Review of Cooperation

Any science fiction game is going to have to be compared at some point in a review against "Traveller". So, to get it over with: Cooperation has a lot of Traveller-esque aspects, but is better. There, now that I've gotten that out of the way, the question is, "What is is like, what does it set out to do, and does it do it well?" Short answer: it's a good hard sci-fi game, it sets out both a char-gen system and an elaborate, multi-alien-racial sociopoliticial milieu, and it does a decent job.

Basic character generation ends with a good little primer on how to make a good character. It should be required reading for all new players in any game. Item 4 ("You should have a good reason for adventuring") has been neglected in far too many sci-fi campaigns. By the same token, the section on "The Adventure" has a concise, well worded explanation of the types you can run, which I'll paraphrase loosely as Quests, Exploration, Mystery, Missions, and Unexpected. This section should be submitted as an article to Shadis or Dragon, actually, since it's a useful crib sheet for prospective GMs.

Character generation takes some getting used too- everything is on the 1-100 scale, and you gradually build up skills through different education and career programs. In fact, the game is number- and stat-happy. You have stat and skill numbers, planets have ID codes, all in all, it's a very number-y game. They write that it should appeal to science types while still being accessible to others, but I'd have to play-test it to really check that out. And again, the Traveller comparison comes up with character generation, as there are strong similarities in the "build the career up year by year" approach.

Mechanics aside, the alien race setup is good and full of ideas to mine. Basically, there are six alien races with detailed interacting politices, forming a Cooperation to fight against a lone killer race. But each of the "friendly" aliens is distinctly alien, with alien motivations and alien cultures. And, with the killer threat low in recent years, the Cooperation isn't a firm dogmatic agency. So there's an orderly framework but lots of room for ragged stuff around the edges, accommodating a wide variety of games.

Since I had a pre-production copy, I can't comment on the look too much. What art this copy had were nice, architectural-like sci-fi illustrations. The alien pictures were particularly handy to get a good visualization of the various critters, especially as it gave different sex or caste portrayals side-by-side.

It's very Traveller-esque, though better (in my opinion) than the recent 4th Edition reissue. Will I buy the first edition of Cooperation when it comes out? If there is enough support material (adventures, detailed sectors, etc), likely so. It looks like an interesting universe with a lot of possibilities.

Style: 2 (Needs Work)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)