So now, I'm back. Sorry for the Absence, but I managed to fuck up a very important test and had to scramble to pass a last ditch grant and convince my uni to not kick me out, so I had a lot on my plate and little time to actually read MST. Here's the promised review.
1) Artwork. This is the most impressive part of the PDF. I really like the artwork here, it brings back memories and manages to look a lot better than the linework it's based on (some was decent, like the Fields of Fire stuff; others made me cringe in remembering, like the Lobo). The Lobo probably is the most impressive example of what coloring can make of a not very well done linework (comparison to be found
here.). Great work with the paint job here. The Harpy's also nicely upgraded, but the painting pattern is weird (is it trying to camouflage itself as a tropical fish?). The Arabian Air Force EFA mage me chuckle slightly, even though Shadowrun's Middle East looks really old and backward now. Also, the Moonlight Avenger is back! It was sorely missed. Some of the new stuff's also good - though everyone who buys the German books will recognise the Hound - notably Blitz, Woodstock (those names ...), Popocatepetl, Ahuizotl, Camaxtli and Mixcoatl. The Paynal looks a bit roughly drawn compared to the others but is a nice design using vectored thrust like we have seen in many more modern shooters and not to lift huge tanks, props for that; the others unmentioned are okay too, no artwork strikes me as seriously bad. If CGL keeps this up, SR has finally something like a higher standard than their Giant Robots line, whose artwork alternates between meh and horribad (had a look at the tech manuals - Ugh). Some designs, well ... but that's not the artist's fault (the Shadowrun Eurofighter just looks a lot more like the
TKF 90 concept than the
real thing) - and the closeness to canon they show here cannot be overrated, especially given CGL's recend clusterfucks there.
2) Content. Well, I am a bit annoyed that ESPRIT now is an Aztech company, showing again a disregard for canon in SR, but allright, it's not that big a mistake and the writers are new and have to do the Line Dev's work for him. The Catalogue theme is sustained and the Aztlan focus in the ESPRIT catalogue a nice contrast to the Ares-American-centric weapons books of old (and the first part of this book). Sadly, this means this book acknowledges the fact there is a war which Aztlan takes part in
more than WAR! does (food for thought among the authors, maybe?). The same rules problems permeate as with War!, as Mega Damage generates all kinds of wonkiness becuase the SR4/SR4A system was never menat to simulate it, but this is not the PDF's fault.
3) Errata/Nagging/Food for TJ to troll: The Appaloosa seems a bit undervalued compared to earlier editions, putting it on par with a Bison with some armor added. It's also rather slow. And while there's already been some discussion there (I am NOT reading the backlog, but there was even before I had to drop out for a few weeks), the late decision about putting in descriptive labels with the art, while immensely adding to the feel of the book, generates more than a few missingstandard upgrades (hopefully this will be fixed for the PDF eventually).
I could go into a lot more depth now, but this probably has already been said time and again, so why repeat it. Anyway, here's the review I promised waaaay back up.