Computer game reviews
By WES PLATT, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 28, 2003
Platform: Windows
Company: Dreamcatcher
Price: $29.99
Harbinger wants to be an upstart sci-fi role playing game.
But it's not.
The premise seems promising enough. I wanted to like it. You play a character stuck aboard a gigantic slave ship called Harbinger that roves the stars. You must scavenge through the detritus in the shadowy bowels of the ship to find the means to survive as a ruthless race known as the Vantir gains power inside the hull of Harbinger.
It seems to be part Diablo, part Fallout and part X-Com. But as a result of trying to be too many things, it falls short.
The graphics are nice, but they're not groundbreaking. The voice acting is generally laughable. And there's not so much a story to be followed here as there is a scavenger hunt. You're sent on mission after mission throughout the ship, going to new areas via teleporter as they come available with each success.
The extent of "role playing" seems to be the availability of three character types - human, gladiator and Culibine - with varied combat abilities.
If you desperately need another game with combat, the ability to find valuables and barter them with colorful, if poorly acted, aliens, then Harbinger is right for you. Otherwise, just grab the better games it aspires unsuccessfully to emulate.
Robot Arena: Design & Destroy
Platform: Windows
Company: Infogrames
Price: $19.99
This sequel to Robot Arena makes a handy diversion for fans of breaking stuff - and building stuff to break other people's stuff.
Players can take ready-made, remote-control "home-brew" mechanized warriors, straight out of Battlebots, and pit them against competitors in 12 arenas. The game also features league play, with nine tournaments during a season.
And once you're tired of trouncing computer-driven bots, invite friends to rumble via Internet or a local area network.
While the graphics and the competition interface are user-friendly, one feature is nerve-wrackingly horrid: the bot factory. It's not that the custom-robot workshop isn't robust and detailed - it is. You get to design and build your own warriors from scratch, with wheels, axles, power supplies, computer brains and a variety of weapons. That sounds fun, and it should be. But you're liable to put a sledgehammer through your monitor before you figure out how to work it correctly.
However, once you do figure out the bot factory, it offers a great deal more flexibility than its predecessor.
- WES PLATT, Times correspondent
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