Codex Review Harbinger review

[Saint_Proverbius]

Tags: Harbinger; Silverback Entertainment

Our review of Harbinger, the sci-fi game billed as an Action CRPG. Customary clip:

On top of that, leveling up doesn't feel important at all. You get three points to use on your four attributes/skills, and that often doesn't seem to do much in terms of extending your power. In many cases, especially with Human and Gladiator classes, you'll just be deciding on which of the two useful skills you want to place those three points in, since you really can do without the class specific skills in those as well. What's worse is that even at low levels, you can find items which augment you better than a level gain! If you find an item that gives a +4 to a skill, you've already boosted yourself beyond the capacity of that level bonus. This starts popping up around Level 5, no less.​

Yes, it's true. I didn't like it.

 

[Spazmo]

That review made me want to play Diablo II. Too bad I sold my copy.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Yup, Diablo 2 aces this game up and down, sadly. Diablo 2 has character system depth, as well as item system depth. Harbinger has a decent item system, but the character system is just so shallow, it shouldn't even be included in the game.

Oddly enough, it made me long for Syndicate.

 

[Markman]

Crap. I had high hopes for this one.
No bazookas, eh? :D

 

[Rosh]

Attention to all marketing departments:

Diablo clones suck ass. Get it through your stupid skulls, morons.

This isn't just a poor Diablo clone, but it's a shitty Diablo clone. Most clones I've seen actually try to top the original, but this one looks like it went for half-ass and felt happy about it.

 

[Sol Invictus]

In my opinion, Nox was the only good Diablo clone. It had everything going for it - skills, the ability to break walls, push boulders, ricochet spells, etc. Revenant's combat was alright, but it had the shittiest interface, the shortest stoyline, and the crappiest maps.

All in all, I think that Blizzard should be the only company making Diablo games.

p.s. Prince of Qin isn't a Diablo clone.

 

[gimpz0r]

All in all, I think that Blizzard should be the only company making Diablo games.

p.s. Prince of Qin isn't a Diablo clone.[/quote]

What about Divine Divinity?

 

[Jarinor]

You really roasted the game Saint. I always start getting that bad ol' feeling when I see the words action CRPG and "there are (insert number smaller than 5, usually 3) classes to choose from - ranged combat person, close combat person, spell person" when a designer describes their game.

What about Divine Divinity?

DD actually had a storyline and dialogue options, from what little I played of it (must get around to finishing it). Diablo was limited to "Whut you sell?" "You hear rumour? Tell!" (English level lowered to reflect the level of intelligence usually shown in said game).

 

[Crazy Tuvok]

damn that is a shame. I was hoping the game would fill that sci-fi niche and be successful enough to encourage more.
DD is not precisely a Diablo clone, it does offer some interesting options; it is however imo *way* too combat heavy and seriously hindered by numerous fantasy setting cliches.
Diablo bored me to tears; DD took longer to get me to dump it.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

damn that is a shame. I was hoping the game would fill that sci-fi niche and be successful enough to encourage more..

That's the part that really stings, frankly. One of the few games that bills itself as a CRPG that's actually a Sci-Fi setting, and it's so bad that there's no way it'll sell that well. So, you'll have sme markettimng people out tjhere nodding their head and saying, "Hey, it's sci-fi, that's why it didn't sell."

I'm also really amazed that the game can even be called an Action CRPG considering the character system. I made that point a few times in the review, but it's frankly a disgrace that something with such a shallow system is called a CRPG at all. I'm hoping this game actually breaks the trend on what can be considered a CRPG and what can't because the genre is doomed if you can widdle things down to what Harbinger does and still be called "CRPG".

Case in point, last year you had Dungeon Siege which had four skills and three attributes, right? Along comes Harbinger with three skills and one attribute. What's next? Totally removing attributes and having two skills?

 

[Crazy Tuvok]

Yeah that is good point Saint. Why even call it a CRPG if doing so (and it not being one by any defintion of the genre) is only going to piss off CRPG players who are upset that it is not one and alienate those who don't like the genre? Hell from your review it sounds like the only thing that ties it to RPG is that it has an isometric view.
Altho frankly from the reviews I have read I cannot imagine to whom it would appeal. Man 30 bucks too, what a coup the game coulda been.

 

[Valzante]

Not entirely true

Although I agree with your review, I don't think your view of the Human class was accurate. I don't know what you were doing wrong, but I am at the point where you go to fight Harbinger's overlord (Right after the fight with Ballastre) and not only hasn't my human ever dipped below the initial 10 healing "potions", but I have become so powerful that I let most enemies walk up to me and engage me in melee while I blast away at them with my gun. I rarely ever get significant damage done to me, probably because I equipped every slot of my 5-slotted 87 AC armor with melee+4 chips.

In short, my human has never had the problems you mentioned. Although the game is quite bland, my thirst for a sci-fi game is so strong that I'll gladly take anything I can get.

It's fun...and I intend to play as the gladiator once I finish off the last couple of levels with the human (Who is now at level 32 and has his ranged and life skills maxed) so it isn't a total loss.

I clicked on this review from bluesnews.com and I knew, deep down, that it would be nasty. I feel bad that Silverback's first game ended up like this. It isn't terribly bad, I mean, I enjoy the sound effects and the graphics enough to keep me playing....but this doesn't bode well for their tiny company.

Ah well. You were truthful, and thats all that matters.

Now it will take forever to get Fallout 3.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Re: Not entirely true

Although I agree with your review, I don't think your view of the Human class was accurate. I don't know what you were doing wrong, but I am at the point where you go to fight Harbinger's overlord (Right after the fight with Ballastre) and not only hasn't my human ever dipped below the initial 10 healing "potions", but I have become so powerful that I let most enemies walk up to me and engage me in melee while I blast away at them with my gun. I rarely ever get significant damage done to me, probably because I equipped every slot of my 5-slotted 87 AC armor with melee+4 chips.

I couldn't get anywhere with the human, mainly because of the reasons I mentioned in that review. Those human missions with the tight passages and hallways littered with junk tiles that I kept getting hung on and consequently dying repeatedly made me start over with a new class, simply because I couldn't get anywhere.

Maybe if I'd been able to train my character a bt by revisiting areas I'd already done and taking on the critters I could handle with him, I wouldn't have had to start over with the Culibine. That's one area in the game that totally frustrated me.

I clicked on this review from bluesnews.com and I knew, deep down, that it would be nasty. I feel bad that Silverback's first game ended up like this. It isn't terribly bad, I mean, I enjoy the sound effects and the graphics enough to keep me playing....but this doesn't bode well for their tiny company.

Nope, it really doesn't. I was looking forward to this title since it was announced, but given the near lack of a character system, getting caught on walls, enemies, and other objects, the lack of being able to revisit easier areas to get more money/equipment/experience, and basically everything else..

Really, there's two things this game has going for it. The graphics engine is very nice, if not a little demanding on the CPU, and there's some great humor in it. However, it's just bogged down with way too much pointless and problematic combat, choiceless dialogue, and so on.

Now it will take forever to get Fallout 3.

Every time BIS pipes up with something about Fallout 3, I doubt it'll be much count anyway.

 

[mushpuppy]

This review is right on target! I had high hopes for Harbinger, but the game is really awful! The reviewer forgot to mention the interminable hallways with nothing at all to do but watch the little player character slog along them.

If it weren't for the review, I wouldn't have known about the shift-key option at all. Too many times I've tried to fire at creatures, only to race toward them and get blown to smithereens.

Also, the voice actiing is terrible! The human player character sounds like a hick, not a space guy who only cares about money, as the game's weak fiction tries to suggest.

Though the graphics are clear and sharp, I can't even say they're interesting--it's same old same old over and over.

Disappointing product.