Horror fans have had to live with a lot of disappointment in the realm of computer games. Horror games are nothing new to the market, but they never seem to live up to their packaging. This summer, shock freaks will have something new to play with - FutureVision's Harvester. In these times of lazy parents blaming anti-social behavior on video games and coercing Congress into colossal wastes of time and taxpayer dollars, Harvester promises to go much further than any of its anemic peers and finally give computer gamers something worth screaming about.
When I talked to Lee Jacobson and Gilbert Austin - two of the powers that be in the Harvester camp - it was impossible not to bring up the subject of graphic violence. With all the nonsensical crap in the media about how Mortal Kombat turns well-adjusted kids into pre-teen serial killers, I have become worried about the future of extreme violence in computer games. When Sega bowed to pressure and pulled Night Trap from the shelves to re-release it in a milder form, I really began to wonder if the market would allow adults like me to play the games I want to play. For once, I spoke to a some people who have their heads wired on right. "I'm not a social worker; I'm an artist," Gilbert told me when I asked if he was worried about the reaction Harvester might get from some of the more clueless members of our society. He and Lee both expressed no real worry about Harvester being forced off the shelves. Yes, it is a violent game, but it is clearly not aimed at children. Gilbert and Lee said that the people who play Harvester will love it, and the people that won't play it shouldn't be a consideration. Amen and thank you, brothers! Can you see the light?
Speaking of light, Harvester will look different from most games on the market. The difference, apart from SVGA, is Lightwave, the modeling/rendering software which comes with the Video Toaster board for the Amiga. This product has made waves lately, because it was used to create the storyboards for last summer's mega-hit Jurassic Park and is currently used to produce many of the special effects for the TV shows Babylon 5 and SeaQuest. Using Lightwave is quite a departure from the industry standard, Autodesk's 3D Studio. According to Harvester's creators, Lightwave is capable of producing some truly amazing lighting effects which 3D Studio is simply not built for. One example is an eerie light that rises up from a grate in the floor at one point in the game. Horror and suspense rely greatly on the mood evoked from the surroundings, and it looks like Harvester will be at the pinnacle of visual creepiness.
As I poked around for advance information on the game, I came across some footage of real-life actors acting out some of the scenes in the game. When I asked how the production team transferred the actors into the game the conversation turned to the Targa 2000 video system which was used for the project. The advantage to this machine is its ability to capture scenes in 640x460 resolution in true color (24 bits) at 30 frames per second. This footage is then edited frame-by-frame to fine-tune the speed of the action. The actors' images are then cut out and pasted onto a blue screen so the digital art can be placed around them. The actors themselves are touched up by hand by the artists to keep their images crisp and make them fit more naturally into their digital surroundings.
Combat in the game promises to be equally impressive. There will be somewhere in the area of twelve weapons at your disposal in the game. Each of them have high, mid, and low attacks, as well as defensive maneuvers. To ensure that each weapon is used realistically the actors trained with a fight choreographer who instructed them on how each weapon is used in combat. In a bow to Mortal Kombat, a gruesome arcadish touch has been added to the combat system. When you defeat a monster, your cursor changes to a pulsating heart for a brief moment. If you click both mouse buttons (or hit the A and B buttons on the Gravis GamePad if you are playing with that device) while the cursor is a heart, you will deliver an extremely graphic death blow to your enemy, which is shown in gut-churning SVGA in all its splendor. Of course, each weapon will have its own way of turning creatures into lifeless piles of grossness.
The roster of Harvester production team members reads like a cross between a game design firm and a movie team. The production group includes two 3D modelers, three background artists, a creative director, two engineers, one technical director, the previously mentioned fight choreographer, about 44 actors, voice-over talent, and a make-up person. When interactive cinema establishes itself as a legitimate form of computer entertainment, I sure wouldn't mind this crew getting back together for the first ever interactive slasher movie! The Silicon Valley Chainsaw Massacre? Jason Takes Intel?
I'm glad the industry is finally getting a real horror game. I like violence. I always have. Violent games like Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Mortal Kombat have always had a special place in my heart. (Insert tasteless Kano joke here.) When James Woods said "Better on TV than on the streets," in David Cronenberg's movie "Videodrome" he made a serious point. Violence in entertainment mirrors violence in society, not the other way around. Ted Bundy never listened to a Slayer record, and John Wayne Gacy killed his victims long before Mortal Kombat was even a nasty thought. There's a reason why Jeffrey Dahmer gets better TV ratings than Nelson Mandela. People are fascinated with violence; it's just a normal reaction to the abnormal world we live in. Personally, I'm really looking forward to playing Harvester this summer, and a host of other gamers share my enthusiasm. The wait is almost over. Soon the real horror starts.
