Body Harvest was created by DMA, the same company that later became Rockstar, well-known by titles like the Grand Theft Auto series and Manhunt. This game can best be described as a thirdperson shooter with some puzzle elements.
You take control of Adam, a spacemarine descending to earth when aliens are attempting to take over earth by setting up energy shields so the military gets cut off from these areas, It’s your task to remove these aliens from these areas and save the population.
Along the way you’ll encounter several puzzles, some of which are harder then others, but in general, using your basic insight will get you a long way. The main point in the game is fighting aliens, which can be done with a variety of weapons, ranging from the standard pistol to the obtainable special weapon, which you receive after collecting all weapon crystals.
The graphics were great back in the day, when comparing it to other games, when you’re in battle it’s a feast for the eye, the aliens have unique features and the explosions are fun to look at. Each level(which are divided into 4 stages) has a unique look to it, you’ve got Greece(warm climate, standard western houses), Java(rainy, a lot of water, wooden huts) and Siberia(cold climate and little civilization).
The player can also make use of many vehicles throughout the game, they range from boats to aircrafts, both modern and old. Among these vehicles there are many military vehicles like tanks and aircrafts. Using these vehicles is an important aspect of the game, since throughout the game you’ll encounter situations in which you’ll need to get to a point quickly, such as when a town is under siege by the aliens. But you need them out of combat situations aswell, for example at one point in the game you’ll need to rescue a group of villagers from their island since a volcano bursted and lava is slowly getting closer whilst they are trapped in a building.
In this game you aren’t constantly fighting the aliens, it plays a big role but it’s more than a simple shooter. You’ll face many puzzles and challenges, like the lava situation mentioned before. There is also quite a big backstory you could find out if you want, because in houses there are bookshelves you can use in order to gain information about these aliens and why they attack Earth.
Of course not every aspect of this game is perfect, for example walking could get quite annoying since the character moves very slow. Swimming in the game is also discouraged, since Adam swims very slow because of robotic suit and drowning is quite a big danger.
Body Harvest is the first shooter I ever owned, so I spend a substantial part of my childhood playing this game. Even though I’ve never gotten around to complete it, I had great fun playing it. It always kept me interrested from beginning to end, even though I didn’t know English back then, which meant I didn’t understand anything that was said and written, making it so that I had to figure everything out, but luckily most challenges were self-explanetory. All in all, a great game that you should check out if you ever come across it.
