The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Parties are always a good thing right? I mean, you get snacks, you get to listen to MAX CDs¹, and maybe there's even some gaming to be done. Nevertheless, after reading Apokermis Now!, I'm questioning ever coming within a three mile radius of a party ever again.

Think I take my gaming too seriously? Well...I, um...don't.²

See, it seems that the ancient land of Lonibabia was seriously into parties. They constantly parited. Each party was better than the last one, so eventually they'd gotten bored with your average parties. Eventually, they'd decided to hold the ultimate party (or "kermis", if ya will). As it turns out, the Ultimate Kermis was so big that it left Lonibabia in ruins. Fast forwarding to the present, Lo-Cal City's (if you're still calling it that, lazy) college has just opened a new Lonibabia exhibit.

That wouldn't be so bad, but Lonibabia's coming back. The ghosts plan to make Earth the last great party, and guess where it'll leave the living?

You've probably assumed that it's the Ghostbusters' job to stop their return. Well, it isn't!

Well, okay, it is. Just wanted to see what you'd say.

The Lo-Cal Ghostbusters will, through the course of the adventure, have to figure out quite a lot about this ancient culture. Not surprisingly, the bulk of their time will be spent at the Lo-Cal college. While they try to figure everything out, they'll encounter a shabby troop of Wilderness Kids (scouts, but less organized), an aspiring Ghostbuster who, if all goes well, doesn't make it, the four frog riders of the Apokermis, and a girl through which ancient Lonibabia channels.

It's quite a ride.

Regardless of the humor-packed tradition of the game, Apokermis Now! seems to have the best joke-to-playing-time ratio of any adventure yet; a lot of the jokes are extremely obvious (the frog rider of good times wears a lampshade as his power source) and some are hidden. No one person will catch them all; at least nobody I know.

Even though a lot will have to be figured out about the nature of the enemy in this adventure, it doesn't rule out action. There's an airship battle (which comes about surprisingly early in the adventure), a block party melee and a fight reminiscent of Ghostbusters (the movie, not the game which I'm currently talking about).

The book is still the standard forty pages, but is comes with the first issue of "GBI News", an information source for Ghostbusters everywhere, maps of Lo-Cal College, the block which the players must eventually frequent, and the blimp which appears early on, party invitations and stats on the new GBI "Sky Sleds", which resemble ninteenth-century attempts at flight more than they do high-tech gadgetry. They're still fun to crash, though. The GM is even provided with "Party Bits", which are just that; bits and pieces of fun to scatter around the adventure. The illustrations are fairly nice (what there are of them), and the cover painting is incredibly elaborate; you probably won't miss it.

Okay, so the concept is sort of a stretch, but Apokermis Now! is still lots of fun to run, and, I can only assume, to play. Hey, and it be pretty funny, too, mon...

...I'm just going to shy away from parties for a while.

¹ Well, I do, anyway. If Uwajimaya's going to charge me $33 per CD, I might as well memorize them.

² I stand by my weak argument, by the way, so don't even comment.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Apokermis Now!
Author: Bill Slavicsek and Paul Balsamo Category: game Company/Publisher: West End Line: Ghostbusters/ Ghostbusters Int. Cost: Around five bucks, though mine was $2.50! Page count: 40 ISBN: 0-87431-201-9 SKU: 30032 Capsule Review by Colin Marshall on 01/02/00. Genre tags: Science_fiction Modern_day Horror Comedy	Parties are always a good thing right? I mean, you get snacks, you get to listen to MAX CDs¹, and maybe there's even some gaming to be done. Nevertheless, after reading Apokermis Now!, I'm questioning ever coming within a three mile radius of a party ever again. Think I take my gaming too seriously? Well...I, um...don't.² See, it seems that the ancient land of Lonibabia was seriously into parties. They constantly parited. Each party was better than the last one, so eventually they'd gotten bored with your average parties. Eventually, they'd decided to hold the ultimate party (or "kermis", if ya will). As it turns out, the Ultimate Kermis was so big that it left Lonibabia in ruins. Fast forwarding to the present, Lo-Cal City's (if you're still calling it that, lazy) college has just opened a new Lonibabia exhibit. That wouldn't be so bad, but Lonibabia's coming back. The ghosts plan to make Earth the last great party, and guess where it'll leave the living? You've probably assumed that it's the Ghostbusters' job to stop their return. Well, it isn't! Well, okay, it is. Just wanted to see what you'd say. The Lo-Cal Ghostbusters will, through the course of the adventure, have to figure out quite a lot about this ancient culture. Not surprisingly, the bulk of their time will be spent at the Lo-Cal college. While they try to figure everything out, they'll encounter a shabby troop of Wilderness Kids (scouts, but less organized), an aspiring Ghostbuster who, if all goes well, doesn't make it, the four frog riders of the Apokermis, and a girl through which ancient Lonibabia channels. It's quite a ride. Regardless of the humor-packed tradition of the game, Apokermis Now! seems to have the best joke-to-playing-time ratio of any adventure yet; a lot of the jokes are extremely obvious (the frog rider of good times wears a lampshade as his power source) and some are hidden. No one person will catch them all; at least nobody I know. Even though a lot will have to be figured out about the nature of the enemy in this adventure, it doesn't rule out action. There's an airship battle (which comes about surprisingly early in the adventure), a block party melee and a fight reminiscent of Ghostbusters (the movie, not the game which I'm currently talking about). The book is still the standard forty pages, but is comes with the first issue of "GBI News", an information source for Ghostbusters everywhere, maps of Lo-Cal College, the block which the players must eventually frequent, and the blimp which appears early on, party invitations and stats on the new GBI "Sky Sleds", which resemble ninteenth-century attempts at flight more than they do high-tech gadgetry. They're still fun to crash, though. The GM is even provided with "Party Bits", which are just that; bits and pieces of fun to scatter around the adventure. The illustrations are fairly nice (what there are of them), and the cover painting is incredibly elaborate; you probably won't miss it. Okay, so the concept is sort of a stretch, but Apokermis Now! is still lots of fun to run, and, I can only assume, to play. Hey, and it be pretty funny, too, mon... ...I'm just going to shy away from parties for a while. ¹ Well, I do, anyway. If Uwajimaya's going to charge me $33 per CD, I might as well memorize them. ² I stand by my weak argument, by the way, so don't even comment. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)