Near enough a little masterpiece - excellent with the Legend rules - and a very complete genre/setting book for an iconic historical adventuring culture. As with all the Legend supplements, concisely written and neatly presented.

Sexy magic. Of the type that makes classic sword and sorcery tales edgy. Very provocative as an overlay on existing magic systems (provided in the core Legend rules), but primarily used by GMs to provide NPCs rather than providing viable player options. Nevertheless, a nicely presented concise little supplement.

Lots of charts and tables in this book - and while it is useful for it's stated purpose, it really works best in conjunction with other Supplements rather than as a standalone product. A solid tool - but not an indispensable one.

There seems to be a tradition, from previous iterations of Marvel superhero RPGs, towards using funky, modern systems. The original TSR version had it's FEATS system and Universal Table; the mid-90s saw a card based SAGA system being used, and now we have a Indie style Cortex Plus system to digest.

All these systems have the dubious distinction of confusing the hell out of me, but I can't deny they are innovative. What we get here is a pretty complete, full color package with A+ production standards that you'd expect from a major license. Lots of familiar Heroes and Villains are outlined in the rules, and I've no doubt more will be added. There are rules towards designing your own heroes (thankfully) but it doesn't seem to be a major drive in the game unlike other RPGs (like Champions, primarily). It'll no doubt be successful - with The Avengers movie just round the corner - and should compete well against DC Heroes for the forceable future. But then, looking at the sales already, you probably knew that already!

It is a more digestible version of the rules although you still get this sense - rightly or wrongly - that it is an abbreviated version of the full game.

A good spin on the usual monster manual affair, by theming all creatrures as potential combatants in a Roman style Coliseum. Actually services as a skirmish style game concept on it's own on this basis, should you tire of more elaborate storytelling.

Celebrated, but nevertheless quite accessible background setting, that captures a mythical tone immediately through their approach to cultures and beliefs. Not quite as daunting as one may expect for a setting this old, and I actually found it an enjoyable read.

In my view, this still represents White Wolf at their absolute sharpest. The rules fit more tightly than the other Old World of Darkness titles that followed, and the premise is more direct and 'high concept'. It's interior art is incredibly atmospheric (more so than the later versions) and the writing is passionate and evocative. A milestone game book for me.

The content is pretty good, in a kind of sim-civilisation, metagame way. It does give an avenue for building strong campaigns. Curiously, the pdf didn't include the cover though.

My favourite thing about this game remains it's peerless careers section. The way it captures a profile of a vibrant medieval society is pretty unique in gaming and really brings it's game world to life for me. The system itself is much more polished that the previous edition, and the colourful magic system a welcome addition.

Simply brilliant, timeless material. Paranoia was a classic of it's kind back in it's day, and this is an exemplary way to celebrate it.

Sometimes you just feel a book is too big to be useful. There are some good ideas here, and I like the genre, but I feel that they've attempted to do too much with the game here, and it lacks focus and consequently utility value.

Thousands of sci-fi worlds at your fingertips with this toolbox. Everything is concisely and comprehensively written into this book, meaning it's the only one you will ever need to own. The layout is simple, but very easy to follow (this being the point), and it's as felxible as you want to make it. Totally recommended - and the first truly progressive update on the Classic game.

I'm just not sure who this game is supposedly aimed at - if it's for children, then I doubt they'll find the obtrusive mechanics that easy to grasp. The presentation is very good indeed, but even though the Burning Wheel engine is stripped down, it's still way too jargonised and over-directed in it's gameplay objectives to be accessible for casual gamers, I feel.