Okay so I am on page 352 and chugging away.
My god this game is cool! It is almost overwhelming the sheer amount of possibilities that I think of when playing this game. It is definately going to be a BE Winter.
First up will be a western game BE style. We're burning a low index world to keep the galactic politics out of the equation and so we can better focus on the game at hand - Infection!
That being said I want to point out a few little details that I particularly admired...
1) I love the "I Corner Him and Stab Him in the Face" rules. It feels right in this game. Normally I would have said "well, damn it's already a deadly system. Isn't this going to let a lot of air out of a campaign? However, let me say I can already see that a lot is going on here. I think the players will find this brutal combat very satisfying especially after experiencing the Firefight rules and Duel of Wits. I really like the perspective where this big sci-fi epic makes some dirty knife fight about the drama. It's more personal, somehow. We'll see once I play it out, no doubt.
2) I was really taken back (awed in a good way) on how much of the game revolves around circles and social interaction. It's quite a shift for many games, I believe, to have a game that focuses on who you know. A overwhelming number of traits give reputations and affiliations. It really makes the players think more about bringing in other parties and involving groups in your conflicts. I mean the meat of this game is about saving the world, right?
3) The first ugly combo I spy is a Mukhadish Brute (Born Wild, Manhunter x2, Brute x2). It starts with 6 points for mental stats and 26 points in physical stats - 5/5/8/8! and the Brute trait which says that you ignore die penalties on mental stats for the purpose of incapacitation. WOW. Now, sure I saw this on trolls and such but still, now you need five die penalties to knock this monster down? When my PCs see a Muhkadish I have no doubt they will run or kill it from the distance. LOL may I remind my kind audience of the "low index" world we're starting with? teehee.
I have a huge feeling that this game will either be really good, or really bad. It wont be one of those in between games in my opinion. Personally, I hope it ends up being really good. I wanna play a pirate :p