Sheep is a puzzle-solving escapade through crazy mazes starring those most loveable of all creatures... Sheep! Unbeknownst to everyone, these seemingly dim-witted animals are actually highly intelligent beings from another planet, sent to observe and nurture the developing life here on Earth. Over millions of years, the lush green pastures and the Human's lazy nature have caused them to lose sight of their vastly superior status and become the mindless creatures we know today. Lost, alone, and now quite dumb, they need you to reunite them with their celestial ancestors.

The object of the game is simple. Take one of the four shepherds and herd 10 sheep to the exit point of the level within a certain amount of time. Now for the hard part... you must accomplish this objective while at the same time avoiding tractors, cows on motorcycles, electric fences, chefs with knives, pounding hammers, buzzsaws and everything else that tries to squash, flatten, or otherwise prevent your sheep from living a full healthy life. The developers have done a nice job on filling your path with lots of different traps and obstacles that surely will challenge you as you progress. There are 4 different breeds of sheep to select from when you play a level: Pastoral - the regular pasture breed, Factoral - the factory breed, Longwool - the tough, hard rocker breed, and Neogenetic - the computer nerd breed. Unlike the game Lemmings, the sheep won't walk in a straight line and make it easy on you. They spread out and rarely stay together, making your work as the chosen shepherd much more difficult. This is what makes the game hard, frustrating, and just so damn addictive that you can't get enough of it. You never really know what the sheep will do next so each time you play a level can be a totally different experience. You do have ways to help herd your sheep and get them under control. You can shout (or bark if you're using the dog shepherd) and get them all scurrying away from you, or run around them to get them moving in a different direction. That's not all, you can also sneak up on the sheep and even pick them up and throw them, this is great for snatching up the ones that wandered off on their own. There are items that you can pick up in the levels to use as well, like the radio. It'll play music and, until it stops (after a few seconds), the sheep will follow you wherever you go. The levels are great, there is a lot of veriety in design to always keep you guessing about what's coming next and offering a challenge at every corner. The levels get progressively more difficult as you go and there are 7 worlds to explore with 4 levels in each. That makes 28 levels of sheep herding excitement!

Graphics are great for a puzzle game. I usually don't expect much in the way of visuals when it comes to these types of games. I was quite impressed though, everything is done quite nicely. The short movies that play throughout the game are great as well and some are pretty funny. It's hard not to laugh at the sheep, you have your innocent looking pasture sheep just hopping around the field, the Neogenetic ones that are basically the computer nerds of the sheep universe, and even the rough and tough Longwool breed is sure to crack a smile. Sounds are simple to say the least, not a big lot of depth here in the amount of sound effects. Like you'd expect in this game there are lots of "Baaa" sounds from the sheep and each breed does have a unique sound. I have to say that the sound the Longwool breed make when they jump always cracks me up. Music, on the other hand, is great. Each level is filled with catchy little melodies that relate to the world you are in and definitely add a lot to the game experience. You might be wondering how the controls are, well this is a mixed bag. You can select to use the mouse, keyboard, or a gamepad. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get used to using the mouse, it was way too awkward. The controls for the keyboard are simple, the arrow keys move the character, space shouts/barks, alt to sneak/activate/pick up sheep, and shift for run. Unfortunately, at times, I found it frustrating to maneuver around using the arrow keys because it was hard to move diagonally. Using a gamepad is the best control method for this game, as long as you use one you most likely won't have any control issues, a gamepad is definitly the way to go. The only other bad thing I've come across while playing through this game was that the loading of levels was long at times even with a complete install.

In the end, Sheep is a game that any fan of puzzle games will enjoy from start to finish. But be warned, this game is very addictive and there are enough levels and challenges to keep you busy for hours on end. Mind's Eye should be commended for creating such a unique and original game that breathes new life into the puzzle genre.

The good points: addictive gameplay, great graphics for a puzzle game, lots of levels

The bad points: mouse and keyboard controls tend to get frustrating at times, load times are sometimes long even with a complete install

Sound	7.0/10
Graphics	8.0/10
Controls	7.0/10
Fun Factor	9.0/10

Review by Mark Dillon
Video Gamer Guy