The first big bang of the Terra Nova campaign, Crisis of Faith is a beauty. Like its sister book Design Works, this is a small book (5"x8"), and packed with beautiful pictures.
It also has a load of information. More than you will probably understand.
The presentation in this book is great. It is presented as a ton of intelligence, gathered by an operative who had not put all of the pieces together. It shows you the patterns in the making, the wheels turning towards a great war between North and South. (You all knew it coming...the whys are the meat here, and as for the whens...)
The book doesn't force-feed you information. The way you are presented with it is subtle. Instead, you get everything in newsbites, intereviews with characters, surveilance reports, etc. GRELs massing. The Badlands Revolutionary Front activities. Groups purchasing explosives.
The way more and more info in uncovered reminds me of the Universal Brotherhood, a supplement for FASA's Shadowrun, which I consider to be one the BEST role-playing supplements, in terms of creating mood and introducing a major part of the story arc. This book succeeds at both as well.
Good stuff.
However, I have to poke a few holes in it. A lot of the material is brand new to me. Is that because I do not own a lot of the role-playing supplements for Heavy Gear? Could be. But the way things are presented (which, again, I really like) doesn't leave a lot of room to fill me in on the backstory. If you own all of the books, then you are in for a thrill - things that supposedly were hinted at before come to fruitition here. Since I never got the hints, well...
Also, unlike a lot of books of its kind, there are no game details in this. No scenarios. (Lots of scenario IDEAS, but you will need to do you own legwork) No rules.
But, if you are a fan of Heavy Gear, and enjoy roleplaying in Terra Nova, you will not want to miss this book. It will set the pace of the world to come.
Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)
