n the chaotic future world of Judge Dredd, law enforcement is an end unto
itself. Maintaining a semblance of order over the 50 million
inhabitants of Mega City One requires a more streamlined system of justice
than that of our day, and as a result the police have been replaced by
Judges, highly trained men and women empowered to apprehend, sentence and,
if need be, execute criminals on the spot.
In the Judge Dredd Collectable Card Game, players assemble teams of five
Judges and set out to inflict justice on the bizarre criminals who
constantly threaten the largely hypothetical peace of the city. Putting
away criminals without doing too much collateral damage earns prestige; the
first player to reach 20 prestige points wins the game.
Players begin each turn by performing logistical
activities: healing Judges wounded the previous turn, issuing equipment
and choosing which Judge will lead any investigations. Whichever player
controls the most experienced Judge becomes Duty Judge, and rolls to see
whether this turn takes place at night or during the day.
Next, the players each play a Crime card from their hands. Crimes range from
Mass Murder to Possession of Comic Books, and are characterized as
motivated by Greed, Boredom, Violence or Politics. The Duty Judge assigns
one Crime to each player.
Each player then makes an attempt to investigate his assigned Crime.
Players can play Scene cards to establish where the crime took place, and
also select which Perp perpetrated the offense. Scenes representing
well-known locales mean extra prestige for success, but can cost prestige
if violence is used. Perps vary as well, with tougher Perps being harder
to arrest but granting more prestige when caught. Perps have motivations
which make them less likely to surrender when caught at certain crimes, and
also perform certain signature crimes at which they are especially dangerous.
If the Judge manages to apprehend the Perp without killing him, he then
passes one of three sentences available for that crime. Each one has a
different effect, both on the game and of course on the Perp himself.
Failure to apprehend means wounding or death for the Judge.
The original comic comes alive
Judge Dredd goes a long way toward capturing the darkly humorous tone of
the comic book. The Judges are drawn as square-jawed dispensers of
daystick justice or as spooky champions of psychic control, but retain
significant individuality. The Perps are all bizarre, and range from
ridiculous parodies of contemporary groups, through disturbing mutants and
maniacs, to the very unsettling Dark Judges. The individual attributes of
the Judges and Perps lend further flavor to the game: from the loyal Judge
Diablo, who always suffers the same fate as his leader; to the 10-year
veteran Judge Bram, who is so obsessed with the number 10 that he hands out
10-year sentences regardless of the crime; to Shaky Pete Coco, a perp who
if sentenced leniently becomes a stool pigeon working for the Judges.
The structure of the game reinforces this nicely by confronting players
with a seemingly endless tide of criminals who have to be dealt the most
summary kind of justice. The sentencing rules nicely capture the suspicion
that which sentence is chosen has more to do with the Judge's agenda than
with the Perpetrator's offence. And the competition between the players is
just right: a race to deal justice the quickest and a bureaucratic
struggle to get the choicest cases.
The randomly sorted starter decks come with all the cards players need,
although as usual buying booster packs makes for a much richer experience.
Some of the cards included with the starter may, for instance, rely on or
be enhanced by other cards that are not included. Each starter does come
with a satisfyingly large number of Judges, though, which allows a player
right from the start to have the fun of picking just the right team.
Judge Dredd is probably at its best in multiplayer games, where a broad
spectrum of crimes and locales will appear, the contest for Duty Judge will
be hottest, and politics and deal-making will be rife. A two-player game
can too easily fall into a rut, with one player monopolizing the Duty Judge
position for the whole game and the other being assigned the same
impossible-to-solve crime over and over again.
