Hey Soldier, You’re Looking a Little Sheepish – Saving Private Sheep [iPhone Game Review]

(written by guest author Tim Giron. follow Tim on Twitter @timgiron)

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From the opening salvo of the old timey newsreel intro to the hilariously impossible to understand ovine leader, General Sheepard, to the sometimes dastardly difficult puzzles that comprise the gameplay, Saving Private Sheep [iTunes $0.99] by Bulkypix is a winner on many levels.

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The game starts you off easy, with a few basic levels that outline the mechanics of attaining your goals.  Don’t be fooled by these introductory levels, however, the puzzles will quickly ramp up.  The basic idea is that you are presented with a sheep soldier that is resting upon a structure.  By carefully removing the elements that the structure is made of, you attempt to get the sheep onto solid ground.  One false move, however, and he’ll tumble over the side and be devoured by the wolves.  In later levels, the sheep must make it across chasms to reach safety, requiring careful and precise timing of falling elements.

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There were several levels that took me multiple tries to get through (like the first time I had to flip the sheep into the air to get him to safety).  It is also important to pay attention to any levels where the General gives you pointers.  These levels introduce new concepts that are key to success, like when a wolf appears in sheep’s clothing which changes your goal to *trying* to dump the "soldier in disguise" over the side.

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The military theme carries throughout as you move across the campaign battlefield map and try to achieve medals for your best scores.  The in-game music and sound effects also follow this theme.  Global leaderboards are available via OpenFeint integration.

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The iPhone and iPod Touch version is just 99 cents [iTunes] with two additional campaigns available via InApp purchase for 99 cents each.  There is also an iPad HD version for $3.99 [iTunes], which I have not yet played, but it sports 20 new levels that were designed just for the device.

 

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