconds. So there was a bit of fear when I loaded up Clouds & Sheep 2 that I might be taken back to those dark times.
But no, I was pleasantly surprised and started to even care about my little wool covered friends.
Clouds and Sheep 2 is a mobile game that has made the transition to console and is a direct follow up to the successful first game from the development team at HandyGames. It is what I can only describe as a sort of sheep Sims game, but with weather control and a bit of Animal Crossing thrown in.
You play a kind of Shepherd/god character whose main aim in life is to keep the sheep happy, alive and entertained. How do you do this I hear you ask? Well listen as I tell you the secrets of perfect sheep husbandry.
You start with one sheep and a small world, which is a little bit of farmland. Here you learn that you can move your sheep around by picking it up and placing it around the map. You can choose which direction it is looking and direct it to a piece of grass to chew on. You can also pull its tail out as far it goes, before letting it go until your sheep rolls across the map in a small ball. Then you can lift him into the air as high as possible and toss him through the atmosphere. Now don’t panic and please don’t ring the RSPCA, for these sheep love this playful behaviour and it seems to keep them entertained. The happier your sheep is, the more rewards you receive in the shape of stars. With these stars you can buy more sheep to populate your land or all manner of goodies galore. You can buy more sheep, some hats, plant trees, plant plants, cure sickness, build a trampoline for the sheep to jump on… and the list goes on and on.
So that’s the sheep covered, but this game is all about sheep AND clouds. So what about the clouds god damn it?
Well the clouds roll across the sky from left to right, pretty much like clouds do. You can build clouds, one ons top of another, so they become rain clouds and then they can water the plants, trees and make grass for the sheep to eat. You can combine rain clouds with each other to make thunder clouds and with these clouds you make lighting. This is good for getting rid of things like poisoned mushrooms that appear and can kill your sheep. They can also give your sheep a nasty shock, so you have to monitor these clouds very carefully and spilt the clouds when necessary.
So how well does all this work? Well it plays like a direct port from a mobile phone game that the developers have done a good job in translating onto console. Of course it would be easier to use a touch screen to fling your sheep around, but the console controls do it well enough. The game has a quest set up which is helpful and a useful device. These quests range from building a tree to a more story based theme which sees you looking for the fountain of youth. The quest completions level you up and open up new worlds, like snow worlds and a Treasure Island, and so the more quests you complete, the more stars and resources come your way.
The game plays comfortably, the quests are fun and the micro management system works well, being clear enough to understand the needs of your sheep. The easy menus and pick up and play attitude is great for both younger audiences and older ones alike. There are times though when you’re just waiting around a lot, waiting for more stars and with not much to do, because you haven’t got enough resources for the latest quest. Also when a sheep dies it’s really devastating, even though you can bring them back to life with more stars. I had the same one who kept dying over and over. In the end, after the third revival, I left her in the grave. It’s what she would of wanted…I think.
The visuals in Clouds & Sheep 2 are simple but effective, with brilliantly funny expressions on the sheep themselves and a colourful cartoon world to explore. The menus look sharp and concise and it reminded me somewhat of the Peggle universe. Sound wise there’s a nice piece as the introduction music, whilst the rest of the tunes are nice and bouncy. Sound effects are good, without being breathtaking and it all feels right for a game of this type.
Overall I liked Clouds and Sheep 2 because it’s an easy to play for 15 minutes at a time type of game. It can get quite addictive and it’s fun, but after a while does become a little repetitive and its longevity is a big question hanging over it. I think the price should be around the £5 mark like it would be for a mobile game and that would make my overall mark a bit higher.
But hey, at least I can look now look a sheep in the eye again and smile.
