Find your Dog
Solve some puzzles
Save the world
Harvest is the latest jewel in the crown of the independent game
designers and proudly takes its place among such treasures as Dark
Fall and Rhem.
This has been a good year for adventure gamers and the three games
listed above are partially responsible.
Harvest is the creation of Michael B. Clark who said what the little
engine said, “Yes I can” and showed the world that indeed it can be
done if you make up your mind to do it. An independent developer
does not need a fancy game engine, rich backers or a publisher who
decides whether a game will live or die all he needs is a good story
executed in an honest style and presto his game lives and carves a
niche in the hear of the adventure games. The game than becomes a
beacon to signal to the watchers and they sit up and take notice as
I am sure they will take notice of Michael B. Clark because talent
and had work combined will always be a prescription for success.
The Story
The story centers on a
tremendous misunderstanding between father and son, each locked into
his own grief, afraid to reach out to the other. This is not an
unusual event most miseries of the world are the result of
misunderstanding. This one between father and son is poisoning the
mind of the protagonist. It is sad but riveting and it runs
through the game as a strong thread never letting your interest
wane. The father’s grief will not allow him to rest in peace and the
son who mistakenly assumes responsibility for the death of his
parents turns his self-hatred into a horrible death trap for the
world.
You are walking you dog in the park one evening, it gives few
exciting barks and disappears from site. You go looking for it and
stumble upon the under ground hide away of the bitter Webb Jr. who
is planning to poison the world’s drinking water. You have to find
your way around, clear up all the misunderstandings and prevent Webb
Jr. from carrying out his ill-conceived plan. You can do this and
save your dog too!
Gameplay
Harvest is a point and click
game, a good start, as most adventure gamers like to point and
click. The game comes on one CD in a jewel box with short but lucid
instructions and is playable on Win 95, 98, ME and XP.
The game has a slider puzzle and a maze but neither is deliberately
annoying and, as with all the other puzzles, is logical and
pertinent to the story. There are no bugs or glitches, not even one
little bump.
This game is not only fun to
play, but also escapes the usual pitfalls that other more
sophisticated games fail to avoid. There are no pretensions here to
be what it is not. There are no stupid red herrings or torturous
timed devices to make it seem longer that it is. There is no pixel
hunting and wonder of wonders the cursor gets you where it points.
After playing a game where the cursor behaved as if it was playing a
game of its own, this is a refreshing experience.
Graphics and voice
I like the simple clear look of
the graphic presentation. It is postcard-like and shows exactly what
has to be seen, without unnecessary ornamentation.
The voice acting is believable although I would have liked the ghost
to be a little more frightening just for fun. The sound effects are
appropriate to the story and set the mood.
Personal reflections
The game was lovingly crafted by
its designer and the care lavished on it makes it a very enjoyable
family game. I started to play it without expectations, got involved
in trying to figure out what was the root of the trouble and where
was the dog I lost. Lucky for us all I prevented the catastrophe and
found my dog too.
I certainly hope that Michael B.
Clark will go on making games and I look forward to the next one
with great interest.
I played the game on:
HP Pentium II 600 MHz
Win ME
128 MB physical memory
Nvidia Riva TNT/TNT2 Pro graphics board
Review Grade: B+
design copyright ©
2004
GameBoomers
Group
