I’ve read the book twice and am on a third read. This RPG has some of the best layouts I’ve ever seen for a game book – and I thought 4E D&D had reached a new height.
What I’m talking about is the new version of super-hero role-playing in the Marvel universe, from Weis Productions using the Cortex sytem – Marvel Heroic Roleplaying Basic Game.
The book holds the core rules for the storyteller / narrative style game, an Event (think mini-module) based on the first six issues of New Avengers and the “breakout” at the Raft prison, and datafiles (pre-modeled characters for said Event.) It’s layout is nothing short of beautiful, utilizing images from actual Marvel comics interspersed with examples of play, complete with pictorial representations of actual dice pools in use, as well as font sizes, bullet points, single column mixed with dual column, and even the margins hold useful references for pages to get further information on terms and rules mentioned in the body of the text.
This is a very different, though roughly recognizable, version of the Cortex rules that are part and parcel for Weis RPG’s. And even more so than normal it’s probably not for everyone – the narrative style of the game eschews hard and fast rules for a more group storytelling approach, right down to players deciding who goes when in initiative order and character modeling not being based on balance but on getting the feel right for the heroes from the comic books.
So if you need to make your own character, want either balanced rules OR rules that you can exploit to munchkin yourself into the “baddest player at the table” – this game is probably not for you. If you are looking for a more relaxed, more heroic, super-hero themed game, however, or one where your imagination and creativity are more important than memorizing rules and your ability to pick the most optimal skills and stats combos… then this may just be a game for you!
Read more here – http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/15/15570.phtml , http://www.gamehead.com/article/1692/marvel-heroic-roleplaying-arrives , http://www.risusmonkey.com/2012/03/marvel-heroic-roleplaying.html , http://dicemonkey.net/2012/02/21/review-marvel-heroic-roleplaying-basic-game/
Check out this podcast review here – http://www.idleredhands.com/?p=1363
Official website here – http://www.margaretweis.com/showcase/13-marvel-heroic-roleplaying
Jim Yoho is the owner of In Genre, Wausau Comics, and JAY Entertainment and he maintains the site as well as adding the occasional article or review of his own. He often goes by Merin online, from way back in the BBS days of dial-up modems even.
Having enjoyed writing reviews and postings for other sites he decided to start his own where he combined his creative urges to write and create web comics (such as Episode Fun and Alistair & Arthur) with his long-held desire to bring together and organize talented people for joint projects. The end result is that you get the Wausau Comics site - articles and reviews of genre entertainment at In Genre plus some web comics and links to the works of other Contributors, too! 
