Nintendo DS Review: John Deere's Harvest in the Heartland

The title of John Deere’s Harvest in the Heartland should already tell adrenaline junkies and fans of twitch-based shooters that they might want to reach for something else. Sim fans, especially those interested in farming games, should find the game’s business themes and incremental progress more enjoyable.

The farm setting of Harvest in the Heartland immediately invites comparison with Natsume’s Harvest Moon series, the popular multi-platform agrarian series. However, most of the role-playing interactions have been stripped from the Heartland, and more emphasis is placed on the dollars and statistics that make up this virtual world. The tradeoff means that it’s easier to quantify how both you and your farm are doing, but tougher to feel like an integrated member of the game’s community. Thankfully, it also means that you’re not encouraging minors to get married and have babies through pervy love-interest storylines.

Players should find the tools and concepts familiar; you use tools like your gloves, hoe, and watering can to plant, water, and harvest seeds. In addition to cows and chickens, the game offers players a chance to raise goats and pigs for cash, using additional tools and buildings to keep them happy. Heartland is aggressive about tracking the costs involved with these undertakings, and both profits and expenses will float upwards from your character accompanied by a cash register noise whenever money is involved. The game’s real innovation comes in the player’s ability to use John Deere-branded tractors.

It's not a complete surprise. With top billing in the game's title, John Deere equipment is expected in the game, and its green and yellow logo appears on baseball caps worn by various characters, as well as on the shirt of the game's authorized John Deere dealer. Yes, he has his own shop in town. Tough luck, CAT and International Harvester, you'll have to go create monopolies in your own virtual worlds.

Does the game offer a realistic tractor-driving experience? Not particularly, but it does a good job of showing the tractor as the backbone of a successful farm, vital to players who want to run a serious business that grows more than just a tiny carrot patch in the front yard. Tractor attachments (purchased in the John Deere store) can perform almost all of the tilling, planting, and harvesting done by hand, with the exception of watering. The sound effects and engine noises for the tractor are also fun.

Article Author: Peter M. J. Gross

Peter M. J. Gross is a writer who has also contributed to Charlottesville's weekly newspaper, The Hook.

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