Developer: xixgames
Publisher: Black Shell Media
Platforms: PC
Tested on: PC
Herding Dog – Review
Herding is something that is less frequently done nowadays, but there are still some dogs out there that are doing this job. Together with his boss, they guide several different animals to their designated area. But what happens when something happens to your trusty human? Herding Dog gives a possible answer on this question, although you’re sucked into a geometrical world.
Story
If you’re looking for a game with a story, then you’d better skip this one. The only scene you get is at the start of the game, where you can see that your boss has fallen ill and you’re in charge of herding the animals, collecting certain items or fending off predators. This is all you get and it feels like xixgames missed an opportunity to add a lot more story value. For instance, why not connect the grade you get at the end of the level to a fee so you can provide money for your boss to buy medicine? Now you just do the separate missions and there isn’t really anything that makes it a nice entity. This type of game doesn’t need to have a lot of narrative, but what Herding Dog provides is just peanuts.
Graphics
Herding Dog is coated in a geometrical dressing, where everything is made out of geometric shapes. It is a nice change of graphics but don’t expect anything fancy schmancy. Due to this choice of forms, it certainly is harder to get some different sceneries. You’ll be mostly venturing in a green area that represents the grassland, with some other hillsides and greenery here and there. There are other surroundings as well but since there aren’t that many details, it tends to get boring quite fast.
The animals and items mostly stand out against the environment, although there are birds that are barely visible in certain settings. At least you have the green arrow to guide you, otherwise it would be a pain to find them. This also counts for some of the items that you’ll need to find.
Sound
In one of the latest versions, xixgames added a jukebox and a lot of tracks to give a bit more diversity. This was certainly a welcome addition and the music fits the setting of the game. If you’re going to play Herding Dog for a longer period of time, they might get quite dull after a while as they’re all in the same style and tend to loop quite fast.
There are a few sound effects that give the game a bit more extra power, but this is quite limited. Our doggie can bark and each animal has a specific sound and that kind of is almost everything you’ll hear next to the chirping in the background. It would have been nice if there was a bit more diversity.
Gameplay
Herding Dog is a strategy simulation game where you need to guide the unknown dog to do his chores. Moving this trusty pet can be done by left clicking, while the right button and the spacebar will let the dog bark. This is helpful when you need to speed up the animals or predators, although the livestock doesn’t like it all that much and tends to drop a few logs of poo now and then. This might actually be one of the most fun parts of the game as big chunks of brown dumps are flying around.
Each level has a few objectives you need to fulfil before you can proceed, although you can choose any you want from the world map. These tasks are herding the livestock, fetching items and capturing or scaring away predators. You are greeted by the short summary at every start of a new quest and can also be found in the menu. At the starting levels, some additional information is shown on the top and left side of the screen. It is a bit weird that this is shown at two places at the same time and it fills your screen a lot, which makes it quite troublesome.
Guiding your dog can be a challenge in the geometrical environment, as it isn’t clear where the hillside starts for example and where you will fall off. Also, the animals you must herd aren’t that ‘responsive’ to your guidance and tend to get stuck or go the opposite side now and then. At least you have a green and orange arrow to give you an indication where you can find the stock and predators, otherwise you’d be running around for a while. At the end of a level, you get rated but it isn’t very clear on what this is based which makes it very hard to improve your score.
This is all what there is to it. The strategic part of the game is because you need to decide which things you will do first. For instance, will you try to catch the predators or will you just herd that cow that’s grazing 2 feet further. Something that is quite bothersome is that this Steam version is a port from the app and there are a few things that xixgames might have overlooked. It seems that some aspects of the game have been removed (e-mailing for example), but some things weren’t altered. Some of the icons stretch out across the screen, due to the different resolution, while there is one button that doesn’t seem to have an obvious function. It would have been nice if the port was finished a bit better than it is now.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for a something that you can play when you have a bit of time, this game could be a suggestion although there are probably better alternatives. The graphics are quite special but tend to get dull quite fast, while the sounds doesn’t really help the cause either. Gameplay wise, there isn’t much to see and the story is lacking as well. It is clear that this game was originally made as an app and it would have been nice if the PC version had some additions or alterations. If you want to see some geometrical poo flying around though, then you might want to give this a try.
Herding Dog - Review,
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