Herdy Gerdy Preview
We get a playable version of Core's colorful adventure game.
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.
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- Eidos Interactive
- Core Design Ltd.
- Fantasy Action Adventure
- Release: Mar 4, 2002 »
- ESRB: Everyone
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