Pyramid Review
Link:West
Published by Link Media Inc.
Written by Rodney Brazeau & Lee McIlmoyle
System designed by Mark C. MacKinnon & Jeff Mackintosh
Edited by Rodney Brazeau
Art & Graphics by Lee McIlmoyle, Rodney Brazeau, & HandsOn Graphics
112-page b&w softcover; $19.95
Nothing seems to say "western" more these days than adding a hint of the supernatural to the American Frontier. Link:West, a new RPG from Link:Media Inc., also adds that touch to this game but little else.
Link:West is a world that superficially mirrors ours in the 1860s (or thereabouts -- there's a lot here that isn't clear). The planet's history has played out much differently, even as early as 2000 BE (Before the Exodus). After a series of power exchanges involving the rise and fall of guilds, city-states, and guild-states, the execution of a teacher who spoke for the people prompted a revolution that left the Guilds scrambling to reestablish a real peace. They now contend with emerging governments.
Even with the massive changes to Earth's history, we get Euroboros (the game's equivalent of Europe -- the setting is full of bits of clever wordplay like this). From here, sailors caught in a freak storm accidentally discovered Amerius. Unlike our colonial origins, the established eastern cities of this new land are smaller or less developed, and more of the country has a frontier feel (though much of the setting is left deliberately vague).
The rest seems to be what you'd expect from the genre. The Indians here are more . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: April 16, 2004
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