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Sam Sheepdog and Ralph Wolf. These guys are the two main characters of a cartoon and of this game. One is the bad guy and one is the good guy. Which one is the good guy and which one is the bad guy you ask? It’s up to you to decide!
The cartoon of these two guys told a very simple story: Sam Sheepdog is, as his name says, a dog that guards sheeps. Ralph Wolf is the twin cousin of the more well known Willie Coyote (the one that chases after the Roadrunner) who despite his last name Wolf, is a coyote. And as such, he wants to steal and eat the sheeps of Sam Sheepdog.
The relationship between the two though, isn’t a bad one. They aren’t enemies; far from it. They are colleagues. You see, in the cartoon Sam and Ralph used to wake up in the morning and meet each other in the fields, and as soon as the clock which sounds the start of their work rung, they would fight each other relentlessly, only stopping at noon for lunch break after which they started from where they left. And I mean EXACTLY were they left.
There’s this scene in the cartoon where Sam grabs Ralph from the neck and is about to punch him on the head. He raises his fist but suddenly the clock rings to tell them it’s lunch time. Sam lets Ralph go and togheter, they go eat some sandwiches, relax and smoke a cigarette. After that, they return to were they were, Sam grabs Ralph from the neck again, and as soon as the clock rings, Sam finishes delivering his punch to Ralph.
To them, stealing sheeps and guarding the flock is like a work. It’s their job. As you can see neither of them is good or bad.
But what has all of this have to do with the game “Sheep Dog ‘N’ Wolf”? Well basically one day, after Ralph finished working, Daffy Duck visited him offering to be a guest in his new TV show. In it, he had to steal sheeps from Sam Sheepdog with his intellect and the stuff they gave him (talk about Inception). Ralph doesn’t really accept, but he’s dragged in the show anyway.
In Sheep Dog ‘N’ Wolf you play as Ralph, trying to steal all the 17 sheeps of Sam’s flock, one per level. Starting from a full flock, your task will become harder and harder as the flock empties as Sam will have more general control over the single sheep. While maybe in the beginning you can steal whatever sheep you come across first, in the latter levers things won’t be that easy. A sheep might be in a better position for you to steal it without getting caught while the others are too close to Sam for you to even stand a chance.
Sheep Dog ‘N’ Wolf genre is puzzle/stealth. With a little bit of platforming, but not too much. In every level your objective is: reach Sam’s flock, find a way to sneach a sheep and bring the sheep alive (as well as yourself), inside a white circle somewhere in the level. When both you and the sheep are inside the “goal circle” at the same time, the level ends.
Stealing sheeps isn’t something for everyone. It requires strategy, planning, courage, skills, and a little bit of luck. In every level you are given some items, but it’s up to you to figure out how to use them. The in-game user manual helps, but most of the items have hidden uses that you have to discover yourself. You will also need to learn how to use the environment to your advantage; you need to use rocks and shadows to hide yourself from Sam, or be careful to not step on the leaves or you will wake up that sleeping bull…
Overall it’s a very addictive puzzle game that requires you stop, think, and be creative with the few things you have to find a way to success. Not only that, but Sheep Dog ‘N’ Wolf offers you an extra challenge other that the sheep stealing. Hidden in each level, there is a clock. Finding all the clocks is required to get 100% and there clocks are very well hidden. Or, if they are in plain sight, they’re hard as hell to reach.
Also, it’s worth mentioning the two bonus levels: in each of them there’s another clock, plus another sheep for you to steal. Where are those? Well it’s up to you to find them…or you could just hover your mouse here and here if you are a lazy bone.
Let’s Play’s stats:
-First episode aired on: Feb 10, 2015
-Last episode aired on: Mar 5, 2015
-Number of episodes: 18
-Total time of Let’s Play: 4 hours and 40 minutes