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When I was in elementary school in the seventies, I distinctly remember being told that at the rate the world was using oil, there would be none left by the end of the century. I also recall being told that at the rate the world was chopping its rain forests down, there would be none of those left by the century's end, either. Well, someone should have checked their statistics about that a little more carefully. At present, gas prices are at an all time low right and there are still rain forests. So who reported all this gloom and doom? Well, the environmentalists did, of course. And, while saving the environment is a good thing, the fact of the matter is the environmentalists either manipulated their information to scare the world into doing what they wanted, or they miscalculated severely.

Imagine a role-playing game that is based solely on grim tales of the ecological disaster that the environmentalists are still predicting and you've got a pretty good idea what Blue Planet is about. The game takes place in the year 2199 and at a point in time where the Earth has been nearly destroyed due to ecological disaster. Natural resources are depleted and the world is overpopulated and lacking the things it needs to survive.

Just when seems the human race is destined to die out, a wormhole is discovered just past the planet Pluto. This wormhole happens to lead straight to a new world, which appears uninhabited yet can sustain human life. It's also filled with all sorts of new natural resources that can be plundered. The planet is named Poseidon because is almost completely covered by oceans, and since it's a pretty blue, it's often referred to as the Blue Planet.

Earth scrambles to send colonists there, promising to send more colonists and supplies at a later time. Not long thereafter they decide the colonists are on their own because a nasty new ecological disaster, the Blight, has come to plague the world. Later, though, things get a bit better and more colonists are sent to populate that distant planet--only to find out the original colonists survived (no thanks to Earth). These new colonists manage to discover Longevity Ore, a substance that can extend life and has all sorts of nice properties (sort of like the Spice from Dune).

I could go on forever describing every detail of this future and of the details of whatever you would want to know. The book certainly does. The first 246 pages are nothing but information on the planet, its people, and its technology. After that, you get into the game mechanics, which are simple, straightforward, and easy to understand. All you will ever need to play the game is a pair of ten-sided dice and you are set. The system is not innovative, but who cares? A game with an innovative system is worthless without a good campaign world to go with it.

Character creation itself is again not original but it is good. The first thing you do is pick a species that you use as a template for your attributes, which you can modify as you like (but for every stat you raise, another must be lowered). Most people will probably want to be a genetically enhanced or modified human, but you can be a plain old human or a genetically enhanced dolphin or killer whales (I'm not kidding about these last two--and I personally wouldn't want to try either.) Still better, part of the character creation involves developing a character's background, which is always a good role-playing aid. In fact, character enhancement points, which allow you to raise stats or skills, are only awarded for exceptional role-playing and nothing else.

Now, I like the way this game's page layouts and overall look (there are few mistakes and it contains decent art and page layout) as well as its attention to details in its campaign world material. Its mechanics are also on par and character creation is really good. So why is it that I never played it myself despite purchasing the thing (all right, I got it for free for subscribing to a gaming magazine)? I don't like the overall game concept. For me, it's both too implausible and I associate it too much with the preachiness of fanatical environmentalists. (I had better point out that I am most certainly for what environmentalists want, but I don't like their scare tactics or their sometimes-fanatical techniques to further their goals.)

I feel that the game concept is implausible because I don't think we're going to ever face the kind of large-scale ecological disaster that this fictitious future offers. That's why I pointed out what was being said in the seventies at the beginning of this review. The predictions of Seventies' environmentalists never happened, so why would this future? The game also lacks the sort of black and white, good and evil quality that appeals to me as a role-playing gamer. It's equivalent to an evil enemy is the industrialization and the companies behind it, while its equivalent of good protagonists are generally those who are one with the environment and actively oppose and fight the evil industrialists.

Despite my dislike of the game's concept, I think very highly of this game. Its creators made something that is very nice and, if you happen to be an environmentalist or like the game's concept, I highly recommend you buy it. In fact, as science fiction role-playing games go, I think it's one of the better ones I've seen in the last few years.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Blue Planet
Author: Jeffery Barber, Greg Benage, John Snead, Jason Werner Category: game Company/Publisher: Biohazard Games Cost: 27.95 Page count: 342 Capsule Review by Mark Strecker on 03/15/99. Genre tags: Science_fiction	When I was in elementary school in the seventies, I distinctly remember being told that at the rate the world was using oil, there would be none left by the end of the century. I also recall being told that at the rate the world was chopping its rain forests down, there would be none of those left by the century's end, either. Well, someone should have checked their statistics about that a little more carefully. At present, gas prices are at an all time low right and there are still rain forests. So who reported all this gloom and doom? Well, the environmentalists did, of course. And, while saving the environment is a good thing, the fact of the matter is the environmentalists either manipulated their information to scare the world into doing what they wanted, or they miscalculated severely. Imagine a role-playing game that is based solely on grim tales of the ecological disaster that the environmentalists are still predicting and you've got a pretty good idea what Blue Planet is about. The game takes place in the year 2199 and at a point in time where the Earth has been nearly destroyed due to ecological disaster. Natural resources are depleted and the world is overpopulated and lacking the things it needs to survive. Just when seems the human race is destined to die out, a wormhole is discovered just past the planet Pluto. This wormhole happens to lead straight to a new world, which appears uninhabited yet can sustain human life. It's also filled with all sorts of new natural resources that can be plundered. The planet is named Poseidon because is almost completely covered by oceans, and since it's a pretty blue, it's often referred to as the Blue Planet. Earth scrambles to send colonists there, promising to send more colonists and supplies at a later time. Not long thereafter they decide the colonists are on their own because a nasty new ecological disaster, the Blight, has come to plague the world. Later, though, things get a bit better and more colonists are sent to populate that distant planet--only to find out the original colonists survived (no thanks to Earth). These new colonists manage to discover Longevity Ore, a substance that can extend life and has all sorts of nice properties (sort of like the Spice from Dune). I could go on forever describing every detail of this future and of the details of whatever you would want to know. The book certainly does. The first 246 pages are nothing but information on the planet, its people, and its technology. After that, you get into the game mechanics, which are simple, straightforward, and easy to understand. All you will ever need to play the game is a pair of ten-sided dice and you are set. The system is not innovative, but who cares? A game with an innovative system is worthless without a good campaign world to go with it. Character creation itself is again not original but it is good. The first thing you do is pick a species that you use as a template for your attributes, which you can modify as you like (but for every stat you raise, another must be lowered). Most people will probably want to be a genetically enhanced or modified human, but you can be a plain old human or a genetically enhanced dolphin or killer whales (I'm not kidding about these last two--and I personally wouldn't want to try either.) Still better, part of the character creation involves developing a character's background, which is always a good role-playing aid. In fact, character enhancement points, which allow you to raise stats or skills, are only awarded for exceptional role-playing and nothing else. Now, I like the way this game's page layouts and overall look (there are few mistakes and it contains decent art and page layout) as well as its attention to details in its campaign world material. Its mechanics are also on par and character creation is really good. So why is it that I never played it myself despite purchasing the thing (all right, I got it for free for subscribing to a gaming magazine)? I don't like the overall game concept. For me, it's both too implausible and I associate it too much with the preachiness of fanatical environmentalists. (I had better point out that I am most certainly for what environmentalists want, but I don't like their scare tactics or their sometimes-fanatical techniques to further their goals.) I feel that the game concept is implausible because I don't think we're going to ever face the kind of large-scale ecological disaster that this fictitious future offers. That's why I pointed out what was being said in the seventies at the beginning of this review. The predictions of Seventies' environmentalists never happened, so why would this future? The game also lacks the sort of black and white, good and evil quality that appeals to me as a role-playing gamer. It's equivalent to an evil enemy is the industrialization and the companies behind it, while its equivalent of good protagonists are generally those who are one with the environment and actively oppose and fight the evil industrialists. Despite my dislike of the game's concept, I think very highly of this game. Its creators made something that is very nice and, if you happen to be an environmentalist or like the game's concept, I highly recommend you buy it. In fact, as science fiction role-playing games go, I think it's one of the better ones I've seen in the last few years. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)