Herdy Gerdy
Core Design's stunningly gorgeous herding game is beautiful on the outside and the inside, but that inner beauty will require a pickaxe and plenty of patience.
Published: March 25, 2002
In a perfect world, Herdy Gerdy would be Core's next big franchise. It'd secure the company as a development house capable of kicking out more than a busty icon, and the world over would discover that there was life beyond Lara. As any oily-faced kid with coke bottle glasses in the aftermath of an ill-fated request for a date from the head cheerleader will tell you, though, the world is far from perfect. Herdy Gerdy is a good game, a different game, a game that rewards those that stick with it with something plenty entertaining, but you're going to have to strap on a pair of blinders to get there without cringing a couple times.
If you've already tried Herdy Gerdy and dismissed it after a few minutes of play time, don't. I guarantee you haven't spent enough time with it to really walk away with a sense of what makes it good, because most of the positives happen after you've spent a good couple hours trudging through the negatives. Is the fact that you have to put up with the downs to experience the ups fair? No, of course not, and that's why the guys at Core aren't going to take home any awards with Herdy Gerdy; the game just has too much standing in the way. Part of this stems from the fact that it may have been a project too ambitious for the PlayStation 2, and part stems from the fact that the gameplay core is sugary sweet, but there's bland nougat surrounding that core. But first let's bring everyone up to speed.
If you haven't heard of Herdy Gerdy yet, congrats, you're the one person on the planet that managed to dodge the mighty nigh-weekly juggernaut of media updates that is the tireless Eidos PR team. It won't take you long to catch up, though, so bear with us. Herdy Gerdy is a herding game, starring a young boy named Gerdy. By now, you've no doubt put two and two together and discovered the title is a clever play on words, but that doesn't really tell you much, does it? Gerdy's island world is populated with a variety of adorable creatures that can be corralled and guided in very specific ways, be it by chasing them, luring them with a flute, blowing a horn, etc. It's your job to learn the nuances of rounding up these critters to save your dad and take your rightful place as the master of the island.
"My dad?" you ask aloud. Yes, puzzled one, your dad. See, Gerdy's pop is asleep, and won't wake up until the magic acorn responsible for all creation is pilfered from the man that placed the sleeping curse on the slumbering parent. Gerdy's dad was the only man capable of winning back the acorn in the ceremonial tournament that would shift ownership from the evil Sadorf, who's used the acorn's power to let the world slip into a land where lovable creature and carnivorous predator alike run wild. With a little practice, though, Gerdy has the potential to fill his father's shoes, and so he runs off into the big, bad world to hone his herding skills and use them to defeat Sadorf in the tournament.
Populating the world of Herdy Gerdy are creatures, all of which can be herded in one way or another. For instance, Doops can be chased into pens just by running at them, but they'll just as easily run right into the arms of the Gromps, who happily toss them one at a time into their gaping maws. Bleeps ignore you until they are led, Pied Piper-style, by the sound of a flute. There are plenty of other creatures with equally cute names like Blurps, Honks and their little honklings, Glooters and Grimps, but outlining the intricacies of each of them would require another thousand words, and I don't think you want to sit through a thesis-length dissertation on herding.
Names like Doop and Blurp are a perfect reflection of the world Core has fashioned. It's teeming with life that's almost entirely interactive. Squirrels scurry up trees when you get near them, butterflies will chase you as you run past, cows will look at you with blank stares as they leisurely chew their cud, and all of this helps to thicken up the world Gerdy inhabits. The gameplay is deceptively simple, requiring only that you herd a certain number of species into their respective pens using whatever means necessary. Of course, with creatures like the ever-hungry Gromps, you'll have to balance out making sure the predators are sequestered behind the proper traps before attempting to track down all the little defenseless guys strewn about the level.
Herdy Gerdy feels very much like an update of a puzzler like lemmings, where it's your job to balance out a number of risk factors as you guide semi-intelligent creatures to an end point. Indeed, the massive, lush levels are laid out in such a way that you'll have to think bigger than the immediate task, taking into account all the possible ways one of your herd could bite it, but dealing with Gerdy's shortcomings as well. See, the levels are set up in such a way that you'll clear part of it at first, but due to limitations in Gerdy's skills, you'll have to wait until you get a powerup to finish the level completely. Items like boots for speed and jumping height, or gloves for strength, or flutes to organize or attract creatures helps give the game a fresher, more adventure style feel to it.
It's this juxtaposition of genres that makes Herdy Gerdy so good. If it was a straight puzzler or adventure game, there's no way it would stand up, despite having fantastically designed characters and levels. It's when you throw adventure – almost RPG-like – elements like character upgrades into to the pot and mix them with a brew steeped in traditional and clever puzzle aspects that you come up with something so original. Of course, you'll have to deal with the biggest shortcoming of the game almost constantly to recognize the innovations it offers; the visuals.
Not the graphics, of course, which are stunning, but more on that later. No, I'm talking about the framerate and the camera that everything is shown through. Herdy Gerdy is absolutely gorgeous, and on TV's that aren't incredibly high-end, you'll swear everything's been painted by hand and is just running as an animation on its own. As mentioned before, the levels are teeming with wildlife, and the modeling and texturing on things as ho-hum as cows is sharp and detailed. All this detail comes at a high price, however, as Herdy Gerdy struggles to keep itself above a framerate in the single digits. Couple that with a camera that generally works well in open areas, but becomes an absolute chore in tight, enclosed levels (of which there are more than a few) where you'll struggle to get it into a position where you can see ahead of you, and you have a hurdle that many won't even want to try and clear.
Of course, if you're not willing to bear with the choppiness and struggles with the camera (which, admittedly, you shouldn't have to), you'll miss out on something incredibly wholesome and attractive, no matter what the age. Herdy Gerdy's animation is without a doubt, one of the finest examples of next-generation programming out today. The subtle nuances and little details that permeate even the most mundane of creatures (the cow, again, is a perfect example of this; just watching him eat grass brings a smile to your face) is easily on par with something from a Disney cartoon. The game is unapologetically cute, and while it's not really aimed at smaller kids due to the rather complex thinking involved, it will undoubtedly keep them mesmerized while someone else plays.
Sound, too plays an important role in keeping the game light hearted. All of the music is plucky, upbeat tunes usually consisting of a very simple string of notes arranged in a sing-song, almost faerie tale-esque sort of way. What's interesting is that the environment plays a big role in shaping the music. When playing the flute, the music that streams out of the instrument syncs up with the main melody of the level; when getting near a particular creature, it's theme slowly fades in as the main music drops out. It's a bit jarring at first, and while I never really grew to love it, it was a good indicator of when you were herding – even if the creatures you were affecting couldn't be seen.
The voice acting, again, rivals anything you'd find in a Disney cartoon. Gerdy sounds young, but his lines are delivered with uncommon punch. He doesn't say or do anything overzealously most of the time, but you can't help but feel like that take that made it into the game was perfect for the moment most of the time. All the supporting characters have the same slow, child-like delivery that makes the whole game feel like something that should be enjoyed by a toddler. This cuteness pervades all areas of the game, especially in the little effects uttered by the little Doops and Bleeps. They call out their namesake over and over again in absolutely adorable voices that actually had me mimicking them repeatedly (much to the annoyance of everyone else around me).
Herdy Gerdy has some serious problems in things that can and do interfere with the gameplay in such a way that you can't help but enjoy the game less, and in many cases will scare most people off. To be honest, I would have put the game down long ago and never played it again had I not had to review it. Because I did, however, I forced myself to keep playing, and in doing so, started to slowly recognize the incredible job Core did bringing Gerdy's world to life. It may have been too ambitious an effort for a system like the PS2, but the core experience will still cut through any of the technical limitations if you give it enough time.
If you've already tried Herdy Gerdy and dismissed it after a few minutes of play time, don't. I guarantee you haven't spent enough time with it to really walk away with a sense of what makes it good, because most of the positives happen after you've spent a good couple hours trudging through the negatives. Is the fact that you have to put up with the downs to experience the ups fair? No, of course not, and that's why the guys at Core aren't going to take home any awards with Herdy Gerdy; the game just has too much standing in the way. Part of this stems from the fact that it may have been a project too ambitious for the PlayStation 2, and part stems from the fact that the gameplay core is sugary sweet, but there's bland nougat surrounding that core. But first let's bring everyone up to speed.
If you haven't heard of Herdy Gerdy yet, congrats, you're the one person on the planet that managed to dodge the mighty nigh-weekly juggernaut of media updates that is the tireless Eidos PR team. It won't take you long to catch up, though, so bear with us. Herdy Gerdy is a herding game, starring a young boy named Gerdy. By now, you've no doubt put two and two together and discovered the title is a clever play on words, but that doesn't really tell you much, does it? Gerdy's island world is populated with a variety of adorable creatures that can be corralled and guided in very specific ways, be it by chasing them, luring them with a flute, blowing a horn, etc. It's your job to learn the nuances of rounding up these critters to save your dad and take your rightful place as the master of the island.
"My dad?" you ask aloud. Yes, puzzled one, your dad. See, Gerdy's pop is asleep, and won't wake up until the magic acorn responsible for all creation is pilfered from the man that placed the sleeping curse on the slumbering parent. Gerdy's dad was the only man capable of winning back the acorn in the ceremonial tournament that would shift ownership from the evil Sadorf, who's used the acorn's power to let the world slip into a land where lovable creature and carnivorous predator alike run wild. With a little practice, though, Gerdy has the potential to fill his father's shoes, and so he runs off into the big, bad world to hone his herding skills and use them to defeat Sadorf in the tournament.
Populating the world of Herdy Gerdy are creatures, all of which can be herded in one way or another. For instance, Doops can be chased into pens just by running at them, but they'll just as easily run right into the arms of the Gromps, who happily toss them one at a time into their gaping maws. Bleeps ignore you until they are led, Pied Piper-style, by the sound of a flute. There are plenty of other creatures with equally cute names like Blurps, Honks and their little honklings, Glooters and Grimps, but outlining the intricacies of each of them would require another thousand words, and I don't think you want to sit through a thesis-length dissertation on herding.
Names like Doop and Blurp are a perfect reflection of the world Core has fashioned. It's teeming with life that's almost entirely interactive. Squirrels scurry up trees when you get near them, butterflies will chase you as you run past, cows will look at you with blank stares as they leisurely chew their cud, and all of this helps to thicken up the world Gerdy inhabits. The gameplay is deceptively simple, requiring only that you herd a certain number of species into their respective pens using whatever means necessary. Of course, with creatures like the ever-hungry Gromps, you'll have to balance out making sure the predators are sequestered behind the proper traps before attempting to track down all the little defenseless guys strewn about the level.
Herdy Gerdy feels very much like an update of a puzzler like lemmings, where it's your job to balance out a number of risk factors as you guide semi-intelligent creatures to an end point. Indeed, the massive, lush levels are laid out in such a way that you'll have to think bigger than the immediate task, taking into account all the possible ways one of your herd could bite it, but dealing with Gerdy's shortcomings as well. See, the levels are set up in such a way that you'll clear part of it at first, but due to limitations in Gerdy's skills, you'll have to wait until you get a powerup to finish the level completely. Items like boots for speed and jumping height, or gloves for strength, or flutes to organize or attract creatures helps give the game a fresher, more adventure style feel to it.
It's this juxtaposition of genres that makes Herdy Gerdy so good. If it was a straight puzzler or adventure game, there's no way it would stand up, despite having fantastically designed characters and levels. It's when you throw adventure – almost RPG-like – elements like character upgrades into to the pot and mix them with a brew steeped in traditional and clever puzzle aspects that you come up with something so original. Of course, you'll have to deal with the biggest shortcoming of the game almost constantly to recognize the innovations it offers; the visuals.
Not the graphics, of course, which are stunning, but more on that later. No, I'm talking about the framerate and the camera that everything is shown through. Herdy Gerdy is absolutely gorgeous, and on TV's that aren't incredibly high-end, you'll swear everything's been painted by hand and is just running as an animation on its own. As mentioned before, the levels are teeming with wildlife, and the modeling and texturing on things as ho-hum as cows is sharp and detailed. All this detail comes at a high price, however, as Herdy Gerdy struggles to keep itself above a framerate in the single digits. Couple that with a camera that generally works well in open areas, but becomes an absolute chore in tight, enclosed levels (of which there are more than a few) where you'll struggle to get it into a position where you can see ahead of you, and you have a hurdle that many won't even want to try and clear.
Of course, if you're not willing to bear with the choppiness and struggles with the camera (which, admittedly, you shouldn't have to), you'll miss out on something incredibly wholesome and attractive, no matter what the age. Herdy Gerdy's animation is without a doubt, one of the finest examples of next-generation programming out today. The subtle nuances and little details that permeate even the most mundane of creatures (the cow, again, is a perfect example of this; just watching him eat grass brings a smile to your face) is easily on par with something from a Disney cartoon. The game is unapologetically cute, and while it's not really aimed at smaller kids due to the rather complex thinking involved, it will undoubtedly keep them mesmerized while someone else plays.
Sound, too plays an important role in keeping the game light hearted. All of the music is plucky, upbeat tunes usually consisting of a very simple string of notes arranged in a sing-song, almost faerie tale-esque sort of way. What's interesting is that the environment plays a big role in shaping the music. When playing the flute, the music that streams out of the instrument syncs up with the main melody of the level; when getting near a particular creature, it's theme slowly fades in as the main music drops out. It's a bit jarring at first, and while I never really grew to love it, it was a good indicator of when you were herding – even if the creatures you were affecting couldn't be seen.
The voice acting, again, rivals anything you'd find in a Disney cartoon. Gerdy sounds young, but his lines are delivered with uncommon punch. He doesn't say or do anything overzealously most of the time, but you can't help but feel like that take that made it into the game was perfect for the moment most of the time. All the supporting characters have the same slow, child-like delivery that makes the whole game feel like something that should be enjoyed by a toddler. This cuteness pervades all areas of the game, especially in the little effects uttered by the little Doops and Bleeps. They call out their namesake over and over again in absolutely adorable voices that actually had me mimicking them repeatedly (much to the annoyance of everyone else around me).
Herdy Gerdy has some serious problems in things that can and do interfere with the gameplay in such a way that you can't help but enjoy the game less, and in many cases will scare most people off. To be honest, I would have put the game down long ago and never played it again had I not had to review it. Because I did, however, I forced myself to keep playing, and in doing so, started to slowly recognize the incredible job Core did bringing Gerdy's world to life. It may have been too ambitious an effort for a system like the PS2, but the core experience will still cut through any of the technical limitations if you give it enough time.
