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Review Harbinger thumbs upped at AVault

Saint_Proverbius

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Tags: Harbinger

<A href="http://www.avault.com/">AVault</a> has posted their <A href="http://www.avault.com/reviews/review_temp.asp?game=harbinger">review</a> of <A href="http://www.harbingergame.com">Harbinger</a>, giving it a <b>3.5/5 stars</b>, and a recommendation because it's only $30. Here's the overall:
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<blockquote>Harbinger is a solid title that lacks refinement and variety, there being few elements distinctive enough to pluck out for singular attention. When played skillfully, ranged combat has a mesmerizing rhythm to it, with the hack-'n-slash of melee always there if you feel like living dangerously. The backstory is fascinating, and plot hooks keep the player interested; you'll want to uncover Harbinger's secrets. The glue that holds it together, however, fun as it might sometimes be, never seems to change. Each area looks much like the last. Class-specific gadgets are not powerful enough to make battle strategies between the Culibine, Human and Gladiator characters differ meaningfully. Even the character development and equipment augmentation systems are too simplistic to add much to the experience. Nonetheless, it's still a time sink, and few could not feel affection for something so well engineered. With a retail price of only $30, action-RPG fans with a taste for science fiction would do well to give it a look. </blockquote>
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Only a few could not feel affection? Where's this guy been?
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Sol Invictus

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One could get a classic like Fallout, a great game like Fallout 2, and an admittedly much better game than Harbinger like Fallout Tactics - all in one neat package... all for a mere 19 dollars!

For that same price, one could also get Freespace, Freespace Expansion and Freespace II... all of which are (unarguably) some of the best space sims ever made.

So, would you rather spend 30 dollars on Harbinger, or would you opt for one of the packages above?
 

Spazmo

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I hate it when low price is taken as an excuse for a game to be terrible in any other way than graphics and sound. Geneforge is five bucks cheaper, and that's one of the most brilliantly designed games I've ever seen. It's cheap because the graphics and sound aren't very good. When making a low-budget game, you only have one card to play: excellent design.
 

Saint_Proverbius

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Well, I pointed out in a previous news item that Diablo can be picked up for $10 now. Or you can get Diablo 2 for $30. You could probably get Throne of Darkness for $10 as well, and despite the fact ToD sucked, it's still got more depth.

What's really sad is the AVault review basically says the combat in the game is all the same, yet they find it fun. Anyone who finds constant repetition "fun" has most likely missed their calling in life, unless they're already working in an assembly line position.
 

Markman

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Heh, I gave Harbinger to my friend and he pretty much had "fun" with it too.
He played through the game with all 3 characters, and trust me, there are other games to play.
So, if it sucks so bad, how could anyone spend 30-40 hours playing and enjoying it?

And about the other games..
Diablo - played it.
Diablo 2 - played it.
ToD - played it.
Arcanum - played it.
Fallouts - played 'em.
So what now? Should I buy 'em all over again and pretend I never seen them before?
Suggesting an old RPG to a RPG fan is no use. Chances are pretty big that we played them before.
 

Vault Dweller

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Then try Prelude, Avernum, Geneforge, Prince of Qin, Morrowind, etc. I am sure that there are good games that you haven't played it. In my opinion, that I'm not trying to enforce on you, Harbinger's RPG is a joke, and Harbinger's action is boring, so yeah, if I'd rather play D2 again for some fun action or try another path in Arcanum or Geneforge. That's after all what makes these games true RPGs - an opportunity to play actually different roles with different results.
 

Sol Invictus

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I recommend Prince of Qin. Saint will probably recommend Prelude to Darkness, Avernum 1 2 and 3 and Geneforge.
 

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