Well, it seems the in thing these days for game companies to release a "rules companion" volume nearly the size of the base book, and Eden is no exception. While the AH doesn't have any rewrites or big additions to the game (as too many of these things do), that actually works against it; it's a useful resource (in some places much more lucid than the original Conspiracy X book), but by no means an essential purchase unless you play the game heavily.
The bulk of this book is basically chapters two and three of the original volume writ large; in addition to reproducing all the character and cell creation rules from the main book (to minimize the need to flip between multiple books to make one character), the Handbook provides a few new skills, about 40 more ads/disads (mostly things that fill in blanks in the original list, like Missing Limb and so on) and maybe half that many new player character Credentials (and new Pulling Strings for many of the old ones; for example, the DEA can now seize property a la Zero Tolerance). Other features include new gear for Cell creation, expanded rules for buying access to Pulling Strings outside one's Credential, and a very clearly written step-by-step guide to character creation, with all the necessary charts all in one place.
This is all nice stuff that is no doubt useful, but in most cases I don't think it fills any major needs (with one exception that belongs in the main book's
next printing; a chart of attribute ratings in real-world terms that graphically illustrates how rare attributes lower or greater than three are supposed to be). Having all the extras is nice, but I don't think it's that necessary.
The rest of the book is largely taken up by in-character reports on what working for The Big Conspiracy is like; guides and tips
on how and why to break the law in the line of duty, how exactly the Cell system works in practice, and why they're being so secretive in the first place. This is largely good, sensible stuff (the super-uncrackable HERMES database/secured line is still kind of goofy, and Aegis Prime itself manages to be both too intrusive and too laissez-faire-- although that may be intentional) suitable for any modern conspiracy game, but it isn't so useful as to move the book to the top of anyone's "to-buy" list.
For the benefit of players without the most recent printing of the base book, there's also an appendix with all the (kinda minor) rules tweaks, optional rules for fear checks, and goodies that Aegis Prime will hand out to especially useful/deserving Cells.
In rereading it, this review seems a little bland, but that's a reflection of the book itself; it's useful, but not terribly inspirational. It's basically a wrench; you use it to tighten the occasional part of Con X, but after you do that it goes right back on the shelf. That's not a disrecommendation exactly-- I'm actually rather fond of it (I liked character and Cell creation to begin with, and some of the essays answered a lot of the questions I had about Aegis)-- but I am stressing that unless you're a real fan of the game, it probably isn't worth your while. Probably the best thing to do would be to hold off on picking this up until you start to get a little bored with the original material, and then see if the additions revive your interest.
Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 3 (Average)
