John Deere: Harvest in the Heartland review

A perfect example of why commercials shouldn't be video games

GamesRadar+ Verdict

Pros

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    Laying out your farm

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    Character's idle animations

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    Sparkly crops that make money

Cons

  • -

    The minigames... all 4 of them

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    Frequent loading screens

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    Stale concept

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Nov 21, 2007

We love this game. And by “love,” we mean we’d love to take it out back and shoot it like the diseased farm animal it is. It’s bad enough that the concept is ripped off from Harvest Moon; but the blatant advertisement for John Deere products of all shapes and sizes (seriously - a John Deere watering can?) leaves a bitter taste in the mouths of gamers who might have been looking for a “real” farming experience for whatever reason. We might be able to forgive the game its sin of unoriginality and consumer whoring, but we can’t forgive them for taking the fun out of shaving a sheep. Tacked-on, twitchy controls; lousy graphics and all-round dull gameplay fraught with mindless minigames tank any hope a would-be virtual farmer might have of actually having fun on a farm.

More info

GenreChildren's
DescriptionIf you're going to rip off a great game (*cough* Harvest Moon *cough*), either keep the game from sucking, or give it some redeeming educational value.
Platform"DS"
US censor rating"Everyone"
UK censor rating""
Release date1 January 1970 (US), 1 January 1970 (UK)
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