Hellboy - Steve Jackson Games Soft or Hard covers 206 pages
First of all let me state that I've loved Hellboy comics for many a year now, though I've mostly quit collecting, they still remain one of my faves, alongside Hellblazer
Maybe I just like the word Hell...
I never figured Hellboy for a game, perhaps an animated movie or series, but a game?
Well it is a game now, but more than just a game it's a wonderful collection of information as is the case with alot of Steve Jackson Games books.
There are two things that really stand out with this book, one is the fact that the art is great, even though it is ripped directly from the comic, I can't complain as the comic is the direct inspiration for the game. The other thing that stands out is "powered By GURPS"
I'm not a huge fan of the GURPS rules set, it's flexible in cases, but not so in others, but this isn't a review of GURPS. The disappointment comes from Hellboy using GURPS lite as it's rule set, not an integrated GURPS full set, this is a disappointment primarily because many people will want to include other rules for which they will need the GURPS full rules book, I don't think that's fair considering the price of this Graphic Novel sized Book, especially in it's hardback version, which is nearly fifty bucks off the shelf, and limited edition to boot, consolation can only be taken in the fact that the softback is a mere twenty five... half the price.
As I stated earlier, the game is a wonderful set of background and hellboy related information, a must have for any fan of the comics, it does a very good job of plugging all those small continuity leaks and filling the void of a "discombobulated" storyline.
Of course it has a rather hefty (But still light) section of rules and introductions to gaming, coming in at 63 pages, a small 10 page short fiction entitled "Dakini" written by Christopher Golden and a rather upsetting 5 page comic by Mike Mignola himself, I was upset by that simply because of the promise of "A short comic story" yep I got it, but did it have to be THAT short?
The rest of the book I have to say is a plethora of background and running the game tips which I have to say is simply great, in whole it's well written laid out and easy to understand, even for a newbie to the world of gaming
I do hope that SJG keeps up with some sourcebooks and adventures
Overall I'm going to recommend it as a good Horror/weird Tech/WW2 era game but I wouldn't waste the money on the hardback unless you are a die hard hellboy fan.
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