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METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA TO OMEGA, for TSR's Amazing Engine system, by S Henson.

I had trouble believing my eyes when I saw this book. I was sure TSR would re-release their landmark (first scifi RPG) Metamorphosis Alpha as a part of their new Gamma World 4th edition. It would be like Dragonlance was to AD&D, a campaign of familiar rules but with a unique setting. Instead, this was a campaign book for the Amazing Engine system, I was disappointed. I purchased it out of curiosity and the odd hope that Gamma World support material was provided as well.

The first part of the book contained the Amazing Engine rules. Fairly simple, uncluttered and capable of any genre, they appear to be playable. The rules are by no means an innovation, FUDGE does the job at least as well and GURPS is still the champion. For my tastes the Amazing Engine rules do beat out the data heavy Hero System and To Challenge Tomorrow generic system (Ragnarok Enterprises) due to its simplicity. The concept of a player core is unique and is forced on the reader as the grandest invention since hit dice. I don't think the player core will meet with a lot of excitement. There will be those who like it but for most it will become an unused option, players will prefer to detach campaigns of different genre from on another. If it were me, that's how I would have offered it, an option for a different style of play, reward and character development.

The opening comments the author makes exposes the truth. Metamorphosis Alpha to Omega was initiated as a Gamma World boxed set, a very substantial and detailed one by the sounds of it. Essentially at the last minute it was changed to an Amazing Engine campaign book, because it was more conducive to "one shot adventures". Again my opinion is different, I can see some very long and enjoyable campaign possibilities, but that's me. Due to the change, a great deal of room was needed to re-publish the Gamma World rules in Amazing Engine language. With few exceptions, character creation options, encounters and mutations are drawn exactly from the Gamma World 4th edition rule book. Even a great deal of the interior art is Gamma World.

After the system rules and the campaign rules, little room is left to detail the world ship. I can only imagine the cultural, physical and technological detail that would have existed had the massive Gamma World boxed supplement remained the end product. What I have now is a general overview of a world ship campaign, with general descriptions of vast areas and diverse creatures. It still can be used with Gamma World, but at the $12.95 cover price it is low on detail, being full of an alternate rules system and a rehash of the Gamma World rules.

The 4th edition of Gamma World was the best edition yet and could easily have carried several campaign worlds just as AD&D does (Metamorphosis Alpha, XXVc, super hero, cyber-world and with AD&D a Shadowrun clone). Instead TSR has left it to whither just to add another world book to their "latest craze". Look for this one when it goes on sale, TSR was already unloading them at GenCon'95 at 75% off. At that price, its worth the background material.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 3 (Average)

METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA TO OMEGA
Author: S. Henson Category: game Company/Publisher: TSR Line: Amazing Engine Cost: $12.95 Capsule Review by Papyrus on 05/11/99. Genre tags: Science_fiction Post-apocalypse Generic	METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA TO OMEGA, for TSR's Amazing Engine system, by S Henson. I had trouble believing my eyes when I saw this book. I was sure TSR would re-release their landmark (first scifi RPG) Metamorphosis Alpha as a part of their new Gamma World 4th edition. It would be like Dragonlance was to AD&D, a campaign of familiar rules but with a unique setting. Instead, this was a campaign book for the Amazing Engine system, I was disappointed. I purchased it out of curiosity and the odd hope that Gamma World support material was provided as well. The first part of the book contained the Amazing Engine rules. Fairly simple, uncluttered and capable of any genre, they appear to be playable. The rules are by no means an innovation, FUDGE does the job at least as well and GURPS is still the champion. For my tastes the Amazing Engine rules do beat out the data heavy Hero System and To Challenge Tomorrow generic system (Ragnarok Enterprises) due to its simplicity. The concept of a player core is unique and is forced on the reader as the grandest invention since hit dice. I don't think the player core will meet with a lot of excitement. There will be those who like it but for most it will become an unused option, players will prefer to detach campaigns of different genre from on another. If it were me, that's how I would have offered it, an option for a different style of play, reward and character development. The opening comments the author makes exposes the truth. Metamorphosis Alpha to Omega was initiated as a Gamma World boxed set, a very substantial and detailed one by the sounds of it. Essentially at the last minute it was changed to an Amazing Engine campaign book, because it was more conducive to "one shot adventures". Again my opinion is different, I can see some very long and enjoyable campaign possibilities, but that's me. Due to the change, a great deal of room was needed to re-publish the Gamma World rules in Amazing Engine language. With few exceptions, character creation options, encounters and mutations are drawn exactly from the Gamma World 4th edition rule book. Even a great deal of the interior art is Gamma World. After the system rules and the campaign rules, little room is left to detail the world ship. I can only imagine the cultural, physical and technological detail that would have existed had the massive Gamma World boxed supplement remained the end product. What I have now is a general overview of a world ship campaign, with general descriptions of vast areas and diverse creatures. It still can be used with Gamma World, but at the $12.95 cover price it is low on detail, being full of an alternate rules system and a rehash of the Gamma World rules. The 4th edition of Gamma World was the best edition yet and could easily have carried several campaign worlds just as AD&D does (Metamorphosis Alpha, XXVc, super hero, cyber-world and with AD&D a Shadowrun clone). Instead TSR has left it to whither just to add another world book to their "latest craze". Look for this one when it goes on sale, TSR was already unloading them at GenCon'95 at 75% off. At that price, its worth the background material. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 3 (Average)