Harvester Reviewish

Recently, I watched a gameplay breakdown video of the story and gameplay of a game called Harvester. It's infamous as being one of the goriest, and most violent games ever made and done so on purpose. Most games that feature gore are done so with a touch of humor like Mortal Combat. Harvester does the same but has this "cancel me, I dare you" attitude about it that makes it ridiculous. I didn't have enough time to play the game myself but I have plans to play it someday. For now, the video I watched will suffice. Harvest seeks to mock the videogame panic of 1993. Two games, Mortal Kombat and Night Trap were being brought before Congress to serve as examples of too much violence in videogames. As such, Harvester features skulls attatched to spines and live action horror. You play an amnesiac boy waking up unfamiliar with your town or anyone in your house. You have to solve puzzles and talk to residents to find up why you and your "fiance" have anmesia and escape.

Here's a list of some of the strange events that take place in Harvester.

A newspaper boy packing heat if you decided to attack him.

An upcoming wedding you can't recall.

Your mom constanlty baking and throwing out cookies because they aren't fresh enough.

A violent cowboy TV your little brother likes to watch.

A blind woman who delivers the mail.

Crop circles.

A military man with no legs. Likely blown off.

Gay firemen with a pink firetruck.

A peephole in the bathroom.

A woman obsessed with wasps and them stinging her.

A baby with wasps instead of eyes.

PTA moms who finish each other's sentences.

Your high school is named Ed Gein memorial after the serial killer.

A pedo principal.

A teacher that beats and breaks students if they get questions wrong. 

A missing girl quest that is completely optional.

Your mom in a BDSM outfit will shoot you if you go into your dad's room.

Dad is covered in bandages from all the rough sex.

Various temples dedicated to acts of violence.

And to top it off, the whole thing is a VR program to train you, the player, to become a serial killer.

So the themes of the game revolve around how we use violence as entertainment. Your little brother loves this show about cowboys shooting indians but no one bats an eye at it. While games feature similar violence but everyone jumps on them. It mocks our society's double standard on violence and the ridiculous moral panic that erupted from games like Mortal Kombat. I should note that the Mortal Kombat games have only become more violent and are now praised for their efforts instead of condemned. Had Harvester came out during the panic, it probably would have sold better. As it is, it released two years after the panic and sold moderate sales. Today, it's considered a cult classic, a mockery of the fear of violence. Not the best of inspirtation for me but I always enjoy mocking the prudes.