The Inside Scoop on Gaming

This is a review of Testament by the The Late Gaming Company. The product is available as a .pdf file for download from the above address. I have yet to be able to play the game, and as such, this is a capsule review.

First Impression The first thing that really struck me was the lack of organization in the product. Sections are not clearly labeled, as well, items that were bolded in one part were not in another. The next major thing that came to mind, was the dichotomy present throughout the game. It is like there were two authors, one eloquent, and one with a penchant for profanity.

The Intro In the first page or so you will find an exceedingly short rundown on the setting. "you can take yourself and a group of friends into the world of Testament and there bear witness to the last days." This is not very informative and does not explain what game is about. Which is immediately followed by a very good "what is Roleplaying" section. This should seem like a necessity for an RPG, but in this game it seems almost out of place. The game seems to be aimed at more experienced people, however, the author has made no attempt to mention that this product may offend or is for mature audience. Normally most games that deals with "the last days" are aimed at more mature players.

Character Creation Overall, the Character Creation section is decently explained, with the organization being the biggest detriment. It took awhile to find how to allocate attribute points, however, this section feels as though something is missing. The attributes Battle, Insight, Presence, Vitality, and Fortune are very broadly ranged and seem design to encourage story-oriented role-playing as opposed to mechanics driven role-playing. All other sections of the character creation are also geared toward story-oriented role-playing, with no statistics given. Overall Character Creation is very well thought out.

There is one system inconsistency. Insight, the attribute governing how intellectual a character will be, is rolled while all of the other attributes are assigned values. This seems rather odd, especially for such an important attribute, character-wise.

Game System This section is where the product has a great number of problems. The basics of the system appear decent, if a bit simple (Roll a d6 and get under attribute modifiers). There is a mention of rolling 2d6 in "tremendous conflicts", which are never fully explained. Throughout this section, the design decisions seem rather arbitrary and as such lack internal consistency and depth. This lack of depth and consistency is aggravated by the feeling of being preached at and given no real information.

The Setting The setting has lots of cool stuff in it, unfortunately very little of it holds together coherently. While this makes "The City" more mysterious, it doesn't flow or make it interesting. Sample scenarios are included with headers apparently indicating the type of party or characters the scenario is set up for, but is not explained.

The descriptions of the NPC's are pretty good, and have some decent artwork with them. However, the general setting does not give you a lot of info, and the scenarios are rather oblique. This makes the NPC section seem quite out of place, and almost useless with the mention of "Testament" being the first of three games with an ongoing metaplot.

The Contents and Credits The table of contents and credits, which are normally found at the beginning of most books, are instead at the back. This makes things difficult because, as mentioned above, the sections aren't clearly delineated. A good Table of Contents at the beginning would help, even though the book is only twenty pages long!

Character Sheet and References The last two pages contain the rule references and the Character sheet. Normally references are a concise version of the rules. Unfortunately, this reference is nothing but the rules reprinted verbatim. I would normally applaud the conciseness of a rules set like this, however the initial problems within the rules are still present.

Conclusion Testament has a LOT going for it. Creativity, originality, and quality start to shine through often. Unfortunately it is immediately brought down by lack of organization and consistency. Coupled with the prolific profanity and the derogatory attitude in the writing, you end up with a product lacking qualities of a decent game. Testament is a product that with some more work could become a great product.

The game is "shareware" with a $15 US licensing fee, which covers all of the games in the series. If you like the game, you're supposed to send in the money. While the ideas behind this series are rather cool, neither Testament nor its sequel Creed seem to be worth the $15 US ($24 CDN). However, funding would be a great help to the company and would allow them to make better games.

Overall, the game feels very raw, almost like a first draft. I would suggest the author/company treat it as such, and compile all three games in the series together, with some more playtesting and a better layout.

Testament
Testament Capsule Review by John Buckmaster on 08/12/01 Style: 2 (Needs Work) Substance: 2 (Sparse) Great concept, but poorly executed and organized. Product: Testament Author: Matt Johnston Category: RPG Company/Publisher: The Late Gaming Company Line: Testament Cost: $15 Page count: 20 Year published: 2001 ISBN: SKU: Comp copy?: yes Capsule Review by John Buckmaster on 08/12/01 Genre tags: Fantasy Modern day Conspiracy Post-apocalyse Other	This is a review of Testament by the The Late Gaming Company. The product is available as a .pdf file for download from the above address. I have yet to be able to play the game, and as such, this is a capsule review. First Impression The first thing that really struck me was the lack of organization in the product. Sections are not clearly labeled, as well, items that were bolded in one part were not in another. The next major thing that came to mind, was the dichotomy present throughout the game. It is like there were two authors, one eloquent, and one with a penchant for profanity. The Intro In the first page or so you will find an exceedingly short rundown on the setting. "you can take yourself and a group of friends into the world of Testament and there bear witness to the last days." This is not very informative and does not explain what game is about. Which is immediately followed by a very good "what is Roleplaying" section. This should seem like a necessity for an RPG, but in this game it seems almost out of place. The game seems to be aimed at more experienced people, however, the author has made no attempt to mention that this product may offend or is for mature audience. Normally most games that deals with "the last days" are aimed at more mature players. Character Creation Overall, the Character Creation section is decently explained, with the organization being the biggest detriment. It took awhile to find how to allocate attribute points, however, this section feels as though something is missing. The attributes Battle, Insight, Presence, Vitality, and Fortune are very broadly ranged and seem design to encourage story-oriented role-playing as opposed to mechanics driven role-playing. All other sections of the character creation are also geared toward story-oriented role-playing, with no statistics given. Overall Character Creation is very well thought out. There is one system inconsistency. Insight, the attribute governing how intellectual a character will be, is rolled while all of the other attributes are assigned values. This seems rather odd, especially for such an important attribute, character-wise. Game System This section is where the product has a great number of problems. The basics of the system appear decent, if a bit simple (Roll a d6 and get under attribute modifiers). There is a mention of rolling 2d6 in "tremendous conflicts", which are never fully explained. Throughout this section, the design decisions seem rather arbitrary and as such lack internal consistency and depth. This lack of depth and consistency is aggravated by the feeling of being preached at and given no real information. The Setting The setting has lots of cool stuff in it, unfortunately very little of it holds together coherently. While this makes "The City" more mysterious, it doesn't flow or make it interesting. Sample scenarios are included with headers apparently indicating the type of party or characters the scenario is set up for, but is not explained. The descriptions of the NPC's are pretty good, and have some decent artwork with them. However, the general setting does not give you a lot of info, and the scenarios are rather oblique. This makes the NPC section seem quite out of place, and almost useless with the mention of "Testament" being the first of three games with an ongoing metaplot. The Contents and Credits The table of contents and credits, which are normally found at the beginning of most books, are instead at the back. This makes things difficult because, as mentioned above, the sections aren't clearly delineated. A good Table of Contents at the beginning would help, even though the book is only twenty pages long! Character Sheet and References The last two pages contain the rule references and the Character sheet. Normally references are a concise version of the rules. Unfortunately, this reference is nothing but the rules reprinted verbatim. I would normally applaud the conciseness of a rules set like this, however the initial problems within the rules are still present. Conclusion Testament has a LOT going for it. Creativity, originality, and quality start to shine through often. Unfortunately it is immediately brought down by lack of organization and consistency. Coupled with the prolific profanity and the derogatory attitude in the writing, you end up with a product lacking qualities of a decent game. Testament is a product that with some more work could become a great product. The game is "shareware" with a $15 US licensing fee, which covers all of the games in the series. If you like the game, you're supposed to send in the money. While the ideas behind this series are rather cool, neither Testament nor its sequel Creed seem to be worth the $15 US ($24 CDN). However, funding would be a great help to the company and would allow them to make better games. Overall, the game feels very raw, almost like a first draft. I would suggest the author/company treat it as such, and compile all three games in the series together, with some more playtesting and a better layout.