Harvester

The Good
I really liked Harvester's creepy plot, which deals with a couple of teens who wake up in a very strange town known as Harvest. With amnesia. It's up to Steve and his seemingly helpless fiancee Stephanie to figure out just what is going on. The interface and puzzles are, in most cases, standard adventure game fare. There's even a "give dog the meat" puzzle thrown in. The ridiculous, bloody deaths in the game are both funny and entertaining (well, to me, anyway). Voice acting is very well done, as is the music.

The Bad
Many small and annoying quirks are present in Harvester. Most of these could have been avoided had the programming been a bit less sloppy. The fighting sequences are bloody, but they play like crap. This is unfortunate, since the last portion of the game consists mainly of one fight after another. In the "Making of Harvester" video included on the CDs (which, by the way, seems almost like a big ad for the game), the game's producer states that there are a lot of moral decisions that will have to be made by the player. Okay, so why did I HAVE to burn down that poor woman's diner? In reality, decisions of right and wrong are few and far between. The game designers missed a big opportunity for some open-ended gameplay here.

The Bottom Line
It's creepy, it's bizarre, and it's gruesome. It's also a lot of fun. In some ways, the cheesiness adds to Harvester's appeal. A very different adventure game. Unfortunately, due to some sound card issues, it won't work on my new computer, which makes me fighting mad. If you ever see this in the bargain bin at your local CompUSA or Electronics Boutique, Harvester is worth the $10 you're likely to pay, and worth the risk of buying a computer game that won't work.