The reports of the weapons sang in the canyon, as the relentless salvo continued. Pinned down behind the rocks, as a near endless barrage of rifle rounds explode off the crumbling stone, the trail tested hero looked back at the sorrel stallion and the rifle still sheathed in the saddle scabbard. It took a long time to make it, but it’s finally here, and it’s a welcomed addition to the western RPG genre. I, for one, will no longer have a simple horse in any of my games. The extensive random generators have applications well beyond this game or system. It’s interior black and white illustrations are highly detailed, ooze pulp, and a lot of flavor. The publication layout is very clean and well thought out. It allowed me to quickly find the sections of rules and undoubtedly will aid a gamemaster at the table. The book uses a decimal numbering system for each chapter and subsection, which I found useful when writing this review. The rules are clearly written and very well organized. The game mechanics accentuates the feel of a pulp game, and it’s attention to detail to the western genre is present. Well, was the wait all worth it? In the time Wild West Horse Opera hit Kickstarter to its final release, it easy to see a lot of research, thought, and time was put into the project. The game’s suggested base setting, Mythic Arizona Territory, is a mirror of reality with enough divergence to stay true to the genre but flexible enough to tell your own tales. The game steers gamemasters to built their own stories instead of interceding into those already written. Though it is set in the historic west, its stories run parallel or seen from afar as opposed to direct interaction with history.

Its action is over the top and unrestrained as any good pulp story should be. Pulling inspiration from mass media of the early to mid 20th century while remaining respectful to the indigenous peoples who roamed the plains before the great expanse. Like many Western RPGs, WWHO replicates a romanticized version of the American Wild West. Excerpted from Review for Rolling Boxcars, A Shiny New Star

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