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(You can see the scales I use below.)
In Brief: In the years leading up to World War II, some humans devolop superpowers. But guns and germs trump flight and invisiblity, so the war goes pretty much as it did in real life. The PCs are gritty superheroes who go out and kill Nazis on the western front. The game is generally well made but crashes badly over stylistic issues.
So, World War II superheroes are pretty badass. Gritty magic realism World War II superheroes are even cooler. Its pretty fun to be able to turn Nazis to stone for fly with B52s. If the superhero all of a sudden gets turned to putty by a stray bullet – admit it, that's fun too. Play moves fast and gives you some pretty dramatic ups and downs.
The "war went as normal" schtick also gives Detwiller a shot at writing setting material about one of history's greatest tragedies without being totally offensive. There's a whole alternate timeline for the war, which manages to contain tons of real history while still including cool incidents of superheroics. There's also a fun chapter that deals with the homefront, how WWII (and superheroes) effected US society. Detwiller knows his history, and he writes well, and it shows.
The system is Stolze's "One Roll Engine". Basically, you roll Stat+Skill d10 and look for matches – two 2s, two 3s, or so forth. One roll gives several pieces of information, allowing you to run a very crunchy round of combat with only one roll. Its fast and easy to pick up.
The powers are represented well mechanically. There's a point buy system that lets you build pretty much whatever you want. Want to turn into a Dragon? Buy flight, superstrength, and a firey attack with a limitation that you have to turn into a dragon first. Basically, the system like Hero or GURPS only much faster. When it comes time to use the powers in game, things are pretty darn elegant and fast.. Really cosmic powers might cause problems, but you shouldn't see too many cosmic powers within the setting.
The setting, unforunately, completly fumbles the idea of superpowers. The powers are a manifestation of the super's willpower. The guy with superstrength isn't 7 feet tall with rippling muscles, he's a pibsquek who always wished he were strong. The idea is cool enough. But willpower is a loaded concept. Who does and doesn't have willpower?
The Japanese apparently don't. The book explicitly states that Japan had less supers than the rest of the world. An American book about World War II claims the Japanese didn't have willpower. "Unintentionally racist" is the only way I can describe such a book. Detwiller came on the forums and corrected me – the powers arn't just about willpower, they're about willpower *and* individuality.
So, now we're back to "the [fate/God/the supernatural] shares [insert your country here]'s values." Ok, that idea is very old and every nation's mythology has some elements of the idea. I don't know if its racist or not. But I think anyone – anyone – who writes such a story has to answer for the values they're putting forth. And I think willpower and individualism are pretty lousy values for 21st Century America. I much perfer Exalted's "Panther looked out across the burning valley and was driven to do something. That was why he had been Chosen."
In any event, these issues arn't strictly ethical. There's a conflict within the writing. On the one hand, "Sometimes you shoot laserbeams out of your eyes, and sometimes you die in an unmarked grave. Life's random like that.". On the other, "Americans triumph due to their superior will." Subtle, but I think it would hurt a lot in play. There's a reason you never saw the "Superman vs. Ivan Denisovich" special issue.
Oh well. I'll never run Godlike, but its a generally well made game. Godlike has pretty good writing, an interesting system, and a strong "this is what the characters do" hook. It won't be your best buy ever, but its a fun read.
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So, here's the scale I use for reviews. Godlike was sorta hard to review. It was mostly a 7, but there were a few moments that made me want to throw the damn book across the room.
Crunchometer:
+1 or +2: Creates interesting decisions in play +1 or +2: speed of play +1: Easy to learn +1 New and Interesting +1: Fits the game +1: Gives me some idea of what the characters are like. +1: Suggests interesting plot hooks. +1: Flexible
Fluffometer 1: Offensive: Honest to god racist, sexist, or whatever. 2: Incompetent: Well this is...interesting, the grammar's a little spotty....dude, are you high right now? 3: Annoying: Bad enough that I actually got annoyed reading the book. 4: Mediocre: I wouldn't run it, but its not bad. 5: Average: Good enough to run a game. 6: Good: Reading this was entertaining. 7: Very Good: More so. 8: Sorta Excellent: Lots of good stuff, but too many flaws for a 9. 9: Excellent: Really wonderful, I want to run this a lot. 10: Blew me off my feet.
