Pyramid Review
Cyberpunk V3.0
Published by R. Talsorian Games, Inc.
Written by Mike Pondsmith, Lisa Pondsmith, & Will Moss
Cover by Frozen Marvel Design
Illustrated by Frozen Marvel Design
304-page two-tone softcover; $32.00
In 1997 R. Talsorian Games published Firestorm: Shockwave. It was the last supplement for Cyberpunk 2.02.0.; unfortunately, it was also the second part of a trilogy describing the events of the Fourth Corporate War, the conflict that had been brewing throughout the timeline of the RPG's future history. The big boys of Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0. -- the Militech and Arasaka Corporations -- went to war and then . . .
Nothing.
Apart from Mike Pondsmith, nobody knew what happened next or how the war turned out. Firestorm: Aftershock, the third book, never appeared and neither did Cyberpunk V3, the gap to which the Firestorm Trilogy was intended to bridge. Almost a decades' wait later we find out what happened. Not with Firestorm: Aftershock, not with Cyberpunk V3, but with Cyberpunk V3.0. The question is, has the wait been worth it?
Normally I would now spend the rest of the review telling you about the game's background, the characters that you can play, and the mechanics, before ending the review with what I think about said game. Which I will, except I am going to answer the question first, because I want to waste nobody's time. So here is the answer:
No.
Want to know why? Read the review.
* * *
The first thing that Cyberpunk V3.0 does is explain what happened . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: October 13, 2006
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