Harbinger Review

Beam me out of here.

In Deep Space 9: Harbinger you play a Federation ambassador assigned to DS9. You must help open relations with a new alien race known as the Scythians from the Gamma Quadrant (which is located on the other side of a worm hole next to the space station). You must also help solve two mysteries, one involving that alien race and robot ships that attacked the station, and the other concerning the murder of a Federation ambassador.

When the game begins you are just a recently arrived envoy. Shortly after arriving on the station, it is attacked by mysterious alien robot ships. Following the attack, the ambassador you have been assigned to assist is found murdered, and you are assigned to take his place. This sets the scene for your two main goals during the game. First, you must help find the ambassador's killer or killers. Second you must also try to negotiate with the Scythians who may hold the key to the mysterious robot ships that attacked the station. Along the way you will encounter 5 of the main characters from the television show: Captain Sisko, Lieutenant Dax, Odo, Major Kira, and Quark, in addition to various other characters. The game takes place both on and off the station; and you even get to visit a holosuite. There are several space battles on a runabout. You will also have phaser fights on the station and on an alien planet. Finally, you will encounter various logic puzzles, which you must solve in order to advance the game.

The graphics in the game range from adequate too excellent, although most of the characters only look like caricatures of the actors who play them. The play control is slow and awkward, especially when trying to navigate your way through the station. During the game you are unable to use the keyboard to move the character; you must use the mouse to move around. The way the control is set up can be confusing at times. It is not always clear how to get to specific areas of the station. This is made harder, because at certain times during the game you will be unable to access certain areas of the station, which at other times are accessible. You never know if you can not access a certain area because of the stage of the game you are in, or if it's because that area simply cannot be accessed.

However, you do have a wide variety of options when speaking to people. Harbinger allows you to have completely differently conversions with the same characters based on your individual personality. For example, the characters will often ask your opinion on what to do; you can demand action, ask questions, or defer responsibility. In addition, with the game's save feature, you can save the game before critical moments and then backtrack to see the various ways in which they can be played.

The sound and music are give the station a more realistic feel. Fortunately, the actors from the show did the voices of the main characters. However, do not expect the voices to be in sync with the character's lips; they look more like marionettes than real people. The music adds that extra Star Trek ambiance as you play through the game.

As a die hard Star Trek fan, I found Harbinger to be satisfactory, but could use some major improvements in play control; I found moving around the station to be more like work than fun.