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Ever thought that would make a good RPG? Maybe it would be better if you added something more to it like aliens and a space colony... well look no farther because that is just what Eddy Webb has done with Midway City.
The government in Midway City has forced the populace to stay firmly within an era that has come and gone — and then forcibly brought upon the world again. When society can no longer advance, it quickly chafes under its own restraints. Eventually, the pressure gets too high, and something blows up.
Appearance
Although I received my copy of Midway City as a PDF I don't think that the e-version took away a lot from the overall feel of the game itself. Unlike many games where a paper copy would be preferred, this made it feel like I was looking at scanned copies of a record of something that happened and I was trying to piece it together.
That's not to say that I would not like to have this 142 page game grace my shelves, as the artwork, both cover and interior, is stunning. Reminiscent of the pre-Golden Age of comics, back to the days of the pulp magazines that were the beginnings of both comics and pulp crime novels, this game through and through has a gritty feel to it.
Using the standard two column type set is not a problem for this game as it is regularly interspersed with artwork, not only of what is being talked about in the section but special notes and rules that are "paper clipped" onto the "folders" that make up the pages, but also with fiction that helps to make the game more user friendly and easier to read.
Setting
This is one of the most unique game settings I have had the pleasure of reading in a long time. Midway City takes new approach to an old setting.
There have been many game over the years that take the idea of an alternate reality where old world meets technology, the first one that popped into my head was Space 1889. But this game unlike that one and others of that genre, is not entirely an alternate history. In fact this game is set in the future and the past.
Humanity has colonized a planet and the leader of this colony has decided to mandate that everyone live in what he calls "the Golden Age of humanity", i.e., pre-Wold War II America. that means the dress, speech and technology will never advance beyond that and is strictly regulated by the government. This chaffs some of the people there, but it has been the status quo for long enough that for the most part people just accept what is going on and lead their normal lives out.
The setting is in great detail with pretty much all the streets and buildings for the entire game being detailed out. I mean when your entire game is in a 50 square mile dome on a planet in the middle of no where in the galaxy... that makes for a detailed setting.
System
While character creation came pretty easy to me, it only took me 3 tries to make a character correctly, the rules for completing tasks seemed a little arbitrary. Where as a lot of games have standard difficulty for tasks, this game sets difficulties at a range and seems a little clunky at first. Now I am sure after playing the game for awhile that this system of difficulties, or DN as the rules refer to it, would become easier, but in the sample combat I ran between two characters I made it was a little vague to me on how to assign DNs and all the other modifiers.
The simple 2d6 system made for fast pace and I can see where it would allow for a more fluid game of making a few rolls and then having a description of the action that just happened as opposed to roll, effect, roll, effect. I am a huge fan of storytelling systems and those that encourage players and game masters to describe the action and rely very little on the rolls and the rules, and I think this system does that very well.
What does bother me about this system is what the purpose is... that is to say what are the PCs doing there? Ultimately that is the decision of the game master to let the players know what kind of game he/she is running, but there is no straight forward "thing" that is the focus off the game. This is not an adventure game (like D&D), nor is it an out to save the world game (like Mutants and Masterminds). this is more of a game like Paranoia or Cyberpunk where the game is supposed to be unclear until the game master starts handing out info to the players and letting them go in a direction.
Summary
Overall I like the look and the feel of this game, and the only problem I have is the general lack of direction for the players. this game is more of something that someone who wants to run a game would buy and then get others interested, as opposed to someone buying the game and wanting to play and finding a group and someone to run a game.
I would highly recommend this game though to anyone looking for a game that is reminiscent of some of the older RPG's out there. It is a simple system with a very well thought out and designed city-scape.
