First off, if I'm gonna play a dice-rolling combat game, I want it simple. Charts, tables, counters, modifiers.... not for me. Get To The Chopper does it right, simplicity is the rule of the day and maximum bloodshed as quickly as possible is the goal (it's only fitting). Each character has two weapons (one for melee, one for ranged attacks), one special ability, and takes X number of Wounds before he dies. It's standard move-and-attack/roll-to-hit fare. There are a couple of rules about movement modifiers and "camoflage" for the Predator, but it's not like a wargame system where you need to keep a table to keep track of all the different plusses and minuses. It's more like 3 or 4 hard-and-fast rules that add to the theme.
And that's the strong point of the game. The reason you're playing this game is so you can yell "GET TO DA CHOPPA! DO IT NOWW!" at your friends, or make that creepy predator growl when you've killed off all your opponents. It's clear that this was the designer's goal, and all the rules are intended to get you immersed in the theme. Each character has a special ability that reflects his counterpart in the movie; and all the movement rules are there to simulate events from the film. The best example (and one of my favorite things about the game) is the River. When the Predator crosses the River, he loses his Camoflage ability, leading to a knockdown-dragout between him and Dutch (whom he's certainly left alive last, because Dutch's ability turns him into a mean green Predator-killing machine once he gets hurt). This is great themed design. Too many themed games try to paste an event from a movie or book ON to a game mechanic. Good themed games CREATE mechanics that simulate those events. Excellent themed games do that, and are fun to play as well.
The components are another story. I have to disagree with the other reviewer on here who said that he preferred the home-made look of the components to crop-n'-shopped stills from the movie. I'm a guy who LOVES to crop-n'-shop; and I really wished the character cards were a little more attractive. To that end, after playing the game and realizing I'd definitely want to play it again, I went to work and came up with some of my own (posted at the end of the review).
In the end, Get To The Chopper is exactly the kind of game I DON'T usually like, but it made me love it by doing absolutely everything correctly. Comparing it to other games I enjoy would be doing it a disservice, because it's not trying to be Puerto Rico or Showmanager. It's trying to be a short, fast and furious little firefight that makes you feel like you're playing a part in a movie you've loved since you were 7. And it does that in spades. Besides - it's free, man.
If you're reading this review, you've got at least some interest in a Predator-themed game. Print it out and play it at your next game night. Do it. I promise you'll love it. A great example of a game that knows what it wants to do, is designed to do that and ONLY that, and accomplishes its goal perfectly.
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I've uploaded my character cards to the Files section, but copyright rules may keep them from getting posted. If they do, feel free to drop me a geekmail and I'll send you the original file (it's a much higher resolution than the posted photo):
Posted Thu Aug 21,2008 04:00 pm
