a localized nuclear bomb in simple-to-use grenade form...

[reverancepavane]

3:16, subtitled Carnage Among The Stars, is Greg Hutton's (of Box Ninja) newest RPG. Players take the role of troops of the 16th Brigade of the 3rd Army of the Expeditionary Forces, whose job is to eliminate any threats to Terra from aliens before they can manifest. In other words, it is an excuse to out-Verhoeven Verhoeven in a good old-fashioned Starship-Troopers-style Bug Hunt (or Asparagus People Hunt or Cute Furry Alien Hunt or ... you begin to get the idea). With character abilities divided between Fighting Ability (which is the ability to increase your Total Kills score through the direct application of appropriate mayhem) and Non-Fighting Ability (which is the ability to do anything else) there is little subtlety in the basic ideas behind the game. Encounters are always on the battlefield ("the only good alien is a dead alien") and the focus is on describing what happens there. However it is here that the main trick in the game comes into play, that of narrating appropriate flashback sequences from the character's past in order to override the effects of the game mechanics. Thus they bring out depth to the characters whilst acting to save the characters from (almost) certain death, whilst drawing the non-combat environment and setting into the game. It's a very interesting effect which emulates quite well the style of combat-orientated war movies and books (especially the ones that deal with the psychological stresses of combat). And the reward for success? Medals and promotion to higher ranks, which brings with it access to more tools for gratuitous mayhem, but also more responsibility. For example, a trooper's only duty is "kill bugs," whilst a corporal must "maximize the kill ratio for each trooper," and a sergeant is required to "follow the orders of officers" and "preserve the squad." Eventually you might even be promoted to the rank of Brigadier and be placed in charge of the 3:16. Looks very good and seems to capture the appropriate feel of the genre. Looks like it could be fun. Although if any player did make it to Brigadier I couldn't resist invoking the "space is curved" trope and having the 3:16 approach Earth from the other direction (an Earth which has been long forgotten by the Expeditionary Force). But then I might have read too many of the Golden Age British comics in this genre.