As a lover of the FATE system, I bought this game mostly for the sake of completeness, but was pleasantly surprised to find a fun and whimsical universe (cigar-smoking, homicidal teddy bears are a core player race) backed up with an innovative take on the FATE rules. Races, a question often make difficult in FATE games, are clearly laid out and seem well-balanced. The skills have abandoned the "trapping" mechanic used in other FATE games (particularly Strange FATE as shown in the also-excellent Kerberos Club) for a system that lays out how each skill can be used to "overcome obstacles," "make declarations," "attack," and a handful of other categories. I find I still prefer the trappings concept for my own use, but the Bulldogs! system is well-thought-out and may simplify things for many players. There is just enough information on the various organizations, planetary systems, etc. in the game universe to help lay out a game (backed up by aspects and suggests on how to use them), without overwhelming us.

There is a core conceit assuming the PCs will work for the "TransGalaxy Corporation" as high-risk freighters, which is fun and sets the players on a clear path right away, but there is also a section laying out alternative campaign setups, with the rules to support them. I question the balance of the weapons system, as it seems overly deadly for space opera, and more rules-heavy than FATE usually uses, but this is a minor quibble. The ship combat takes the chase rules from Spirit of the Century, a fun system in itself, and adds some meat to make starship combat look like a lot of fun and definitely the right mood.

The game is also pretty as hell, with lovely art and layout making each page a joy to read, and look surprisingly professional for a $10 purchase.

I have a FATE game already running, so I'm not planning on actually running Bulldogs! (at least not at present), but I found the cheap $10 price tag more than worth the ideas I can steal for my own FATE hack, and just for the fun of reading it. And it looks like there's a bunch of free adventures available for download, allowing players to easily go out and kick ass!