Fulminata reviewed Eclipse phase by Bob Boyle
Review of 'Eclipse phase' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
This is not a bad game. The rating I give it is due to it not being a good game for me. It was very much "OK" from my perspective.
I do find at least a bit of irony involved in a game about transhumanism that uses old school game mechanics based around a skill and attribute system using percentile rolls (one of the reasons it's probably not for me).
In many ways this game reminds me of Shadowrun. Mechanically, this is because of a similar initiative system, but there's more to it than that. Cyberpunk was cutting edge science fiction when Shadowrun first came out. Transhumanism is a major part of much science fiction today.
The subtitle on this book is "the roleplaying game of tranhumanism conspiracy and horror." If we accept that as a mission statement, I think it does an excellent job of getting across the transhumanism. …
This is not a bad game. The rating I give it is due to it not being a good game for me. It was very much "OK" from my perspective.
I do find at least a bit of irony involved in a game about transhumanism that uses old school game mechanics based around a skill and attribute system using percentile rolls (one of the reasons it's probably not for me).
In many ways this game reminds me of Shadowrun. Mechanically, this is because of a similar initiative system, but there's more to it than that. Cyberpunk was cutting edge science fiction when Shadowrun first came out. Transhumanism is a major part of much science fiction today.
The subtitle on this book is "the roleplaying game of tranhumanism conspiracy and horror." If we accept that as a mission statement, I think it does an excellent job of getting across the transhumanism. There are a lot of interesting concepts here, from identity to economy.
There are conspiracy and horror elements, but neither is emphasized much throughout the book. The background contains elements of horror, but that's either in the past or largely confined to quarantined areas. They don't really get emphasized until the GM's section, and I see that as potentially problematical for players as they won't necessarily be looking to play a horror or conspiracy game, unless they focus on the subtitle, or it's emphasized in character creation by the GM.
Overall the world building is interesting and anchored (as far as I can tell), in reasonably solid science. I did get a chuckle out of a couple of things though. Most notably that the authors have killed off Christianity for being too inflexible, but have allowed the Muslim religion to survive. I'm not going to slam or praise either religion, but I think the authors may need to revisit their own prejudices if they truly think that the Muslim religion is more flexible in its belief system. I think it far more likely they would share the same fate, whether that be extinction or survival.
My opinion of the game might improve if I ever get the chance to play it, but I won't be going out of my way to look for such a chance. I've got too many other games that I have yet to play, and that I want to play more.
