Herdy Gerdy Preview

We've definitely seen a good deal of Herdy Gerdy, but always under the guidance of either Eidos' representatives or Core Design itself. The game, in truth, is very ambitious, and it's clearly something whose discrete components must all be intact for its effect to be truly felt. Were it not for the hand-holding during these early demos, many would have probably gotten the wrong idea. In any event, we've recently received a playable demo, which leads us to believe that either Core or Eidos is comfortable enough with the game's state to let us have at it. And so we did.

Though it resembles, in terms of design, any number of 3D platformers at first glance, Herdy is really anything but. Driving the game is an inventive virtual ecology, which meshes quite well with the game's dominant mechanic. Herdy, your character, as his name implies, is a budding herder, and his job throughout most of the game is to goad various creatures to move in the directions you want them to. A herder's role in Herdy's world is much more important than you would think, however. As the game's story goes, the island on which it all takes place was created by a group of powerful elders as a sort of experiment in terrestrial interaction. The source of the island's power is the Acorn of Life, which, in theory, is under the charge of the Master Herder. People are supposed to get a stab at winning this illustrious title by competing in the island's periodical herding competitions, but it hasn't quite worked out that way; the first-ever Master Herder has yet to give up his title, and he's put his only potential competitor to sleep by means of a powerful and nigh-unbreakable spell. This competitor happens to be Herdy's father, and on the morning of the competition, the distraught boy finds him in the throes of this unnatural slumber. He thus sets out to find a solution to his father's condition, and upon learning that there isn't a timely one, he decides to win the tournament himself.

Herdy's early adventures take place in the bit of land around his cottage and the pastoral lands immediately surrounding it. With many of the game's key elements in place, we've been able to get a good idea as to how things will unfold in the end product. While the game's cinematic elements have been trumpeted fairly effectively during demos of the game, we were quite surprised to actually see how it all played out in motion. Many of the levels you'll play through are populated by friendly characters, as well as herdable creatures. When you approach one of these characters, you'll have the option of speaking with it. Doing so will trigger a short, fully voiced, subtitled cutscene. These are often inserted just for "color," but every now and again you'll gain access to quest sequences by talking to certain characters at the right time, or you'll glean a bit of valuable info.

You're introduced to the game's herding mechanics pretty early on. Most of your early experiences with herding involve the small pink chickenlike rodents called doops. They're relatively flighty and easily scattered, so the act of herding them mainly involves chasing them into their pens. It's quite tricky, though, as they're much faster than you are at the game's outset, so you'll have to work pretty hard to get them through passageways and such. The game's AI is still being tweaked at this point, so we expect the act to be a bit more coherent in the end product. Soon, gromps enter the equation--the huge pink carnivores that are eager to devour smaller creatures. This is where we started to see examples of the game's "ecology" in action. If you brought a pack of doops to an area inhabited by an unherded gromp, it would literally have them for lunch. Unless you're very lucky or unnaturally clever, your best bet is to lock the gromps down before attempting any such thing, provided you have the opportunity. Gromps being fairly aggressive, it's pretty easy to get them where you want them--simply get close enough to them, and they'll give chase. What you'll want to do is lead them toward one of the gromp traps that are often placed within the levels. Once they stand on them, they'll be trapped for the remainder of the stage. We've noticed, though, that gromps seldom travel alone, so locking one down usually only means that you have one less to contend with. And in many cases, you simply won't have a gromp trap to help you, so you'll be forced instead to rely solely on sharp herding tactics.

While Core still seems to have a reasonable amount of work left with Herdy, it's already looking pretty dazzling. The only thing keeping it down at this point is the occasionally inconsistent frame rate. It looks as if it'll be locked down around the 30fps mark, and if Core manages to achieve this, the game will be quite a treat to behold. The bulk of the visual work is already done. When static, the game looks like a still from an animated movie. Everywhere you look, you'll see unique, hand-drawn textures and custom-modeled geometry. The cookie-cutter designs that many people have criticized in other 3D games aren't present in Herdy Gerdy, , and the effect is marvelous--the worlds look organic and soft, with countless little touches lovingly thrown in. Insects flit about, leaves fall, and brooks babble, all creating an atmosphere that's entrancing. The game's early pastoral settings look like something out of The Gummi Bears, while some of the later levels will take you to pastel-colored subterranean areas and sleepy desert environments, among others. Each has its own "native" population (though you'll find that gromps, among other herdable creatures, seem to thrive everywhere), and unique textures and objects seem to be placed all over. Few games are as visually ambitious as Herdy Gerdy, and if Core does indeed hammer everything out, it will definitely have in its hands one of gaming's biggest visual accomplishments.

Core definitely has sufficient time to beat everything into place. We'll have more information for you once we see an updated version of the game. The game is slated for release in February, so we'll get you an update as soon as we see something new.