Like the rest of the 1PG line, Hero Force provides a fast-starting cinematic RPG, this time for superheroes. It works, but not quite as well as some of the previous entries in the line.
Character creation is the standard mostly-random 1PG method. Everything is done with 1d3 or 1d6, with only two exceptions. Roll four primary and four secondary stats, plus a number of skill points. There's also a point-buy option for the primary stats.
Skills can be sold off within certain limits. This allows players to tailor their characters abilities a bit more. Once skills are bought, roll for origin and hero type, and then buy superpowers.
Unfortunately, the superpowers at the heart of this game don't appear to be well-thought out. You get a number of points to buy powers equal to your BRAINS stat plus your Control skill. And if your character is not a Vigilante or Gadgeteer, you also roll against BRAINS + Control to use a power.
There's no incentive not to maximize Control in this scheme. Sure, you lose a couple of skill points, but the characters are throwaway anyway. And if the GM uses point buy for stats, then there's no reason not to maximize BRAINS either. In that case, all the characters have the same pool for buying superpowers, and the same chance at successfully using them.
The powers creation system also has some unpleasant quirks. For the most part the rules are just guidelines. There's a page of sample powers built using the same guidelines. And that's where the problem comes in.
A Blaster hero (e.g., the Human Torch) will deal out a maximum 15 points of damage, a PL 3 power. Gadgeteers (e.g., Iron Man) get 10 points of armor (AV) for each power point spent. The same applies to heroes who take the Invulnerability power. So for PL 2 and 20 AV, they're completely untouchable. Every Gadgeteer I've seen takes at least PL 2 armor for this reason.
There are other powers that can bypass the armor, of course, but hero types and origins are randomly rolled. If the group doesn't include a Mentalist, a Gadgeteer villain may be unstoppable for all practical purposes.
For those accustomed to typical point-buy superhero games, the lack of weakness rules come as a minor surprise. Anyone can assign a flaw to their characters, but there are no rules for such. There's no reason for your ice-based hero to worry about going into a burning building. It won't affect him any differently than it will a stone elemental.
Actual game play is great. No one ever rolls more than 1d6 for anything. Attacks always have the same effect, so a successful roll that isn't dodged means X amount of damage, or rounds entangled, etc.
And the henchman rules are a joy. Make your attack roll. You remove one henchman for every point you succeed by. So if you have a 5 in MIGHT + Brawling and roll a 2, three henchmen go down. I always appreciate minimal bookkeeping.
Five scenarios round out the game. These include flying robots, nuclear missiles, hostages, Nazis, zombies, a world-eating entity, and a tidal wave. It's a nice cross-section of basic comic book threats.
The illustrations are nice, including a full-color cover in a generic Silver Age style. The rest are black and white, and they're fairly sparse. Given the low page count, this is understandable. The art successfully evokes the comic-book feel, but it has to be secondary to rules space in a product this size.
Overall, thumbs up, especially if the GM fine-tunes the AV amounts.
