I picked this game up on a whim, and haven't had the chance to run it yet, but certainly mean to, as it really appeals to me.

OK, so first of all the layout is crisp and clear, and easy for me to read (even without my glasses on) which is increasingly important for me as an aging gamer.

Character creation is a snap - you choose a race (which determines hit points and gives a couple of extras that usually give you an advantage (see below) in some sorts of tests, select three traits, select wepon proficiency and mastery, assign gear and credits, choose a profession and a drive, and you're good to go.

The system itself is very straightforward - any test are rolled on 2d6, with a 5 or 6 rolled on any of the dice beig a success. Advantages add a die to the pool and disadvantages subtract one - veyr straightforward. If a test falls with the scope of your profession, you will get an advantage, and an appropriate Trait will usually give an advantage.

The trait list is excellent, and covers areas that would be skills in another game (acrobat, chemist, tracker) but also things that woudl be advantages, knacks or even powers in other games (cyborg, prepared, psionic, quickshot).

Combat might not suit some gamers, as all successful attacks do 1 point of damage, and armour is only "flavour" as it has no game effect. There are however rules for special actions such as Focus (essentially aiming), Evade, Supressing Fire, and Cover, so combat is not devoid of tactical decisions. Ammo is not tracked, but a test is made at the end of every fight to see if you are "out".

There are also sections dealing with Xeno-Tech (the equivalent of magic items in a fantasy game) and some good tables for randomply generating enemies, planets and settlements.

There is a good appendix on starships, which allows players to all contribute in any ship on ship action, and for starships to have traits of their own such as scanners, reactors, life support, plasma cannon, swarm missiles and so on. This looks like it would be good in play.

A second appendix does the same for Mecha, and I'm really looking forward to trying this out.

Last (but not least) the bulk of the book (more than twice the amount given to the rules) details 16 "micro-settings" of various type some of which are quite differnet and interesting - I have my eye on Marlowe Station, a crumbllig space station with a noir/mystery/horror vibe (think Babylon 5 gone bad...).

I can see me getting a lot out of this - now if only they produce a Pulp version (I already have my eye on hacking this!). Good effort.