Metroidvania games are fairly well known for forcing you to grind against enemies, room by room, hoping for some safety. Take the likes of Castlevania or Metroid, the namesake of the genre, where there are only a handful of safe spaces throughout an entire map. Enemies left, right, and center. Sheepo, a brand new indie title that showed up from out of thin air, aims to avoid this trend. It subverts your expectations and creates something completely different, while remaining under the same genre and style.

Sheepo is basically what Super Metroid would be if its premise was to “save the animals”. Also, if it were a bit less violent. The entire premise comes down to the titular character, Sheepo, landing on an unknown planet and needing to collect an egg from each of the species from it. Simple enough right? Well, made even more simple is the fact that, save for a few bosses, there are no actual enemies in here. Instead, there are just a few animals that you can take control of after collecting their eggs. Oh and traps, lots and lots of traps.

Sheepo‘s gameplay can occasionally remind you of Super Meat Boy. Albeit in metroidvania form, given how many traps you’re supposed to avoid and the twitch-like reflexes needed in order to do so. On top of all these traps and needing to find more eggs to take control of a chicken, or a weird bone worm snake thing, you’ll need feathers. Why feathers? You need them to visit an art museum, because of course. Don’t you want to be a sophisticated sheep-like thing? If you need even less of an explanation, just think of it as part of what you have to do in order to complete the game, so get over it.

While Sheepo‘s art and music style are pretty simplistic, they actually add to the charm of the game. Plus, the music during the handful of boss battles you’ll encounter is actually a lot of fun, especially since you don’t actually fight bosses, but make them fight themselves. You can’t attack, you’re Sheepo. Now, when I say simplistic, I mean that the music is basically comprised of a few notes played on repeat, with maybe some form of synth in the background. The music isn’t inherently bad though, as each track feels like it matches its specific area. For instance, the upper sections of the map have a more dreamy, spacey feel. On the other hand, the underground is a bit darker, played in a lower tone.

The simplicity of the art, on the other hand, is what makes Sheepo, both the game and character, so charming. Let me remind you that you play as an adorable sheep-like thing with no arms, that turns into some long tongue, baby-looking thing after gathering its egg. Its a weird, kind of creepy, albeit cute “thing”. The same goes for each of the areas. The background is generally just a fitting colour, orange in the upper areas, transitioning into a darker sky with stars. While underground, it’s more grey and brown. There’s not a ton into the foreground, maybe some grass or a statue. Most of the platforms you land on are just simple black boxes. What Sheepo lacks in art complexity, it makes up for in quality and charm.

As a whole, Sheepo is quite short and simple, but very sweet. This game is a lot of fun, and if you’re after achievements, going for the “no death” speed runs can be challenging, but very welcome,  given how enjoyable this game’s overall loop is. While it might not be the most traditional metroidvania game, it’s one that’s absolutely worth taking a look at if you’re looking for something you can knock out in one session.

 

Graphics: 7.0 Sheepo is about as basic as games come graphically in 2021, but the simplicity of it is what makes its so charming in the first place.	Gameplay: 8.5 A fun take on metroidvania games, removing the ability to fight, and leaving everything to reflexes and avoiding confrontations.
Sound: 6.0 A touch more could have probably gone into the music. While it is charming and fitting, the only song that stood out was during boss “fights”.	Fun Factor: 8.0 I’ve already gone back to tackle this game a couple more times for the speedrun achievements. Sheepo is a lot of fun, for much less than what most games cost.
Final Verdict: 7.5

Sheepo is available now on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, PC.

Reviewed on Xbox Series X.

A copy of Sheepo was provided by the publisher.