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Friday 3 September 2010

Heads Up - Renaissance!



Author - MrCraiggy.



Hello and welcome to this very exciting update here at Three Guys.

Now, for those of you who aren't aware, I adore Cyberpunk; films, books, comics, music, games, everything about it I just enjoy, to a degree. Now, for those of you who aren't aware of what Cyberpunk is, just watch Blade Runner Johnny Mnemonic. It’s kinda like those films but to varying degrees of extremity; The Matrix is also an example. Distant, often dystopian future, super high technology, often with advanced cybernetic body augmentations and super cool computer systems.
One of my favourite aspects of the Cyberpunk universe is Shadowrun, an RPG originally published in 1989 and still going strong today in its 4th edition and celebrated its 20th anniversary last year, Shadowrun does things a little differently. Yes it has your super high tech and your world ruled by the corporations, yes it’s a relatively bleak, dystopian future (Unless you’ve got the monies) but Shadowrun also incorporates a fantasy element to the game, including such aspects as magic, fantastical creatures and even races from the fantasy genre such as elves, dwarves, orcs and trolls.
The players take the role of “Shadowrunners” and it is their mission to take jobs from various different employers (All assuming the moniker of Mr. Johnson for anonymity’s sake) of various credibility and legitimacy. These jobs are often illegal and almost always dangerous.

Now, no, I know what you’re probably thinking. This is not a review of Shadowrun. I could talk for hours about that game, I really could. No, that was just to set the scene, because recently, I have made a discovery. Ladies and Gentlemen and other non-gender specific metatypes, I present to you: Renaissance.

Renaissance is a webcomic that you can find here and is written and drawn by Canadian author/artist - David Coacci. It also has a Facebook group. Now, the reason this caught my eye is that it is billed as exactly what I have just described to you, a "Cyberpunk Fantasy" graphic novel, so I just had to read it. I'll just copy you the synopsis from the site to wet your appetite:

Over 2,000 years ago, the world of Sia was caught up in a great war. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth... various factions fought with swords and sorcery for the ever seductive goal of absolute power. The constant abuse of magical energies inevitably caused a cataclysm that left Sia in ruins, forcing old rivals to band together in an effort to send the world into a new era of peace and prosperity. This "Renaissance" was sparked by a restriction on the use of magic and the beginning of a technological revolution.
Today, technology rules, and the people of Sia no longer fear another cataclysm. But still war rages on between the World Coalition Authority, a universal government harboring the remains of the Elf-Human Alliance, and the Technocrats, a faction dedicated to technological supremacy. History is destined to repeat itself as these two super powers vie for control over Sia’s populous.

Yet it is soon discovered that this war is not as simple as it seems when a young mercenary encounters an elf with an uncertain past. The two soon find themselves at the heart of this bitter global conflict and, as the line between man and machine becomes increasingly blurry and technology evolves to a point that it can achieve the unthinkable, it is only a matter of time before the very nature of human and elven kind comes into question.


Science has become the new black magic.


Now, so far, the story follows a few main characters. There's Nyoko - A sexy elven assassin with heightened strength and regenerative capabilities. Magical? Technological? Wait and see. Allen Gatehold - A human mercenary with remarkable swordsmanship and prowess. And there are our two current antagonists, the "Ace Gunman" Eddie and the veteran, Scyther (No, not that green thing from Pokemon) and Scyther's a "Tomyr", and what that means, from what I've gathered, is that the Tomyr are a physically superior race to humans, being stronger, tougher and living roughly twice as long. They're linked closely to the elves, even bearing similar facial structuring (And ears.) and they used to guard the elves but then became enslaved by them, thus leaving generations of racial animosity between them.

So, I think I've said enough about the plot. I really enjoy it and look forward to reading the rest of the story as it progresses. The art style does become progressively better throughout the series and is in full colour, which is very nicely done. I will give a warning, this one is recommended more for a maturer audience due to some of the language used, the violence content and some brief scenes of partial nudity.

So this is a very excited Mr Craiggy, who can't wait for the next update, signing out for Three Guys.

Renaissance and all characters and content are property of David Coacci. This review is written and published with his full permission and good will. Thank you Sir!