Harpooned

In Harpooned, players control the Japanese Cetacean Research boats, conducting "research" on whales.

Players are rewarded for shooting whales and collecting the whale meat. The whale meat is then brought back to the research station where the meat is sold for pet food and whale burgers.

Players must avoid icebergs, the protestor boats, and the news helicopters and still arrive to the research station with a load of whale meat that can be turned for profit.

Yes it is gruesome- it is explosive and bloody. I found myself flinching as I repeatedly shot harpoons at whales. The music is very dark, mysterious, and depressing. The waters turn blood red as more and more whales are killed.

I found the satire to be extremly effective at exposing the problem of whales being slaughtered disguised as research by the Japanese. You get the point immediately and feel the severity of the issue.

Here's the YouTube trailer for Harpooned. As you can see, the interface is simple and the graphics are gory.

The Harpooned website (http://harpooned.org/) contains several interesting links which demonstrate the controversy that this game exposed.

As a serious game, Harpooned was very effective at eliciting my strong reaction against this kind of "research". It successfully, albeit gruesomely, achieved its objectives.