Just like the cartoony characters they feature, Lemmings games have continued to plow forward despite any obstacle they might meet since their initial creation in 1991. The amazingly popular original Lemmings was followed up by Lemmings 2: The Tribes, a drastically more complex creation that alienated some players with its seemingly endless collection of skills to master. In last year's The Lemmings Chronicles, it seemed that DMA Design had learned their lesson, going back to more basic mechanics. But then DMA's contract with Psygnosis expired, and the baton was passed to Clockwork Games. Since then, the company formerly known as Psygnosis has become a division of Sony Interactive, which means that the brand-spanking-new 3D Lemmings game features all the polygon power of the PlayStation. It's also available for the PC, which is the version I played.
The titular Lemmings are still the same green-haired goofballs that they always were, determined to plow ahead following the leader, even if it leads to certain death. The player's task is to give a few Lemmings special skills like blocking, which turns the line around, or climbing a wall, or parachuting from a great height. By strategically doling out these skills, the object is to get as many Lemmings as possible to the designated exit.
But what started as a flat-form game now has actual depth, which necessarily means a few more skills are required. Yes, sometimes you need to turn the tide 180 degrees, but there's also the option of turning them 90 degrees. You can make the Lemmings dig straight down or at an angle, and, of course, you can also blow them up taking out any nearby architecture as well.
While in some ways the puzzles have dropped back down to the simplicity level of the first game (which was still devilishly difficult), the added dimension greatly increases the challenge. In order to gain proper perspective on the playing field to give the right orders at the right time, you have control over four fully navigable cameras. These can either be controlled by joystick, mouse or keyboard on the PC, and keyboard controls follow the ever-popular Doom Standard Interface (except there's no fire button). When you pause the game (using the pun-based "paws" icon), you can continue to move the cameras around at will, setting yourself up for the next command. You can also assign the cameras to "Virtual Lemming" mode, which lets you survey the course from the eyeballs of one of the critters running it.
It is very rare to solve many of these puzzles the first time out, so to keep your frustration level down, Sony has added the Auto Replay feature. When you execute a level accurately up to a point, and then screw up, when you play the level over again, the computer will replay every move you made last time, and you can just sit back and watch. When you want to take control of the action again, just click the mouse.
Given the extremely rudimentary nature of the original Lemmings, the bells and whistles in 3D Lemmings are flat-out staggering. Outrageously colorful SVGA graphics prominently feature corporate sponsor Jelly Belly. The Lemmings themselves are a perfect match for their first 3D incarnation, displayed in the cinematics at the beginning of The Tribes. The levels they traverse are constructed around various themes, from the military to the medieval, from circus tents to computer terminals. There's even a level based on the arcade classic Breakout, with the Lemmings mimicking the action of a ball in play.
Indeed, the extremely sophisticated visuals may prove too much for some machines. With this in mind, Sony offers the setup option of stripping the game down to its graphical basics. Yes, the texture-mapped sky, land and sea are lovely, but if you have to turn them off, it doesn't make the game any less fun.
The technological advances that have taken place since the original Lemmings also extend to the sound. The original game used the PC speaker to the best of its ability, and 3D Lemmings can certainly take advantage of modern sound cards. But also, the levels have CD audio as an option. This can really flesh out the music with electric guitars or harpsichords, whatever the mood requires. Be warned, though, even though this is technically quite sophisticated music, that doesn't stop it from being really goofy on occasion.
3D Lemmings is a solid return to form for a game series that was starting to flag. The characters are adorable, the music is lush, the puzzles are infuriating, and it's all addictive as hell. This is well worth the money, even if you've never played a Lemmings game before.
