Harbinger - Boss Fight - Advanced Gladiator

The second mini-boss you have to face in Harbinger is a gladiator of an advanced design. Apart from being considered nearly unbeatable in face-to-face combat, this hulking brute was instrumental in the capture of your friend Pho by the Vantir.

When I faced the Gladiator with my human hero, I understood why it was considered to be unbeatable by the NPCs. For one thing, this Gladiator is, beyond doubt, the fastest adversary you will ever encounter on Harbinger. Unless you are playing with the Culibine, you have little hope of outrunning the brute. Besides, its melee attacks, simultaneously executed with both arms, can deal tremendous damage.

I had to use 15 (yes, fifteen) health packs during this battle, which is more than what I had to use while fighting all the other bosses, combined! Oh, and I forgot to mention, this engine of destruction also happens to be nearly immune to the effects of EMP mines. I tried using a couple, which it triggered, but did not take any damage. I did not have the option to try placing more mines.

Yup, and it is ready to start pounding you in 3...2... Good Lord! It's here already!

In short, when you are facing this mini boss, be prepared to run like crazy throughout the battle! Bring along tons of health packs, equip the best armor you can find (and afford), and put Plasma mods in your weapon. 

One bit of good news - you will get armor made of the same material as the body of this boss. Unfortunately, when I got the one meant to be worn by my human hero, I found that it had no additional properties aside from pretty high armor rating. As a result, I went with the Beetle, and finished the game wearing that. Ah well, maybe the versions for Gladiator or Culibine will be more useful to them!

The blade it dropped, however, was simply awesome! Too bad I sold it without taking a screenshot. I'll remember to take one next time I face him, I promise! That is going to be the perfect melee weapon for the Gladiator character!

Recoil - Nuke and Missile Launcher Pickup

You know which part gives me the greatest rush in the first level of Recoil? It's the spot on the beach towards the end of the level, where you get to pick up a Tactical Nuke and a Lock on Missile Launcher in quick succession. Seriously, isn't it exhilarating to realize that you have picked up the highest damaging weapon in the game, in the very first level?

I have never used the nuke, though. Even on the Hard difficulty setting, Recoil cannot pose that much of a challenge to anyone! :)

Recoil - Secret Level - Nude Beach

In the first level of Recoil, there is a secret level called Nude Beach. You can access it by shooting at a pair of pink flashing lights at the bottom of the missile command core. That's the building where the lights from the SAM sites converge. Once you shoot out the two lights, you will get to hear the sound of a door sliding down. Turn around, and go down the basement of the building directly in front of you. You will find a corridor blocked by a rather fragile door. Shoot it down, and you will be on your way to the secret level.

When you arrive at Nude Beach, you will find the place deserted. There is, however, a sign on top of a small hill, which states that the beach is closed. Shoot that sign down, and two naked women appear - one on top of the hill, and the other in the water. So, is that all this area has to offer? 

Hardly!

Get in the water before you leave the area. It holds a secret of its own, in the form of a sizable ammo cache. You will constantly lose armor while you are under water though, so don't take your eyes off that ticking meter. 

Check out a video of the secret level here:

Recoil - Opening Sequence

Recoil, developed by Zipper Interactive, is the first ever PC game I played. I was still in school when I got my hands on this title in 1999. Since then, I have played through this game multiple times, and on all three difficulty settings. 

The paper-thin plot of Recoil can probably be jotted down on the back of a business card. Apparently, the world is ruled by an evil corporation, which uses an enormous biological supercomputer (built by installing electronic circuits inside hundreds of human brains) to spy on everyone at all times. Their plan is to turn every human being on the planet into robots (for whatever reasons). However, resistance forces have designed a highly advanced Battle Force Tank (BFT). As their hero, you are tasked with the responsibility to drive the tank through six different areas, killing adversaries, destroying enemy structures, and finally blasting the supercomputer to oblivion.

Check out the intro sequence of Recoil here:

As for my impression of the game - well, I would say Recoil is a pretty enjoyable shooter. I particularly love the starting point of the game, where the VTOL drops the BFT straight on the pier. Besides, the title also earns major brownie points from me for offering me 18 different ways of laying waste on my adversaries. Yup, that's the number of weapons you can collect in the game, including the rather unique Sonic Burst Cannon, Arc Saber, Laser Saber, Laser Designator, and even tactical nukes! And the fast-paced arcade style gameplay ensures you are never bored. If you haven't played this game yet, I would certainly recommend giving this a try.

Harbinger - Boss Fight - Farade

Farade is the official leader of the Scintilla on board the Harbinger. However, as one of the most significant NPCs in the game puts it, he is more like a figurehead in reality, with little power in his hands. He is the one who locked up Ballastre, as per the Overlord's orders.

Farade does look impressive for a Scintilla. Suited in power armor from shoulder to toe and toting an exceptionally large gunblade, Farade looked all set to rip my hero to shreds, when I first encountered him. He is definitely faster than any other Scintilla (even the armored Scintilla raiders) and was often rushing up to my hero, attempting to engage him in melee.

His power armor seemed to grant him some protection against disruption blasts. However, my gun mods still proved to be too powerful for him. The turning point of the battle was when I sidestepped one of his charge attacks. By the time he recovered, I had enough time to fire a series of 7-8 blasts at him. Once it was over, I suddenly noticed that his extra long health bar had gone down more than one-third. That was the beginning of the end for him!

When you are engaging Farade, be sure to watch your health, especially if he gets up close and starts hacking at your hero with the blade. He misses a lot in melee, but when he does manage to connect, he is capable of causing tremendous damage. Beware of this, and try to sidestep his attacks as much as you can. The rest should not be too difficult. 

Human vs. Farade (Click on pic to enlarge)

Farade can offer moderate challenge to players trying out Harbinger for the first time. However, he is by no means an unbeatable boss. Keep weapon slots filled with disruption mods, and try to install some armor chips to provide protection against melee attacks. That should be enough for you to take him down. 

Harbinger - Boss Fight - Ballastre

Ballastre is a Scintilla prophet, responsible for maintaining an anti-gravity field that keeps Harbinger in orbit. However, ever since he was imprisoned after a fall out with the Overlord, the senile genius has gone more than a little crazy. When you have to fight him, Ballastre has reached the peak of his abilities, and no longer knows how to properly use all that energy.

Problem is - once you destroy him, the ship will enter the atmosphere of the nearest planet (Aegis 9) and get torn apart during the descent towards the planet surface. So, once the prophet is dead, you will have to look for a way to get off the Harbinger, and pronto! Thankfully, you never have to get off the ship on your own. The game takes care of that.

When I faced Ballastre at level 28, he did not seem to be too powerful for my human hero. His entry cinematic was the most impressive I had seen so far, though. Curiously, it looked like the sequence was somewhat inspired by the way Diablo appears in Diablo 2... you know, the lowering of three seals, followed by the ground trembling and the boss appearing out of thin air. Ballastre looks almost exactly like the Scintilla Eyons you face before him, albeit much larger in size.

Ballastre - First Look (Click on pic to enlarge)

However, as far as his powers are concerned - well, let's just say I did not have to use a single health pack in the battle. All I did was to pop a health regeneration injection before engaging the boss. His radial attack was too short in radius to do any damage to my hero, and his energy blasts were slow enough for me to dodge most of those.

My weapon was especially customized for fighting Scintilla (2 disruption mod chips, +4 each).

The Gun That Killed Ballastre

Ballastre took tremendous damage from disruption shots. I expected him to have at least some sort of resistance against the type of damage that Scintillas are vulnerable to. However, the way his health bar was going down, I would say he had little or no resistance against disruption. It was only his extremely long health bar that kept the battle going well over 3 minutes.

Disruption Chips FTW - Take That, Ballastre! 
(Click on pic to enlarge)

Bottom line - in spite of the estimates of his power that can be heard from NPC-s throughout the game, Ballastre should not be considered a threat to any character. Just pack your weapon modification slots full with disruption chips, and avoid engaging him in melee. That should do the trick!

Update: Added a screenshot of the gun I used to fight Ballastre.

Harbinger - Boss Fight - Provost Vantir

Provost Vantir is the first mini boss you face in Harbinger. He is faster on the feet and better armored than any other foe you face up to that point. He is armed with a powerful Provost Gun, which fires red pulses capable of causing considerable damage to you, irrespective of your character class. The gun seems to have faster firing rate than any other gun your foes wield till that point, and can completely counter Culibine's natural regeneration.

Thankfully, the Provost Vantir does not seem to have any additional resistances than what ordinary Vantir troops have. I used plasma ammo and brought him down pretty quickly. The only thing you need to do is dodge the red blasts. Getting hit by a couple of those will not kill you, but take 4-5 in a row, and you will be looking for the Quick Load button. Oh, and don't try to engage him in melee. Even if you are a Gladiator with melee skills close to 40, he will pound you into space dust in no time. 

Human vs. Provost Vantir (Click on pic to enlarge)

Sadly, when I equipped the gun dropped by Provost Vantir (when I was playing as Gladiator), I found that it shoots normal plasma blasts (green, not red). Weird! Oh well, perhaps the Provost had some mod chips installed in it, which were automatically unequipped when he fell! :P