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TheTome /
HarBingerYou are on the archive wiki. The new wiki is here. Harbinger (Demo)Harbinger is a 3rd person skewed isometric rpg (in the pc sense, for all you purists), where you control one of three characters, using the mouse to navigate around the map, attack enemies, pick up items etc. Yes, basically Diablo in space. There is more of an emphasis on ranged weapons (at least in the demo), and it is a sci-fi setting, but apart from that the similarities are striking and obvious. Being so alike, comparisons are inevitable, and unfortunately Harbinger just can't keep up. The pace of the game is very slow, and you have enough time to dodge enemy bullets and return fire with ease. I would usually come out of a combat with up to three people unscathed (any more and the crossfire gets a bit much :P). You end up getting into a rythm - dodge left, fire, dodge right, fire - it's hardly a challenge and gets rather boring after a while. The graphics are pretty good, reminding me more of Crusader: No Remorse/Regret in style than Diablo. Your character sprite changes with every equipment change you make (although there is only armour, helmet and weapon for the human), which means there's more of a point in saving up for that cool-looking helmet :) The lighting effects are decent; for example, your bullets cast a coloured light around them as they travel, depending on what elemental attack form they are (plasma, lightning, disruption etc). The sound effects and background music fit and work in this context. The same cannot be said for the voice artists, however. They sound like they are being paid 20c for the job, and know it at the time of reading. Boring, flat and completely without feeling or inflection of any kind. Thank god the talking is few and far between, and can be skipped. The other factor adding to the boredom issue is the lack of variety and excitement. Sure it's the demo, but still. There is very little in the way of armour and weapons to be found, and 2/3 of it is for one of the other classes anyway (items are completely class-specific). The enemies are also boring and repetitive, with the same dodge tactic working with everyone. You never get a sense of being pressed, chased down, oh my god run! Monsters are just not that plentiful, which means that the whole experience turns into a ho hum kill everyone quickly, what else is there to do affair. After you save, exit and then reload, you realise that the levels also are not repopulated, so once something is killed it is over. No going back to look for items, cash or XP, just a straight storyline, once through. In terms of technical issues, the only one I came across was pretty minor. If for some reason you switch out of the game through an alt-tab or windows key, the lighting effects get all messed up and pretty funky, forcing a save and exit. Nothing major. If the full version ever comes to me, I will probably make the effort to play it (maybe), but it is certainly not worth the effort of looking for it. Back to SynKronosReviews |