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This excellent bit of work creates great expectations, which are almost wholly lived up to in the contents of the book itself, which fall into an introduction and 3 main sections – Role-playing Concepts, The Characters and a mini-adventure, pitting our heroes against a foe none of them could face alone.
The introduction is short and to the point, setting the scene and explaining the role-playing terminology used in the book – Which is a convenience often overlooked by authors who rather unfairly assume everyone reading a product has at least some experience with the arcane terminology of the tabletop.
The second section, outlining the role-playing concepts, is well-thought out, using a method “borrowed” from improvisational comedy which (given its off-the-cuff nature) seems well suited to the demands of time-strapped players. The examples of role-playing given are also rather amusing in places. A final point: The propaganda posters help set the atmosphere of Cold War tension fairly well, also serving to break up blocks of text.
While the role-playing section is very good, the real fun starts with the pre-generated characters in section 2. From the Golden Age Patriot – Russian, American and British – to the more modern Teen Titan (Complete with Bratty attitude) the gang’s all here and they’re all good. The stats are solid and best of all there are plenty of role-playing opportunities and plot hooks buried in even the most unassuming member of the United Nations Meta Security Force (UNMSF).
Now while the characters are very good, some of you may complain “But they all look the same to me!” Well for starters they don’t physically look the same - thanks to the sterling artistic efforts of Jon Gibbons and Jacob Blackman – and thanks to the characterisations presented should certainly not act the same. Even the nigh-identical pair of Glory-seeking young ideologue Battle armoured heroes have a part to play in the plot – Ah, but more than that would be telling. . .
To cap off my overview of this section, I’ll just say that it’s very good and leave it at that.
The mini-adventure that constitutes the final section sees the players come together as part of the UN Superhero team mentioned above, an institution conceived of as a way to let young – and not so young - superheroes from all over the world develop friendly relations and fight the foes no single hero can stand against. In unimpeachably four-colour fashion they proceed to do so, starting with a minor menace, but finding that a plot to set the world aflame with Nuclear War is afoot . . . and naturally there are Nazis at work somewhere.
The adventure takes you from the heart of New York City to deepest Antarctica, via Space and an alien invasion, giving you a lot of superhero hi-jinks for what purports to be a ‘mini’ adventure.
The only real problem I can find in this section is a little ‘continuity error’ where the author has muddled up the location of his first disaster. The site is initially stated to be Shipbottom New Jersey, but we are told that the heroes have touched down in Baton Rouge – Which if I remember correctly is in Louisiana. This confusion continues, with the reader alternatively told that the Shipbottom Police are trying to deal with the problem and that the Red Cross have established an aid station in Baton Rouge. It’s a surprising bungle for such a well put-together product.
In short my impression of the product was very positive. The layout was well-planned, the content was ample without being crowded, the characters listed were interesting and the adventure would make an excellent introduction the game of Mutants and Masterminds - owning a copy of 2e Mutants and Mastermind core rulebook is helpful and a fair bit of work would have to be done converting it to another system.
The only real problems I have with the resource are the small ‘Continuity Error’ listed above and the fact that none of the major villains are pictured, except on the front cover.
All I all I would heartily recommend purchasing this product if you want an good introduction to Superhero Role-playing in general or a change of pace from your usual game. (Perhaps a flashback, as the characters and mission are constructed in such a fashion that placing the adventure either during, or shortly after, the latter stages of the Cold War.)
So what are you waiting for? Buy it now!
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