Harbinger - First Impression

Here's a pop quiz - what did Dreamcatcher Interactive do, right before publishing the 2004 hit Painkiller? 

Well, the answer is rather simple - they published Harbinger, of course. So, when I found this title in the bargain bin at a shopping mall a couple years ago, I decided to give it a try. After all, Dreamcatcher wouldn't back a bad game... uh, right? 

Harbinger Game Boxshot

Last week, after pwning Kuril with FemShep in ME2, I decided to give this game a spin, after two whole years! Here's my first impression about the title. 

The first thing I noticed after starting Harbinger for the first time was how eerily it reminded me of Diablo 2. I chose the option for starting a new game, and it presented me with the option of choosing one out of three playable characters, each with a special ability.

Harbinger - Hero Selection Screen (from left - Human, Gladiator, and Culibine)

Here's a quick rundown of the three:

1. Human (Male): Highly agile and the second fastest character, he uses Gears of War style gunblades in combat, and can pack additional punch with a variety of mines. He can use different injections (health regen, melee power booster, etc.) to augment his abilities. He is sort of a mercenary in attitude almost throughout the game, except in the last level (whoops, spoiler!).
2. Culibine (Female): One of the three alien ladies created by Ballastre (a big shot prophet of the Scintilla, a species of energy manipulator aliens), she is the fastest among the three, and self-heals when not taking damage. She can fire moderately powerful energy blasts at enemies, and let out a radial AOE energy blast, severely damaging everyone surrounding her.
3. Gladiator (Male): Well, technically, he is a hulking, armored, badass robot. However, the consciousness of a male Scintilla was somehow infused into its shell. So, I guess the character can be classified as a male. I loved the deep, metallic voice of the character. He is quite slow compared to the others, but packs quite a punch in melee. Besides, the arm-mounted cannon allows him to pummel enemies quite easily, from a distance. He can control different types of mobile turrets rigged with cameras, which provide additional firepower. 

Graphics

The graphics of Harbinger are comparable to those of Diablo 2. However, Harbinger looks sleeker, and shinier. Lighting effects of quite a few levels are impressive, considering this is a Direct 3D title. The hand painted textures in the background are quite nice, too. The view is isometric, and obviously the position of the camera is always locked. 

Sound/Music

Sound effects are quite good, with the gun blasts and explosions sounding pretty impressive. The music is almost forgettable though. Well, except the one that plays during the combat with Ballastre (details coming soon). That track is awesome!

Gameplay

Very easy to get into, Harbinger uses the ever-familiar point-and-click interface. You click the left button and the character moves forward. Left click on an enemy, and the character shoots at it. Tap the right mouse button, and your hero attacks nearest enemy in melee (except Culibine, who uses her radial attack). In order to stay at one place while executing either attack, you simply have to keep Shift pressed before clicking the corresponding mouse button. The special attacks can be used by clicking the corresponding button in the interface. Health packs can be consumed simply by pressing Space, which feels like a blessing during intense combat scenarios.

The level-up system is one of the simplest I have ever seen. Once you gain enough experience to advance a level, a button on the right corner starts flashing. You click on it, and a small menu opens, bearing just 4 stats for each character. I was playing as human, so mine were Melee, Ranged, Rigging (necessary for using high level mines), and Life.

You can upgrade most of your weapons and armors, using special mod chips. These mods add different status effects, different types of damage bonuses.or provide resistances against certain types of attacks.

Here's a short gameplay video of Harbinger, with the human character:

P.S.: Sorry about the abysmal quality. Gregion doesn't support D3D titles, and CamStudio only managed to produce this, with no audio. If anyone knows how to record videos of D3D games properly using some kind of open source software, please let me know in the comments. I'll be grateful.

Update: Added screenshot of character selection screen. Also, uploaded gameplay video of better quality. :)

Mass Effect 2 - Purgatory Showdown - FemShep vs Warden Kuril

On board the prison ship Purgatory, the only law is the word of Warden Kuril. So, when FemShep took on Kuril in the final showdown, I expected a hell of a fight.

Alas, the Warden could not even last 2 minutes against my FemShep. Ah well... not all bosses can put up a tough fight, I guess.

Oh, and yes, the difficulty was still insanity.

Mass Effect 2 - Reclaiming Freedom's Progress

Freedom's Progress is the first area Shepard gets to visit in Mass Effect 2, after the first conversation with the Illusive Man. A human colony, Freedom's Progress is a major human settlement in the Traverse. 

However, Shepard's team land here to find the place deserted. Not only that, they are attacked by small squads of Loki and Fenris mechs, which are, in fact, supposed to protect humans.

My favorite part in the level is the final showdown with a Ymir mech. Given the power of the starting arsenal, I would say that the Ymir offered the perfect challenge for my FemShep on Insanity difficulty setting. Check out the video below for an up, close and personal look at this encounter. The mech had already taken down Miranda and Jacob when I started recording. However, they managed to take down roughly 75% of the mech's shield before they fell.

Update: I have just cleared the level with my Level 30 FemShep (Class: Adept) in Insanity difficulty setting (NG+). Funny - the YMir could not even take down my FemShep's shield more than 50%. Check out the video below:

Mass Effect 2 - Purgatory Shootout

The Purgatory is a prison ship, where you go to recruit a biotic-specialist convict (Jack) for Shepard's team. However, once you get to the post-processing department, it becomes evident that the warden has no intention of letting go a prized catch, especially one as valuable as Commander Shepard.

What ensues is an all-out war, between Shepard's squad and hordes after hordes of Blue Sun mercenaries, accompanied by multiple Fenris and Ymir mechs.

The sequence I love the most is the one that immediately follows Shepard's failed negotiation with Warden Kuril. It's real fun to bunker down behind whatever cover you can find behind the tables and chairs, and start gunning down waves after waves of mercs and Fenris mechs that burst through the door.

Check out my FemShep tackling the situation (on Insanity difficulty setting):

I have also cleared this area with Jacob and Miranda in my squad, in Insanity difficulty (NG+) with my Adept FemShep. Check out the biotic storm here: