Rating : - Good (if clunky) System, but Awful Artwork (except cover)
Physical Appearance and Layout-

* Blood of Heroes Special Edition is a large softback with a beautiful if generic cover. The artwork throughout ranges from passable to awful. The layout is tolerable, if somewhat counter-intuitive. The sections are not always laid out as i would have, but, oh well.

System-

* As the (latest?) version of the old Mayfair Exponential Roleplaying Game System (MEGS), it is a very comprehensive game, capable of handling more powers and situations than any of the previous versions of MEGS that I have read (1st and 2nd Editions). That said, it is 'Old Skool', and clunky; very time-intensive with its choosing powers and ratings, then looking up the 'level'-costs for each, and because this is a self-contained book, there are no easy reference pages, which means one must either photocopy those charts, or constantly turn back to the pertinent pages. This makes for a frustrating character/villain/gadget experience, and frankly, limits its usefulness to me.

* I'm not going to explain how the MEGS system works, as any Google-search of Mayfair DC Heroes RPG will turn up a number of useful pages that do a much better job than I feel I can fairly do within this review, and which is beyond the scope of this product's domain.

* Does Blood of Heroes Special Edition do a better job than previous editions? Perhaps. From what I gather, it has built upon Mayfair's 3rd Edition, and continued to streamline it, though as noted above, the single book design is not a plus as far as I am concerned.

* I'm not certain that this system is especially germane to the contemporary RPG experience when there are other systems available with a more current mindset regarding sleekness of character and game mechanics design available, but it certainly appears as playable as any of the previous editions once the AP charts are in hand.

Overall Evaluation-

* If one is a MEGS fan, and a completeist for possessing the 'newest' version of a given system/game, then BoH:SE is a must.

* I would rather see a new boxed edition produced by another company, and without the awful artwork based on Pulsar Games' in-house campaign, much of which are very dated in their characterisation (stat and background) beside their awful visual depiction.

* For the price, I would say that unless one is already a fan of MEGS, or must have an all-in-one RPG (travel with concern of flattened boxes, or loss of fiddly bits, etc.), this could easily be forgotten to the dusts of time. HOWEVER, if one has an interest in comparing Powers and Advantages, etc. this is a very straightforward RPG, and reasonably articulately readable set of rules. It is, in my opinion, a better alternative to the WestEnd Games DC Universe D6-based RPG that came out a few years ago, though, if mated with that system, I believe the synthesis (homebrew rules) would be better than either alone.

* If my gaming crew are interested the next time I GM, I may put the idea forward to play this game, but I wouldn't expect them to jump for joy.

System-integrity Rating:
[*][*][*][*][-]

Usefulness:
[*][*][*][-][-]

Presentation:
[*][*][-][-][-]

Overall:
[*][*][*][-][-]