Abduction isn’t normally a funny thing. But say it happens to animals instead of children, and the kidnappers are aliens instead of a sex slave cartel, and it gets pretty hilarious. That pretty much explains Capcom's upcoming downloadable title, Flock, an adventure in animal theft. Playing as a flying saucer, you guide farm animals to your mothership to take them into space to... well, we don't know, but we've been assured it's positive and for a good cause.
This could all make for a harrowing, puzzling experience, but the different types of animals can actually help you out, and they're all as adorable as their meat is delicious. The starting levels are filled with sheep, flocks of them even. They move at an average pace, but can be used in interesting ways. Get them wet, and they shrink for a short time. Find a female sheep, and males of the species can't help but follow in single file. Later, you'll find bulls that can bust through fences but don't move as fast as the sheep, or pigs that - when scared - roll into balls that move very fast but fall off of everything. There’s even a bit of animal husbandry later; if you can't hit your abduction quota, you might have to make new ones.
Flock’s comical design, such as the goofy bounciness of the sheep or pigs loving to roll in crap, may help lighten the load of some of the tougher areas later on. On top of that, its map creator looks pretty deep, and it has timed challenges to complete and high scores to achieve for the very skilled. When it comes out sometime this year, we look forward to getting some pigs to the end of a stage without a bloodbath.
Aug 13, 2008
