As a wise blogging compañero has already opined: if the basic conceit of Pacific Rim seems like something you would like, you should see it.
Now with that out of the way, let's talk about the gaming potential of the setup. Of course, there's the eminently gameable setting of the film--particular in the 7 year period where humankind is holding off the kaiju threat. But we don't have to stop there.
Maybe the kaiju wind up just occupying certain territory? The comic limited series Giant Killer by Dan Brereton posits just this sort of scenario. It also offers a wider variety of kaiju (and kaiju categories) than Pacific Rim.
Of course, that sort of situation could easily lead to a post-apocalyptic scenario were kaiju devastate and occupy more and more of the world. In the most pessimistic case, this could lead to something resembling The Night Land, where surviving humans hold out in a last redoubt and sally forth to fight for a lost cause. A less grim version might see humanity escaping to orbital habitats and sending their best mecha pilots to earth to fight to reclaim territory--something akin to Gundam G, but without the tournament element.
That's just off the top of my head. In sure there are a lot more ways to get those robots fighting giant monsters.
A good giant fight is always a good thing. Haven't seen Pacific Rim and not likely. Never been a fan of guys in robots.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was younger Godzilla and the other monster features were always great, but the one that always stuck with me was The Gargantuans. Sibling rivalry taken to gigantic heights.
Interesting ideas - here's my suggestion: A game where the players play the Kaiju themselves having to defend themselves against the unreasonable masses of humanity and other less noble Kaiju.
ReplyDelete@Jim - That's an interesting idea. I think the fanmade World of Darkness product Leviathan covers some of this ground, but I think the problem with this would be (1)if the players are kaiju they become less a menance and more like weird superheroes and (2) instead of a war of normal size against giants it becomes a giant against smalls thing, sort of inverting the tensions it might create.
ReplyDeleteBrereton's Giant Killer doesn't get enough love.
ReplyDeleteShould've known you'd be a fan.
Of course. :)
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