Harbinger (video game)

:"See for the Star Trek game.

Harbinger is an adventure computer role-playing game(CRPG) by Silverback Entertainment published in 2003 by Dreamcatcher Interactive. Harbinger takes place on a massive space ship inhabited by multiple warring races and a band of refugees. The player has the choice of 3 distinct characters with their own unique quests, items, and full-game storylines.

Harbinger has no multiplayer and only limited control of character development. The levels and areas are static and only accessible in storyline order, and then only for their given quest or quests. While it lacks the replay value and allure of random maps and online play, the sheer size of the storyline and the number of levels makes it a decent middlepoint between classic interactive novel style CRPG's (e.g. Baldur's Gate) and the current hack'n'slash style (e.g. Diablo II)

Player Characters

Human Male

A tough mercenary, familiar to all the friendly NPCs, he's probably been a drifter. He is a smart loner who sounds a bit like Billy Bob Thorton. He fights with guns and gun+blades for ranged and melee attacks, uses mines and traps, and can wear helmets and body armor. He can also use injections to restore health and boost his speed, healing, and resistances.

Culibine Female

An odd alien woman who can harness the energy around her, she is the last of her race. She is light and agile. In personality she is the more optimistic of the three characters available. Instead of using standard weapons, she channels energy through upgradeable gauntlets and uses a nova-like radial attack from another gauntlet. She can wear no armor and has no intrinsic melee attack but can support up to six small psi-powered "Amps" (drones) which can provide defense, offense, or both. She is the only character who self-heals without the use of external aid.

Gladiator (Mech/Cyborg) Male

Wiks' nephew, saved from death by Torvus by transferring his mind into the core of a re-built robotic soldier. He is big, slow, and strong. He is a cynic. His frame supports a large arm cannon on one side and a set of melee blades on the other. His armor is provided by the torso part of his cyborg frame. He can also use a variety of small semi-autonomous robots called "Cams". He can carry more than the other characters, but his health units are larger.

Non-Player Characters (NPCs)

Allies

*Solomon Torvus - Leader/founder of Torvus Junction, and one of very few humans left. He provides you with most missions.
*Ona - The ever-vigilant, overworked, last remaining shop-keeper on Harbinger.
*Wik - A small, blue-skinned, chubby couch-potato turned clairvoyant, addicted to a powerful hallucinogen called Lotospherine.
*Silas - Wik's best friend, an ambulatory scrap-heap of a cyborg who lives in the junkyards near Wik.
*Smiley - A mysterious super-intelligent entity with some access to Harbinger's computer network and a desire to help you overcome the Vantir. However, over the course of the game, Smiley is more than what it seemed.
*Pho - A Scintilla with a dry wit. Unfortunately, he's got something that the Vantir desperately want.
*Ballastre - Not a direct ally per se, he is a Scintilla prophet, imprisoned by fellow Scintilla with the help of the Vantir at the insistence of the Overlord.
*Leisha - The one of the few humans left on Harbinger. She's a friend of Pho and Ona, and has a pet Biter. She is a tough loner, much like the male human character.

Enemies

*The Vantir - A harmless slime in their natural state, a dangerous army with their power-suits and weapons technology. They are the oldest race on Harbinger. They are opportunistic and seek to dominate all of Harbinger and the rest of the galaxy.
*Scintilla - An vain tribal race who admire all things state-of-the-art. They appear thin and leathery. They are the Vantir's best customer. They can also harness energy like the Culibine.
*Cimicidae - A hive's worth of giant bug-like aliens of all sorts, slowly infesting all of Harbinger. The only things substantial enough left to feed on are the other inhabitants of the ship. They prefer hot places.

Story

The Harbinger is a centuries-old human ship, at first a census vessel, controlled by the ruthless Overlord. The vessel itself is nearly planet-sized and can house many millions of creatures. The Vantir were one such inhabitant. Over time, the Vantir corrupted the purpose of the Harbinger, bringing war to the planets and systems it visits. The various factions on board once had alliances that kept their individual powers well-balanced, but recently, a new species, the Cimicidae, have taken up residence and their expansion and its side-effects have unbalanced the scales. Some Scintilla are learning how to become "energized" again, a condition somewhat like enlightenment, and it has sparked jealousy in the non-"energized" masses. This rift has provided an opportunity for the Vantir, through their arms supply and consultation operation, Ontis Corporation, to prod the non-"energized" Scintilla into civil war. At the same time, the Vantir and the Cimicidae are expanding, taking over more and more sections of the ship, stealing more control from the Overlord and pushing out, capturing, or exterminating most of the remaining refugees. Torvus Junction is one of the last outposts of the refugees, and the conflict is rapidly heating up as the Harbinger approaches the planet Aegis 9.

Sources

* [http://www.pcvsconsole.com/news.php?nid=1699 PC vs. Console article]
* [http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/383/383230p1.html IGN RPGVault article]
* [http://www.rpgcodex.com/companydetails.php?id=77 RPG Codex Entry]
* [http://www.harbingergame.com/ Official Harbinger site]