Thursday, April 30, 2009

(What the) Hellboy?

I discovered the Hellboy comics a few years ago, probably around 2002. These books are fucking awesome. They have the right amount of pulp adventure, horror, action, and humor. Hellboy is the best thing on two cloven hooves. If you've never read the graphic novels, I recommend them. And chase it down with some BPRD, the spinoff series featuring the organization of supernatural investigators that Hellboy worked for. You'll thank me for it. Now onto what I really want to talk about. Hellboy has seen a resurgence in popularity in the past few years. Due to this, there have been many projects (movies, video games, cartoons) that have tried to replicate the Hellboy experience. All of them are not part of the comic canon, as they make their own interpretation of the story. How do they fare? Well, let's just say you'd be just fine if you stick to the comics for the most part, but here's my impressions of the apocryphal incarnations of Hellboy. First off, there's the movies. In 2004 director Guillermo del Toro decided that he really wanted to bring Big Red to the big screen. He worked with Mike Mignola, the creator/writer/artist of the comic, to bring the first Hellboy picture to life. Very loosely based on the first story arc in the series, Seed of Destruction, It follows Hellboy and his fellow agents in the BPRD (Beureau for Paranormal Research and Defense) as they try to stop a resurrected Grigori Rasputin from summoning a Lovecraftian horror from its prison in deep space. Ron Perlman's portrayal of Hellboy brought him back into the limelight after being gone from it for so long after his iconic role in the Beauty and the Beast TV show. Honestly, he did pretty good. In my opinion, the bad casting choice went to Liz Sherman, played by Selma Blair, as she looked as if she spent the entire filming of this movie heavily sedated. To make things worse, they decided to make Hellboy and Liz an item, which, according to the comics, is bullshit. Everyone knows that Abe Sapien is the real ladies man. Still, this movie is okay. It was good enough for me to buy on DVD. However, let the same not be said about Hellboy II: The Golden Army. While the monsters were stunning, the movie itself mostly bored the crap out of me. And it that weren't enough, Hellboy and Liz are having a lover's spat throughout the entire movie. I really do have to say one thing about Hellboy in these movies. Though Perlman does do good, Hellboy acts like such an emotional big baby, throwing tantrums all the time and always getting his feelings hurt when people are scared of him because he's a demon with a stone right hand. Oh, boo-hoo. In the comics, Hellboy don't give a damn. The internal struggle for Hellboy in the comics is fighting, tooth and nail, his supposed destiny of bringing the world to an end. In the movies, it's this depressio crap about being accepted, even though he's huge, red, and surly. To top it off, we get the bomb dropped on us: Liz is pregnant with Hellboy's baby. Ewwww! Did we really need that? Really? Needless to say, I have not purchased this movie on DVD and outright refuse to. Next, the video games. Konami put out Hellboy: The Science of Evil for the PS3, XBOX 360, and PSP after the release of the second movie. It features the vocal stylings of the actors from the movies as their respective characters, which was good, as Perlman had some good banter going on. At first, I kinda liked the style of this game. It's a straight 3D beat-em-up, which is what any Hellboy game should be. After a while, though, I began to notice a few things that slowly started to piss me off. First off, the controls are sluggish. If you start having Hellboy pummelling enemies and you need to move out of the way of an attack, you have to wait before he's done with his slow-ass attack animations before moving. Needless to say, you're going to take a lot of hits. It seems ridiculous to have attacks available to you and never be able to find a proper time to use them without getting beat up. You can also play as Abe or Liz with multiplayer, but combat with these guys is no better. I played as Abe one time and his combat is retarded. He just quickly moves around, doing all sorts of kicks and flips like a capoeirist on speed. The problem is he moves too fast for you to be able to hit anyone. His kicks just go right past enemies. And playing two player mode on one XBOX is a pain, as the split screen makes the characters look so small, you develop eye strain long before carpal tunnel sets in. Which brings me to my next point: THE CAMERA SUCKS FRIED DONKEY BALLS! This has some of the worst camera work I have ever seen. One point, you're fighting a slew of enemies and the camera is half a mile away. You need an HDTV and a magnifying lens to see anything in some of these scenes. The next moment, you're fighting more enemies, which all happen to end up behind the camera. I tell you, this makes aiming your gun (which is another crappy control issue) an even bigger pain in the ass. What's more, you can't move the camera. You have to run back and go to the enemies that you can't see as they attack you. It's one thing to have a fixed camera system, but to have the cameras fixed in some of the most retarded spots is inexcusable. One more thing, and this really chafes me. There will be times when the game relinquishes control of you and shows you a little in-game cutscene - usually new enemies popping up. The problem is that, while most games stop the action during cutscenes, this game lets the enemies who you are already fighting keep beating the piss out of you. It seems the worst at the first level, where you fight these explosive little imps. Often, they try to leap on you and knaw your face off. When a cutscene starts, they waste no time lynching you, so when you come back from the cutscene, you have to pull of some stupid little munchkin from your back while he's chewing away your health. It's retarded. The worst thing about this game completely contradicts Hellboy. You see, in the comics, he's a fucking tank with a stone fist that smashes the shit out things. He's by no means immortal, but he sure can take a lot of punishment. In the game, however, Hellboy is a fucking pussy. Beating even the most insignificant enemies takes at least six or seven hits as they pile up on you en masse. You'll be taking on, at least, ten at a time, in some cases. On the flipside, Hellboy's health pretty much regenerates after every battle. Why? Because one battle is all it takes to kill him. The basic tactic of this game is to not let a single wave of monsters beat you to death. It doesn't matter how many waves of enemies you get through, if one wave gets lucky, you're dead, which is so retarded. It would make more sense for Hellboy to endure through wave after wave of enemies as they slowly knock away his health. Sadly, a group of five itty-bitty imps could tear you the fuck up, if they're throwing bombs. By the way, you can't block, which is a big no-no in 3D brawlers today. I fully realized how much of a pussy they made out of Hellboy in the second level when you fight a Kriegaffe, a mechanically enhanced gorilla created by an evil Nazi scientist (evil Nazi scientists are all over the place in Hellboy). At first, I was psyched, because I was going to relive an awesome moment in the comics. Then excitement turned to frustration when the damn Kriegaffe just wouldn't go down (Edit: I found out later that attacking the Kriegaffe does absolutely nothing. You have to knock out the pillars to knock him down to the lower floors to beat him, which is bullshit). Not only was the motherfucker too hard to kill, but it kept grabbing onto me and throwing me for a nice chunk of damage. Oddly enough, there are a few moments (like in God of War) where you can push certain buttons while your're grappling an enemy (which, incidentally, I did with the Kriegaffe), but there was no button timing press for when the damn gorilla throws you. If he's got you, you're gonna get hurt. There's no escape. So, I've been pummelling away at this Kriegaffe for 5 minutes and he doesn't even seem winded. Of course, he kills me and I have to start all over again. Now, in the comics, Kriegaffes were tough contenders, but Hellboy could take one out. So getting my ass handed to me by this gorilla over and over again only reinforces my theory: They nerfed Hellboy. With so many flaws, you may think this is a fucking terrible game. It is fucking annoying and broken, that's for sure, but I wouldn't say it's the worst game I've played. It did have it's moments and I genuinely wanted to like it. But there's not enough good to outweigh the bad. I actually bought this at Best Buy for ten bucks, so I'm not too bent out of shape over it. I'll probably trade it in and get my money back on it. All I have to say is that it's a 3D brawler made by a company who have no fucking idea how to make one. Shame on you, Konami. Speaking of cheap Hellboy games I bought at Best Buy, the other Hellboy game, Hellboy: Asylum Seeker, I bought there for only five bucks. Worst five bucks I've ever spent. It was put out by Dreamcatcher Interactive, one of the worst video game companies ever created. Their bread and butter tends to be really shitty point-and-click adventure games inspired by mystery and horror stories (believe it or not, they're still at it). When I first saw it, I knew, deep in my gut, that it was going to suck shit. However, I couldn't pass up a chance to try a Hellboy game (seems I need to learn my lesson: a cheap Hellboy game at Best Buy is a bad omen). I gave Dreamcatcher the benefit of the doubt and picked it up. I told myself, "It's only five bucks. How bad could it be?" Long story short, this game is goddamn unplayable. Everything about this game is from the finest shit mines of Tegucigalpa. Graphics, controls, gameplay, voice acting - they all suck immensely. I warn you, whatever you do, do not buy this game. I don't care if they're giving it away, don't take it. It doesn't even make for a good coaster. Even the great artwork by Mike Mignola on the cover is tainted by this unholy blight. Cast it from your lives and never speak of it again. (If you've noticed on the picture, this actually got an M rating. That's not because of any content contained within. It's actually because playing it will make you see the worst atrocities of humanity when you sleep every night.) Needless to say, the apocryphal Hellboy crap is pretty pathetic, for the most part. But there is one glimmer of hope for our favorite demon. After the first movie, Guillermo del Toro and Mike Mignola decided to make a Hellboy animated series of films. The straight to DVD movies are just about the best thing outside of the comics. Again, they are voiced by the same cast as the live action films. Oddly enough, I like them better in the animated movies. There's no goofy acting, no vacant stares from the love interest. The voice acting is actually good. It also adheres closer to the comic books, but is still considered outside of canon (Liz and Abe actually have a moment where the sexual tension rises between them, which is weird, since Abe is a fish man, but it's how it's supposed to be.) So far, only two have been released. While Sword of Storms is pretty good, Blood and Iron is the real standout. Blood and Iron tells the story of the BPRD fighting the lusciously beautiful vampire Erzsebet Ondrushko (based on Elizabeth Bathory) during two different time periods: in the present and in 1939 (which is depicted in flashbacks that are interspersed through the movie in backwards order. In my opinion, this is the only Hellboy you should really bother to get outside of the comics. Though the Hellboy animated website hasn't updated in two years, I'm hoping they'll get off their asses and make some more. A sequence after the credits suggested that they were working on one that focused on my favorite Hellboy character, a 1940s pulp hero named Lobster Johnson. Anyway, read the books (by the way, there are some novels published by Dark Horse, as well, written by up and coming fantasy and horror writers), watch the animated series, and don't touch that damn Playstation game. Kaiser out

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Heaven And Hell: The Devil You Know - Out Now

The new CD from Heaven and Hell (a reunion of the guys from Black Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio) hit stores today. Dio and Vinnie Appice were on the Bob and Tom show this morning, which was awesome. I'm putting up the promo video because, well, that demon is fucking badass. My next paycheck can't come soon enough.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Savage Brütal Legend Apocalypse

Here's the pitch: Take every kick ass metal album, combine them together, and make a goddamn video game out of it.

My response: Where the hell has this been for the past 5 years?!

Let's face it, Brütal Legend bleeds liquid awesome. Take Tim Schafer (the creator of numerous classic games by LucasArts and the sleeper hit Psychonauts), an awesome premise, get a bunch of awesome people to do the voice work (Jack Black, Rob Halford, Lemmy, and, hell yes, Ronnie James Dio), and make a fucking awesome game. Oddly enough, Mr. Schafer had a hard time selling this one. I read an interview with him where companies actually tried to make him do some really, really stupid compromises when he pitched it to them. The most memorable one was one exec said, "This sounds like a great game, but I'm not sure about the heavy metal part. Could you change it to a hip-hop style game?" What a fucking tool! I couldn't believe that dipshit was serious. Yes, let's not do something revolutionary and put another bullshit hip-hop game on the market. You know how much the kids are eating that up.

Eventually, Brütal Legend found a home with Sierra, which was owned by Vivendi Universal. Unfortunately, Sierra was being difficult with Schafer about how the game should be done. To top off this shit sundae, Activision bought Vivendi (with Sierra in tow). The CEO of Activision (and all around huge dumbshit), Bobby Kotick, had cut Brütal Legend (along with the Ghostbusters games - what the fuck is wrong with this douchebag?) in favor of focusing on games which he could make more money by squeezing out sequel after sequel; such franchises as Spyro, Crash Bandicoot, and other shit shingles we all stopped playing years ago.

Fortune would smile on Shafer, though, as Electronic Arts picked up the publishing rights (though Bobby's still being a huge douchebag and wanting monetary compensation for a game he dropped, then realized how fucking retarded that was). Now, Brütal Legend is well on its way to an autumn release. Fuck yes!

Anyway, to whet everyone's appetite, here's the latest trailer for the game.

Tim Schafer is a fucking genius!

(And Bobby Kotick's a retard)

Kaiser out

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Games You Should Know About (But Probably Don't)

This is a new feature I've wanted to try out for a while. There seems to be video games that go unnoticed in America, whether it's because they don't have the same recognition as the games that come out from the big companies or they're made for a niche audience that only the hardcore would appreciate. Either way, these games don't get the appreciation they deserve. Remember when Prince of Persia: Sands of Time came out and no one picked it up at first. Now, you all know about it. And who can forget Beyond Good and Evil? If you don't know about BG&E, get off your ass, go to your nearest used game retailer and pick up a copy. I actually gave this game as a present to my nephew for his birthday one year. He had no idea what it was, but when he played it, he went apeshit over it. Anyway, I'm not going to talk about those two games right now, as POP has got enough recognition and Ubisoft listened to fans of BG&E and are working on the sequel. Today, we begin with a series of games that originated on the Game Boy in 1991 and not only became a huge success in Japan, but helped bring a resurgence of interest in the genre of anime that inspired the games. Which genre? Only the God-King of Japanese animation... GIANT ROBOT ANIME The series is called Super Robot Taisen, also known as Super Robot Wars and SRW for short. This is actually a series of Tactical Role-Playing games that spans two decades and multiple systems, both console and handheld. I actually discovered this series when I purchased an old Japanese gaming magazine at a Japanese festival. When I saw the game in the pages, I was floored. Why? Because these games feature characters and robots from just about every giant robot anime that came out. Everything from Mazinger Z, Getter Robo, and Mobile Suit Gundam (which were the three franchises featured in the first game and stalwart staples of the games, thereafter) to Evangelion, Nadesico, Full Metal Panic!, and Gravion has been featured in these games. Hell, even King of the Beasts GoLion (which kids in 80s America would come to know as Voltron) is in there. What does this mean? There's a shitload of gian robot mayhem in there. But before you ask me, "If it's just a turn based strategy rpg, doesn't it tone down the awesomeness that comes from watching the anime. To this, I tell you hell-to-the-no. A lot of strategy rpgs, like Shining Force, for instance, had battle animations that played out the individual blows that came between combatants. I must say, never before have I seen battle animations so kick ass as the ones in SRW. Just take a look: That's just from one attack. Imagine that happening all the time. I know that some people may whine, "but that stuff slows down the gameplay and gets repetitive." Seriously, if you're not into sweet battle animations full of giant robots and kick ass music, then this game wasn't made for you. Shut up. I'm usually not that big a fan of turn based strategy rpgs, to be honest, but this is just too fucking awesome to pass on. Now before any of you want to pick these games up, know this: Most of these games are never coming to America. Why? Most of these shows have been released in America by different companies. Can you imagine trying to work with all of these American companies to secure the rights to each and every one of these anime. It would be shitloads of red tape and shitloads of dollars just to get permission to localize the game. So if you want to get some of these games on the PS2, which, by the way, has the most visually impressive battle animations, you'll need to tweak your PS2 to play Japanese games or buy a Japanese PS2. Fortunately, the Nintendo DS has no region coding on their systems, allowing you to play Japanese games without any hassle. There are a couple of SRW titles available for the system, but the latest one seems to be giving no love to the original three series that started it all. No early Gundam, no Getter Robo, and only Mazinger Z is available (no Great Mazinger) is there to represent the old school. But there is hope. Atlus got the rights to release a few of the SRW games in the States that are under the Original Generation title. The first two, Original Generation and Original Generation 2 for the Game Boy Advance, do not include any characters or giant robots from any of the anime series, but features an original cast and new robots. While it does not have the appeal of pitting your favorite giant robots against each other, it still has great battle animations and is still a satisfying fix for any giant robot aficionado. Atlus is soon releasing their first SRW game for the DS. Entitled OG Saga: Endless Frontier, it actually takes a departure from the rest of the games. It was co-developed by Monolith Soft, the guys who made the Xenosaga games. Instead of a strategy rpg, this one is more along the lines of Monolith's other game, as it plays like a standard rpg, but each character individually does combo attacks to beat the bejesus out of the enemy. I never played Xenosaga, but I did play Xenogears and it sounds a lot like the gameplay in that. Also, no giant robots. They're all a little taller than people, but no giants. There is, however, a few characters from other games that do make an appearance. Reiji Arisu and Xiaomu from Monolith Soft's other awesome game, NamcoXCapcom, show up as well as KOS-MOS, the robo babe from Xenosaga, as playable characters. Now that you know about the series, see what you can dig up for it. Check out places like Play-Asia.com, where you can find the imports. The Original Generation GBA games you can find on Amazon.com and OG Saga: Endless Frontier comes out the end of the month (already got mine pre-ordered). And if you already know about this series, then take comfort in knowing that, somewhere out there, there is a kindred soul who knows about the awesome games that are out there, waiting for people to look past the veneer of tried (sometimes tired) and true established franchises on the shelves and be daring enough to try something different for a change. For only when we decide not to buy the same old shit again and again, do we challenge game companies to bring us these overshadowed titles that you should know about (but probably don't). Until next time, Kaiser out

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

The Spirit - Now available on DVD

I plan on getting it when I get paid tomorrow. I started reading The Spirit when Darwyn Cooke started up the new series. I enjoy it for its pulpy kitsch and bevy of luscious dames. My favorite in the movie - Eva Mendes. Here's why:
 That ass is like a fine wine. I'm not sure how, but trust me on this one.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Random Weirdness - Every Monday

Man, if I could really do this with a Garmin, I'd buy one in a heartbeat. Super Happy Kaiju GPS!! ALL GO!!!

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Legends of Steel - Savage Worlds

It's obvious that I love Savage Worlds (see previous post). I also love the Sword & Sorcery genre. And, since I have an RPG campaign setting that I'm working on (though it's still in it's infancy), I like to see independent companies put out quality product. It let's me know that guys like me have a chance in the industry. That's where Legends of Steel comes in. I discovered this blog for Evil DM Productions while I was scoping out the Savage Worlds scene on the internet. The blog is run by a guy named Jeff Mejia, the creator of LoS. Not only is his blog chock full of hot chicks and pulp awesomeness (Hell yes!), it also features his forthcoming games (LoS is already available, but he's also working on a pulp game called Lost World of Hador). Anyway, Legends of Steel is most certainly Jeff's love letter to the genre, because each page is written in fitting tribute. It starts off with him mentioning the sources of Sword & Sorcery that greatly influenced this game and the different styles in the genre, from the savage, brutal, and magic deficient world of Conan, to the comics, cartoons, movies, and TV shows of the 70s, 80s, and 90s such as Red Sonja, Thundarr the Barbarian, The Beastmaster, or Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. The list of pulp S&S books he cites read like an all time favorite list for me and I grew up watching most, if not all, of the movies and shows. Although his campaign setting is more geared toward the slightly more fantastical elements of the comics, movies, and TV shows, there's plenty of leeway to play the game using whatever elements of the genre you want. The book then goes over how to create a character suitable for the genre. He makes the interesting (and appropriate) stipulation that PCs can only be human. No elves, no halflings; none of that mess. Magic is somewhat available, but to a small extent. In Sword & Sorcery, these elements are to be considered more along the lines of the bizarre, not commonplace. Heroes relied on sinew and steel to fight their battles. So much so, that LoS pretty much dictates that, with a sharp blade, and an iron will, a hero may even defeat a demon (killing it would be another story). LoS continues with some modifications to some pre-existing edges as well as new edges to play around with. Some of these edges might seem a bit outlandish to play in any other genre, but they all fit right in with elements of S&S. From skimpy armor to the finer points of Beast Mastery, it's all here. It even adds some rules and tips for running a Sword & Sorcery game and also its own rules for carousing (which I like better than the rules in 50 Fathoms). The rest of the book focuses on the campaign setting, Erisa - mostly a gazetteer of the major regions in the world. I like how Jeff did this, because he provides a short description of each kingdom or city-state, then divides it into four categories: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Each and every one of them rife with plot hooks. He doesn't give you an overarching storyline or a plot point campaign (which are common in many Savage Worlds campaigns). This allows gamemasters plenty of room to fashion their own adventure paths. Should the heroes become embroiled in fighting the mighty kingdom of Tyros to liberate a city? Will they fall in league with the scumbags from Radu? Or do they dare stand against the dread sorcerers of Yar? That is entirely up to the group and there are plenty of plot hooks to choose from. It also mentions some of the less civilized wilderness areas that are not as detailed, but still offer good ideas for adventures. The Gazetteer caps off with a pantheon of the numerous gods and goddesses of Erisa, from the sublime to the savage. The book ends with an adventure, River Pirates of the Belsa, and sample characters to get things started quickly. Overall, this is a great value. It has excellent presentation, great art, and plenty of meaty story ideas to last quite a few gaming groups. All of this in a pdf file for the slim price of $12 (the hard copy book runs about $22, which is still not bad). If you love Sword & Sorcery and Savage Worlds (there must be something wrong with you if you don't), then I seriously recommend this game. Legends of Steel is available for download on the Evil DM Productions website at evildmprodutcions.net or on Jeff's awesome blog, The Lair of the Evil DM, at evildm.blogspot.com. (Edit: Jeff just made a paperback version available at the Evil DM Productions website so you can display it on your bookshelf) Oh, and spread the word. I'm hoping some of this good karma will come back my way when my RPG campaign world is ready for release. Kaiser out.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Savage RPG Apocalypse

Believe it or not, I've been playing role playing games (of the tabletop variety) for almost as long as I've been alive. In my humble beginnings, I was but a 4 year old child, playing Dungeons & Dragons with my older brother. For a few years, I would playtest his adventures before he went over to his friend's house for game night. I was so enthralled with the game, I just wanted to play more. I even remember religiously watching the D&D Saturday morning cartoon on CBS (which I own on DVD). It was awesome. After a while, my brother stopped playing and I was forced into a hiatus, since I couldn't afford any of the books. When he left behind all of his old books, I took them and read them often. I didn't really have anyone who wanted to play back then, so I just collected the stuff. I bought my first dice in 1989 (and still have the original dice bag from then) and bought miniatures at the flea market with the money I got from lawn mowing. By the time that 2nd Edition AD&D came out, TSR was putting out a lot of boxed adventure games to get new people into the hobby. I bought the Dragon Quest board game, which kicked ass because it came with actual metal miniatures. About this time, I got my younger brother and his friend into D&D. So, I ran adventures for them. It was my first taste of gamemastering (I was about 13 at the time). When I got into high school, my family had moved and I met a bunch of guys who were really into RPGs. We played AD&D, but they also introduced me to other games. That's when I got caught up in White Wolf's World of Darkness games, especially Werewolf: the Apocalypse, at first. We'd be up until 2 am playing all sorts of shit. Eventually, I got wise to White Wolf's Mage: the Ascension. That game blew my fucking mind. Before Mage, I thought AD&D did a shitty job with wizards and mages. I always thought that only being able to use a couple of spells each day and then forgetting how to cast them until you memorize them again was retarded. It made no fucking sense. So, when I first came across Mage, I thought it as going to be the same stupid bullshit. Boy, was I wrong. Reading that book completely coincided with my thirst for enlightenment and was just what the doctor ordered. So, I spent the next few years of my life (mostly in college) playing White Wolf. I was also working in a game store at the time, which exposed me to a lot of games. I discovered other games like Rifts, Legend of the Five Rings, and (...ugh) GURPS. Then, Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition came out with the open gaming license and everything went crazygonuts. Everyone and their grandmother was making content for 3rd Ed. And while a lot of it was crap, I think it helped bring some people back into RPGs. Of course, I picked it back up and started playing with my co-workers Then D&D 3.5 came out and told me that those hundreds of dollars I spent on 3rd Ed. stuff was wasted and that I could go suck a dick. Needless to say, I gave up on D&D. I also got burned out on White Wolf, since they pretty much fucked up the World of Darkness storyline when their 3rd Edition line came out. At that point, I put RPGs on the backburners for a few years. I ran a couple of Mage games and played Big Eyes, Small Mouth (the Anime RPG), but, by then, I was sick of it. Every system I played had inherent flaws that chafed me in one way or another. I couldn't find a system that I could get behind anymore. Then, about a year ago, my cousin-in-law introduced me to a game called Savage Worlds. He said it was quick, easy, and didn't get bogged down in rules and numbers so people could have fun with it. After reading the rulebook (which costs all of $10), I found a new passion for RPGs. Savage Worlds fucking rules. It's a universal system that keeps things moving quickly. It's a blast to play and a breeze to gamemaster. I've already ran a couple of sessions in the Rippers campaign setting (which, just like most of the settings for the system, is really good). There's even third party products for the system, which means a great selection of campaign settings to run. I cannot recommend this game system enough. If you've never played it before, you owe it to yourself to check it out. Anyway, I just wanted to show off my dork cred (and say how friggin' sweet Savage Worlds is). Until next time...