Archive for June, 2011
Book Review: Dead Mech
Dead Mech: (Apex Trilogy, Book 1) by Jake Bible
Just finished this book and it is fantastic. There are layers and layers of awesome and they keep building until the end. I bought the e-book and less than halfway through I bought the print version because it was that good. I then bought every e-book this author had on Amazon and would have pre-ordered the next two in this trilogy if they were available yet.
I was sold by (and agree with) the following review : “It’s mechs. It’s zombies. It’s zombies in mechs. You already know you’re going to buy it, so just get it over with.” If you need any more of a synopsis than this then perhaps this book is not for you. Best grab a copy and make sure though, It could change your life.
Dead Mech is so much better than it sounds… and it sounds amazing!
Movie Monday 7: Hunter Prey
Posted by Will in Games, Movie Mondays, RPG on June 7, 2011
Hunter Prey
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1270291/
Available at Amazon
The surviving crew of the downed Starship Promethius (how many starships in sci-fi have this name?) scour a hostile world for their escaped prisoner who may have the key to their homeworld’s survival.
Plot : D12 
A very familiar plot with a couple of rather good twists. This would make a very good game for solo or small group play. It has some good twists that take the story in interesting directions and is a good example for taking well tread plots and giving them some new life.
Characters : D10 
Not a whole lot to write home about other than a couple of rather good twists that keep anyone from really being the good guy or bad guy. Some nice layers of motivation that
Setting : D12
While the action takes place in an isolated location, enough glimpses of the larger universe are given that you have a feel for the bigger picture and all that is at stake.
Gear, Tech, and Magic Swords : D12
Well made sci-fi armor by people who are clearly used used to making Mandalorian gear. Guns that are decidedly Nerf gun redeco’s… but really really good ones! Neat suit computers, shields cut from the hull of a downed starship, lots of cool little bits of gear made by enthusiastic prop-makers. This movie had to be at least a third made as an excuse to build cool shit.
Beasties and Baddies : D6 
Three races, all humanoid, and a sort of nasty sand leech. Not much to mine from this movie.
Soundtrack : D8 
A solid soundtrack, suited to the action at hand, but not apparently available for purchase or download anywhere I could find.
Overall Score : D12
A very solid sci-fi movie far better than it’s budget. It homages (sometimes not entirely subtly) some other great films and borrows so heavily from Enemy Mine that it might as well have been a sequel. Very well shot on the RED camera (oh god I want one) as well as directed and acted with unexpected skill. Worth watching and an interesting plot for a small party. Sadly it’s set up for a sequel that I find unlikely to ever come, but that can easily be used as a springboard for the imagination rather than a downside.
Recommended System : GURPS, Traveller, Battlelords of the 23d century