Beam me out of here. 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.