Robin Laws has a new game out for 2009 - Mutant City Blues. It's been described as CSI: Gotham. I like superheroes and buy a couple of comics each month, but I've never really watched CSI or any of that genre. To figure out whether I'd like the game, I started to watch CSI. My timing couldn't have been better. Laurence Fishburne had just joined the cast and his first episode was to be aired a week later. Now, after watching about half a dozen episodes, I've reached my verdict.
Fishburne good. Endless repetition of grisly murder cases, tiresome.
So what does that mean for Mutant City Blues? It means that I'd probably like it as a one-shot, or a short series, but it's unlikely that campaign play would suit my preferences. Am I wrong? Should I just try to find someone else who's running the game and have a go at it? Was my experiment flawed in the first place; that is, should I really judge Mutant City Blues on a TV show?
Tuesday, 2 June 2009
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6 comments:
I'm more of a Law & Order guy than a CSI fan. That being said, if you don't like police procedurals, Mutant City Blues may not be your game. Likewise I wouldn't recommend Deadlands to someone who doesn't like westerns, or Traveller to gamers who don't care for space opera.
Have I chosen a poor example of the genre for my test case? Should I watch half a dozen episodes of Law & Order instead?
I understand your point, though. Maybe I just don't gel with the police procedural. What do you think about the potential for that connection to change along with the change from TV to RPG?
Oh dear,
with my wife an avid fan of Law and Order, and comic books...It looks like I might have to start running a new campaign.
The Law and Order formula is broader and allows for more variation than CSI, so it's possible you'll like the one and not the other.
Can you restate that last question?
Sure can. How about, "Is there a chance that by moving the police procedural from TV to RPG, I might have a better connection with the genre?"
Try The Wire, Criminal Intent and The Shield, too, or even The Sweeney or The Bill.
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