Title: Flockers
Release Date: September 19, 2014
Platform: PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 (reviewed)
Developer: Team17
Publisher: Team17
Genre: Strategy Puzzle
Price:  $19.99(Steam), ₹2199(PlayStation 4, XBox One)
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‘Holy Sheep!’ 

First and foremost, the plural of sheep is… sheep, which says a lot about the game I am looking at currently. From the creator of Worms series, Team 17, here’s presenting a return to the lush pasture of puzzle solving, Flockers. If most of the games out today teach you how to be offensive in your approach, Flockers teach you the exact opposite, defence is king. The reason why I brought up the plural context is because in Flockers, even one alive sheep makes up for the party. The game instantly draws you in with its dark humour and obvious similarity to its predecessor Worms. From the menu music to the giant rolling eyeballs of the sheep, everything feels like a page from Tim Burton’s most grotesque animated film.

Flockers is a Worms inspired puzzle solving game, wherein you get to navigate a flock of sheep through hell and ridges, ultimately meeting the other edge of the game screen. You have limited abilities at hand, and merely command and simulate as the flock moves on. There are 60 odd chapters, and a couple of time runs. The abilities include superpowers like Jump, Skid vertically through walls, explode boxes and wooden planks and placing steps and blocks. Each of these abilities manifest two or more meanings, and even though they are limited you will feel that they play out differently, every different time. Flockers put you in a stock of different levels, asking you to approach them differently. From burning factory ledges to graceful yards, each with a bleak way to punish you.

Flockers instantly does a Dark Souls in its starting chapter, it doesn’t teach you anything about how to play the game. A game which is supposedly level design heavy and overtly challenging, you feel the burn real quick, and you gear up for more remorseless experiences. The best bit about Flockers is that the level designs were made under total control, as you feel slowly and steadily getting acquainted with the levels, or how the game plays out. There are moments of frustration and you would plead for divine intervention (*cough next gen co-op*, *cough summoning*), but I gave it a shot with two cans of Red Bull, and so should you.

Flockers may look like Angry Birds, but it is more tactical than the former. Flockers may befool you with Rayman Legends and PVZ like Level Navigation Screens, but ultimately it beats, pardon BLEATS, a song of its own. What Flockers does it that it brings the good ol’ days of Worms back on the next gen (or if you are already playing it on the PC, courtesy: Steam). In today’s fast lane, high velocity gaming shifts, Flockers wants you to pause the game more often, study the levels, and then play it out like you are the Dev of the title. It might take a few more minutes than a normal puzzle game, but the way the game challenges you is breath taking and simply applaudable. The game has its high points within the gameplay, with a few interesting bits on the Playstation 4. For example, at times you can hear the bleats and other minor SFX coming out of your controller speakers instead of the television set.

Since the game is basically deciding how to approach the next step, by pausing the screen and setting up your commands to be simulated, it has a tendency to randomise its puzzle formats and give you a surprise spin. Sometimes after a superjump you might unearth a hanging axe from above, at times it is ideal to split the flock into two halves and multitask your way out of trouble. The game has so many mini missions within missions that even a journey of 60 odd chapters look bigger than most of the challenges we face. The button mapping on the PS4 may not be user friendly towards the beginning, as we are not used to using the D Pad more than the sticks these days, but once the controls seep into your brain, you have a game at hand.

Flockers hosts some of the most beautifully created levels, both aesthetic in designing as well as stunningly rich and complex in the art style. The writing and continuous sheep punning is evident in the game level names, Breaking Baaaaaad?! The disclaimer that pops in ahead of the game strictly says: ‘No sheep were harmed during the making of this game’; well how about those Worms? The music department nails the experience furthermore as the game proceeds.

Like all games, Flockers has a few flaws. It seems that the lack of abilities make Flockers depend on level designing to finish off the experience. Even though I applaud the dark humour in Flockers, coming from the guys who invented atomic worms, it might not be suitable for kids whose parents might buy the title judging from the cover. The speed of the game is so fast that it automatically eliminates the under teen age group from even trying it out. Add to this the lack of any demo chapter, the first thing you see in Flockers is your flock getting butchered right in front of your eyes. The game lasts not more than 4-5 hours of gameplay for a regular puzzle player, and I feel that the Indian price of Flockers (₹ 2199) for the next gen is a little outrageous. Flockers may not be that perfect mind boggling puzzle simulation, but it is worth a shot if you still got your love for Worms. Afterall, the heart still BLEATS for it.