Game Play 3 out 5
Replayablity 2 out 5
Graphics 3 out 5
Sound 3 out 5
Details 1 out 5
Fun Factor 3 out 5

Harbinger is can be rather aptly described as Diablo on a space ship. Note however, that is Diablo I not Diablo II.

The game gets whacked big on the install, as the install program seems to have been written at the last moment by an intern that was given one day to do it. That it doesn't put a link to the program on you desktop is a trivial oversight. That it tries to reinstall the game every time you put the CD in is a major problem.

Once you get past that and get the game running, it's not so bad. Not so good, but no bad. Overall the games main problem is that there just isn't enough different stuff. Most areas have only 2 or 3 types of enemies and I don't think any map has more then 4. The graphics get boring after a while because there are not enough different types of areas and each area has a fairly limited set of wall, floor and decoration graphics.

There are only three classes to pick from, human, gladiator (a robot with a human personality loaded into it) and culibine (alien). However, in practice the play difference between the human and gladiator is not that big, they just get some different gadgets. The culibine has an area of effect attack that sets it apart from the other two, but still does most of it fighting with the same basic four ranged types. Each character had only four skills, and of those, health and ranged attack are obviously the most important.

The combat system seems like it has more depth, but in practice it's quite simple. Melee combat is usually more dangerous and less effective, ranged attacks are almost always better. There are four types of ranged attacks, plasma, EMP, electrical and disruption. Most of the weapons can switch between two or three types, which seems like it should add some complexities and trade offs.

But most of the enemies are vunerable to only one of those types and hitting them with a different type is a waste of time. Thus you use the same type of attacks over and over again in each area. Because of the limited range of enemies, there is no area of the game where you need more then two types of attacks at the same time and in many you need only one. The game does use a slotted item system that adds a little flavor. But almost all of the chips you can get to put in the slots just enhance the power of the attacks a little.

The game play is servicable. It's a little too easy to get hung up in tight areas but overall moving and shooting is easy and works well. The games built in mapping system will keep you from getting lost and the limited number of places you can go will keep you on the right path most of the way. The background seems interesting, but it's never explained well enough to make much sense of it. Questions about how the ship ended up in it's current state, how you got there and histories of the various aliens you shoot are never really answered, and the few hints you get don't fit together real well.

The game is pretty easy once you get a grasp of how the combat works. In fact, it gets easier the further you go. the first few areas where you can die quickly and have not learned how to fight effectivly can be somewhat challenging. But once you get past that and get some good gear you are set. The next to last boss is a push over, and even the last boss is only a problem because he takes a huge amount of damage to kill.

Overall, the game is OK. It's easy to get too negative about it because of the lack of variation. But what is in the game is decent. The enemies are well rendered and animated, and ships graphics are fairly good. If you like the Diablo style games and like playing a bow amazon in Diablo II, think about grabbing this one when the price gets cut. You'll enjoy playing through once.

Jay