Reviewed by me
Right then... our first FF Review is of book number 40, Dead of Night. This was
sub-author Stephen Hand's first attempt at an FF (with Jim Bambra) and is really quite
good indeed.
The book is set in a remote country area of Gallantaria near some small villages. The
player is a Demon Stalker and his biggest rival, the demon prince Myurr, has kidnapped
his parents. The said demon is also massing an army in the northern hills and
attempting to wipe out the local populace with several things beforehand.
The writing is excellent and so are the illustrations. The cover pic is rivalled only
by that of Slaves of the Abyss in my opinion. Hand & Bambra's traps are quite subtle -
I remember getting poisoned when I tried to sneak through Myurr's Land Blight (a huge
chemical weapons factory of sorts) through a pipe. I didn't expect that at all! Another
time I failed to take some people's warnings seriously and ended up with this
absolutely delicious description of my fate:
Death by Demon-Plague is one of the most painful demises known to mankind, but it
is also mercifully swift.
So when you finally complete this FF, which is one of my favourites, you will deserve a
good drink.
MY RATING - 8.8/10
1/12/2000
Reviewed by me
Today's FF Review is Citadel of Chaos. This is an absolute cracker. The creation of
Steve Jackson alone, it introduces a nifty magic system, a deliciously nasty major
villain and several quite fun surprises. I mean, who expects to see a low-tech version
of Russian Roulette played in an FF book? Or getting hit by a rotten tomato?
The first thing about this book is the cover. The edition of the book I have boasts a
brilliant cover involving this castle on top of a rock with hordes of beasts coming
out. In the foreground is a black lion in mid-roar. The internal illustrations are
pretty tasty too, being the handiwork of Russ Nicolson, my favourite illustrator.
But the best bit of this one is the villain. Balthus Dire is just so down-to-earth. He
struts around like he owns the place (well, actually he does own the place) and comes
up with some excellent lines. And his slimyness is second to none. If you accept his
offer of alliance with him, "he truly is your master now" says the
text.
So to summarize - Find it, buy it, play it, beat it, come back to it. And in the words
of the immortal Balthus Dire:
Impudent peasant!
MY RATING - 8.8/10
8/12/2000
Reviewed by me
This FF book is one from what I refer to as the "middle" books. These books were often
very cautious experiments with different sub-authors and this product of the
unfortunately named Luke Sharp (does he have a friend called Neil Down?). Given that Mr
Sharp's last attempt (#27, Star Strider) was one of the many unsuccessful sci-fi FF
books, we can only hope that Chasms does better.
The plot is rather contrived but mostly sound. The player, at the start, is a lowly
assistant in the underkitchens. Specifically, third assistant rabbit skinner, a job I
cannot and do not want to imagine doing. But anyway, it turns out that you are the only
surviving descendant of Tancred the Magnificent, and who is given this magic sword and
Tabasha the Bazouk (a cat, of all things!) and told to kill off Tancred's evil brother
Orghuz (compare this with the example of Brotherly Love shown in FF 56). In addition,
the hero must also recover the True Shield, which protects the entire kingdom from the
ravages of his seven Khuddamm, all of whom have brilliant names. And yes, all of these
objectives are of "A" priority. Why did they have to design this quest by committee?
Now while this plot may have several little flaws in it, this is not the time or place
to bitch about it. This is the time and place, however, to bitch about flaws in the
actual gameplay. For a start there is the flawed One-Strike Combat. Here follows a
quote from the rules section pertaining to this:
The procedure [for One-Strike Combat] is as follows:
1. Throw two dice for your opponent.
If your throw is greater than your opponent's, he, she or it has been knocked off by
your blow and has plummeted to doom. If your throw is lower, you suffer a similar
fate.
17, 20, 28, 29, 40, 44, 70, 80, 83, 87, 90, 93, 115, 117, 118, 120, 121, 132, 141, 153,
160, 162, 165, 167, 170, 171, 186, 190, 192, 197, 206, 210, 214, 237, 241, 254, 261,
269, 275, 286, 311, 315, 316, 321, 325, 333, 364, 374, 394 and 395.
This does not include the many "Turn to..." references which send the player directly
to an Instant Death Section. A good FF should have a few Instant Deaths but 50 is
overdoing it rather!
So to sum up - a fair attempt, but not as good as some of the others. Don't go out of
your way to get it.
MY RATING - 6.3/10
15/12/2000
Reviewed by me
Now before you run screaming, hear me out - Robot Commando, although a sci-fi FF, is
one of the better sci-fis. And these better sci-fis are a minority. I mean, take Space
Assassin or Sky Lord. Both of these sci-fi offerings are bloody terrible and I am not a
fan of either (However, some of the high-fantasy FFs are pretty dire too. Just check
out The Crimson Tide or Magehunter).
The plot involves two countries - Thalos (that's your lot) and the Karosseans (the
enemy's lot) and these countries are suddenly plunged into a state of war when millions
of sleeping pills are burst over the entire nation. And guess who the only one who's
immune is? Yup, it's you, isn't it?
So you get to roam around Thalos' cities and forts in robotic war machines which range
from tanks and jet planes to complicated walking machines that can sprout wings. And at
some point you get to commandeer a wide range of these.
The first good point about this book is the author (Steve Jackson, and no, it's not the
same Steve Jackson who penned Citadel of Chaos!) had a wonderful
imagination regarding robotic foes. Check out the Crusher, a fifty foot high walking
machine that tramples things underfoot, the Snakebot, a snakelike robot that slithers
around tree trunks and branches in the jungle, and the Hedgehog, which is covered in
"anti aircraft spines".
The second good point is the variety of endings. Three, to be precise. I won't tell you
what they are though!
However, when there's an up, there's got to be a down, and there are quite a few downs.
Firstly, there is a statement in the rules which says that if your robot is destroyed
you are by no means dead. Yet nine times out of ten you often are dead if your robot is
blown up. Secondly, although rules are given for hand-to-hand fights they are very
rarely used. And thirdly, the big villain, Minos the Karossean dictator, is rather
two-dimensional.
So, in all, a better-than-average attempt at making the FF concept work with sci-fi.
MY RATING - 7.5/10
22/12/2000
Reviewed by me
And now, ladies and gentlemen, we have Fighting Fantasy number 48, Moonrunner. The
creation of Stephen Hand, one of the most controversial authors in FF, this is written
in his distinctive gothic style, rather like a Hammer Horror Film, so he says.
The plot is pretty good - after a MAJOR war in the Old World the dictators of Brice
have all been brought to justice. All, that is, except one. Karam Gruul, the Inquisitor
General, otherwise known as the "Hand of Death" was pretty much the most evil of the
lot, and it's up to the player to hunt him down and capture him. He is somewhere in the
area, but nobody knows where...
Good points include the subtleness of Hand's traps - check out the razor blade trap.
This involves the player falling down a pit which is rapidly filling with water.
Luckily there is a convenient beam he can climb out with. However, this beam is
literally TOO convenient as along the top of it is a razor-sharp serrated blade. And
when the player attempts to use this beam it's bye-bye to three of your fingers.
Ouch!
Then there are the Wards of Notura. These are crucial, yet I have a small gripe about
them - the most important, the Skull of Mora Tao, is very easy to get as long as you
don't trust the gravediggers, Kilmarney and Hogg, one inch. Yet a less important one,
the Mask of Belthegor, is almost impossible to lay your hands on! Thankfully you don't
need all six.
Another gripe is an oddity which occurs in a lot of FF books, and that is the fact that
it doesn't end on Paragraph 400. It does infact end on Paragraph 99, yet there are the
regulation 400 paragraphs. I do not like this practice of "ending in the middle" one
little bit - it is illogical and infuriating.
But overall, Moonrunner comes in the top echelons of FF in my opinion. Just don't waste
petrol going up to Aberdeen or wherever to grab a copy 'cos you want it so badly,
ok?
MY RATING - 8.5/10
Reviewed by me
In the run up to Christmas we come to FF 35, Daggers of Darkness. The product of Luke
Sharp, a fair author, if rather unfortunately endowed in the names department, this
book takes place in the kingdom of Kazan, a rather Mongolian-type place in Khul. Kazan
just so happens to be a neighbour of Gorak, the setting for Chasms of Malice, and
involve the Grand Wizard Astragal, also from Chasms of Malice.
Well, first impressions? The plot was nothing special but I appreciated the idea of
Poison Units to be marked off on your adventure sheet. And I assumed that Kazan was
meant to be rather Mongolian in feel, what with names like Kazilik, Segrek, Korkut etc.
Then I noticed the fact that the player had only 24 poison units to go through and
within five paragraphs I had already marked off 4 of them! Gulp! Then two paragraphs
later I had marked off 6! I begin to get frustrated here.
On the writing front, I give it one and a half thumbs up. Sharp, as ever, makes a
little bit too much use of capitalisation, but there's nothing too confusing here.
However, I did notice that the poison units are marked off for each enemy you fight,
which means that 24 fights later is start-again-with-fresh-dice-rolls-time! Actually
no, make that 22 because two poison units are marked off before you even get a chance
at making any choices.
So, like Sharp's previous attempt, it's a good idea, but due to his trigger-happy
poison tracking, it suffers from mediocrity. Don't go out of your way to get at it.
MY RATING - 6.3/10
Reviewed by me
This FF book was the first FF I ever read and it absolutely captivated me. It may not
have any special rules, with the exception of Livingstone's player choice - you can be
any one of the four heroes of the Zagor Chronicles, except Jallarial who is replaced by
Sallazar.
As a sequel to The Warlock of Firetop Mountain and Return to Firetop
Mountain, Legend of Zagor is the third in the epic series which involves "the
evil that will not die!". Except it's different this time, as Zagor has left
Titan and been banished to the world of Amarillia. And you, as one of the four motley
crew that were the stars of the Zagor Chronicles, have to get rid of Zagor who is holed
out in Castle Argent, the other end of Amarillia.
Once inside Castle Argent the untrained eye will see it as a standard hack-and-slash
dungeon adventure. Dungeon Crawl? Yes. Standard? No. Before you get to actually meet
Zagor face to face, you must first find the Dragon Bone Keys. Also it is necessary to
capture Special Treasures - which will lower Zagor's stats - from the various rooms of
the castle. In addition, having your character's special weapon helps. These special
weapons are taken from various very powerful creatures within the dungeons of the
castle, e.g. Braxus the Warrior would have to fight the Black Knight to get his special
weapon.
When you do reach the tower, as I did on attempt #1, you come face-to-face with a
Dragon. Specifically, a SKILL 15 STAMINA 20 dragon, and there's no way round it! When
you DO beat the dragon, you finally encounter Zagor. And he's not a human any more but
a Demon. And even when you DO beat him, it's still not over as you've got to dispose of
his body. I won't say how, but if you've got a low STAMINA score you'll not be turning
to paragraph 400 here!
Well, to sum up... I couldn't say the book was absolutely flawless. The only gripe I
myself have with it is the stats of the enemies. Repeatedly you come up against strong
monsters, especially towards the end of the adventure, and unless you fudge the dice
rolls like what I did, you have very little chance of beating Zagor, even if you are
loaded down with Golden Talismans and Silver Daggers.
This book is very rare indeed. I have not seen it sold in any second-hand bookshops,
but if you see it, GET IT! If you are really desperate, buy from an online auction like
eBay or QXL.
MY RATING - 9.6/10
Reviewed by me
And now we arrive at The Keep of the Lich-Lord. This one is nothing new on the rules
department, unless you count Resolve, which is a measure of how hard it is to scare you
witless.
The plot is solid - a certain Lord Mortis has risen from the dead and taken over the
fleets of Chaos Pirates who've raided and holed out in Bloodrise Keep. And it's your
job to finish them off by killing the big cheese, Lord Mortis.
Now this book has been highly criticised for being "too easy". I don't agree at all.
While it is theoretically possible to find and beat Mortis very quickly, it is very
difficult to do so unless you take some of the many detours available. The cemetery, in
which you must find the body of the Lady Lotmora, Mortis's vampiress wife, is worth the
price of admission in itself, and getting the Spear of Qadarnai can make killing Mortis
a whole lot easier.
Therefore, in my opinion, this, while not classic FF, is a very solid read and is good
if you, like me, appreciate the later, more original in terms of plot and atmosphere,
books in the series.
MY RATING - 7.7/10
10/1/2001
Reviewed by me
The year is 2022 AD. Life has proceeded as it has for years, then, next thing, a
virulent and lethal plague has spread halfway across the world, killing millions.
Survivors like you either live in fortified townships or outside as outlaws. Cars, just
to be on the safe side, are all equipped with guns and rockets and things to protect
against the outlaws etc.
So runs the plot to this post-apocalyptic offering from Ian Livingstone. One of only
two books set on earth, this is better than the average non-Titan FF by a long
chalk.
Well, firstly, the rules are somewhat different. STAMINA is now "roll 2 dice and add
24" rather than "roll 2 dice and add 12". Cars have a "Weapon Power" and a "Armour"
score for vehicle combat. And, of course, is the standard-issue revolver so beloved of
post-apocalypse stories.
Now at this point you may indeed draw similarities to the film Mad Max II.
Never having seen the aforementioned picture I wouldn't know, but I'm told it. Anyway,
you in your Dodge Interceptor - armed with a machine gun, a rocket launcher, oil cans
and tyre-puncturing spikes - have to get to the town of San Anglo from yours of New
Hope, crossing the wilderness with its quotient of Hell's Angel gangs, robbers who pose
as garage owners, boy racers in red Chevrolets, and other such (I half expected to run
into a '58 Plymouth Fury, a la Christine).
Once at New Hope it's time to drive the tanker with 10,000 gallons of petrol in it back
to New Hope, which is curiously shorter than going to San Anglo. And if you do, voila!
Mission successful.
Fun bits - The Blitz Race (bashing the enemy off the track to win a tank of petrol),
the Doom Dogs (a bunch of terrorists led by The Animal), and several others.
Gripes - A laser gun (where'd they get one of those?), the illustrations (rubbish), and
the ending (unsatisfactory).
Sum Up - Good, but room for improvement. One and a quarter thumbs up.
MY RATING - 7.25/10
Reviewed by me
Another Livingstonic FF, this one sends the player rampaging round a desert island in
search of the Lizard King who is enslaving people from Oyster Bay and making them work
in the salt mines on Fire Island.
Well the book in itself ain't bad at all. The writing is impeccable as it usually is
with Livingstone. Illustrations are good ones by Iain McCaig, in my opinion one of the
best illustrators. The writing and pictures are superb.
Now the best parts of this book is its atmosphere. Livingstone gives off a feeling of
desolation on the isle and also one of its virgin state. Well, up until you decimate
the local tribe of natives he does.
Standard rules here, no new devices as such. You do have to collect various items from
the isle before meeting the Lizard King though. And towards the end of the book there
are several high-SKILL enemies which, although not a match for you if you've high stats
yourself, can prove nasty in clumps.
However, I do have a big gripe with it - upon starting this book within an hour and a
half I had finished it with a successful ending. Too easy! Being able to complete and
FF on Try #1 is not a good sign.
However, overall, I.O.T.L.K. is one of the better FFs but not in the same league as
some others, i.e. Legend of Zagor, Moonrunner.
MY RATING - 8.0/10
Reviewed by me
And now, over in distant Khul, strange prehistoric creatures have been marauding over
Khul from an unknown origin in the mountains. Upon where some rather too greedy gold
miners set them free via the Portal of Evil.
And it's up to you to stop 'em. But this means going through the Portal. No shocks
there then.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is the plot to the somewhat mediocre FF 37 by Peter
Darvill-Evans. The rules are fairly straightforward, nothing new there. The writing
style is, on the whole, sound, but the illustrations suck big-time in comparison to
those of Russ Nicolson or Martin McKenna. Sorry, Alan Langford, I don't think you're in
the same league as them.
Fun parts - A very interesting competition involving duelling two opponents. While
suspended over a river by one ankle. Crazy! And the atmosphere is very good.
However, I have many gripes - once you beat Horfak the big cheese on the other side of
the portal, unless you leave a sack of Igneolite (gunpowder - where'd they get that in
Khul?) by the Portal, you will lose; the sheer stupidity of the ending - who on earth
could refuse their weight in gold? Not me for one; and finally some of the dinosaurs on
the other side I'd never heard of - Erasmosaurus, anyone?
So if it weren't for these, I'd give it a healthy 7.4. But for now, it has to do
with
MY RATING - 5.7/10
Reviewed by Jonathan Hughson
Black Vein Prophecy ranks amongst my least favourite books in the series. The cover
isn't exactly awe-inspiring and when start reading you realise that there is no
Background section to read. This is apparently "an adventure shrouded in darkness", so
you start knowing nothing. The first paragraph is interesting to say the least.. The
authors just had to go one better than Creature of Havoc, so you awake not knowing who
you are and in your own tomb. Hmmm... The adventure itself isn't too bad once you get
going and realise your identity, but the the deliberate lack of information at the
start works against the book rather than making it more interesting. Creature of Havoc
had a really good background that described the region around Trolltooth Pass etc.
without telling the reader anything about the charcter they played. I think that BVP
should have done this also, as since there are no other FFs set in the Isles of the
Dawn except for BVP's follow-up FF#49 (correct me if I'm wrong), so the average FF fan
will know very little about the region.
BVP is in set in the Isles of the Dawn, which I have to admit aren't my favourite
location in Titan. The authors seemed to have decided to give everyone and everything
odd sounding names to fit in with the setting. Many of the events and situations in the
book are confusing -check out paragraph 366 for some weird options. The sequence after
the battle is a bit too surreal and it took me a few attempts to work out what the hell
was going on.
My major problem with this book is from the battle onwards. The difficulty raises
unfairly, with pretty much every section having an instant death option that you can
only avoid using a trial and error process rather than through your own skill. The
magical battle with Feior is completely unbalanced, with each paragraph having 4 or so
spells to choose from. The spells are called odd names instead of "Fireball" or
whatever, and a wrong decision results in instant death. Great fun...
Black Vein Prophecy has some good writing and a decent plotline but is let down by
confusing paragraphs and options. Using the "waking up not knowing who you are" trick
draws inevitable comparisons with Creature of Havoc, which is an infinitely better FF
adventure.
HIS RATING - 4.0/10
Reviewed by me
Ian Livingstone sure churned out some classic FF, and Trial of Champions is no
exception. Whereas the prequel, Deathtrap Dungeon was a very solid FF,
Trial simply knocks your socks off. And your trousers for that matter.
This time, instead of diving headlong into Sukumvit's dungeon voluntarity, you are
captured by his evil brother, Lord Carnuss, and made to battle it out in his
gladiatorial arena, Spartacus-style. The winner gets the questionable honour of going
into Deathtrap Dungeon on Lord Carnuss' behalf. And when you get out the other side of
DTD, you still have to beat Carnuss in combat. Not an attractive proposition.
The writing is brilliant. And the illustrations aren't too bad either. Failing a test
in Carnuss' arena is rewarded with a brief and "just another grave to dig" mentality
execution. The dungeon encounters reminisce of the original DTD. And some of the traps
are so subtle you don't notice them till it's too late - viz: Ropecutter Trap.
In the gripe department, I've very little. The only real gripe is the, in my opinion,
wrong choice of illustrator. Brian Williams is good, but I would have chose Russ
Nicolson or Martin McKenna instead. Other than that, this book is almost flawless.
MY RATING - 9.1/10
Reviewed by me
Never in my FF-playing had I ever encountered one so thoroughly repugnant as The
Crimson Tide. That was the first thought that entered my head upon flicking
through this Paul Mason offering for the first time.
New rules abound here - you, the character, are aged only thirteen at the beginning of
this adventure and as a result you have rather warped character rolling-up. Subtracting
1 or 2 or 3 points from SKILL and 4 or 6 from STAMINA would be understandable, but this
is ridiculous:
"Roll one die and enter this total in the SKILL box on the Adventure Sheet."
"Roll one die and enter this total in the STAMINA box."
"GIANT MUDWORM - SKILL 12 STAMINA 6"
And as we play on, more gripes abound. Paul Mason loves Instant Death Paragraphs, and
it doesn't half show. Take the bit near the end. Unless you have a wooden plaque when
trying to see the king, it's "Your Adventure Ends Here". So what if you do? Well, you
must also have a red robe or it's "Your Adventure Ends Here". So what? Unless you know
a vital bit of information, the king sends the second-in-command with you down some
side passage. And guess what? He throws you in a pit - it's "Your Adventure Ends Here"
time! What a drag.
The writing style is okay, but the difficulty is stupidly high. The illustations aren't
too bad though. I suppose it's more for the true FF masochist, which I'm not, but I do
like a challenge. However, this book is hideously unbalanced if you ask me - i.e. SKILL
1 etc, and constant dying-a-thousand-deaths.
So, unless you enjoy being stabbed, enslaved, thrown into a pit or suchlike, avoid this
book. It is only for the true FF masochist and so should be reviewed by such a person
rather than I.
MY RATING - 2.75/10
Reviewed by me
Classic FF, this... It's not often I say that about a book but this deserves it.
Written my Ian Livingstone, the almost undisputed master of the gamebook genre (but
Jackson and Hand come close) - and this is truly his masterpiece.
The plot it nothing special, nor are there any new rules, but the sheer simplicity but
difficulty of the book makes it so good. The premise is that, built by the villainous
Baron Sukumvit to make his town look notorious, you have volunteered for "The Walk" -
that is, a deadly dungeon with a prize of 10,000 GPs to the person who can make it
through alive. Sort of like an old-time Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
except more lethal.
Well, now to the meat-and-potatoes part. The book itself is excellently written and
Iain McCaig's illustrations go really well with the book's atmosphere. Two thumbs up
there! There are usual devices - puzzles every so often to eliminate another
contestant. You can make friends with a fellow competitor, only have to murder them
when you next meet a "Trialmaster". This is great.
On the gripes front, I only have one, and that is the ending. The ending is a little
unsatisfactory in my opinion. Fifteen lines only constitute a mediocre end paragraph.
This is a similar symptom to that displayed in Citadel of Chaos, The
Warlock of Firetop Mountain and Forest of Doom. But apart from
that, the book rocks. Get a copy of it and play through it. Do that now. Then you'll
see how great this one is.
MY RATING - 9.6/10
Reviewed by me
Space Assassin, by Andrew Chapman, is one of the most repugnant FF books in the series.
It is a sci-fi adventure, and while I don't mind about that the sci-fi FFs tend to not
be as good as the standard high fantasy ones.
Now the plot is good, if a little standard sci-fi like - a mad scientist who goes by
the name of Cyrus has created a deadly plague which he intends to drop onto your
planet. And your job is to infiltrate his orbiting space station. This gives cause for
a sci-fi Deathtrap Dungeon adventure. Problem is, it's just not as good as
the standard DTD.
Here's why - there's some very good ideas, namely the different grades of guns and
things you can have, the variety of alien races that abound and the encounters -
portable robotic pillboxes armed with machine-guns, anyone?
However, gripes abound - the simplicity of it all for one. It is far too easy to beat
this adventure - all you need is a large SKILL score and a big gun. There is a dearth
of puzzles or information you have to find out. And worst of all, the ending is a mere
THREE LINES. Not satisfactory at all.
So, unless you need it, don't get it. If you see it, get it if you want, but I wouldn't
myself.
MY RATING - 3.9/10
Reviewed by me
This was the last of the sci-fi FF books and probably one of my least favourite FFs. It
was written by Martin Allen who (quite sensibly) was not permitted to touch FF again
with a ten-foot bargepole. Who wouldn't prohibit him from writing FF after this
performance?
The storyline redefines "scraping the barrel" - you, a four-armed galactic warrior who
goes by the name of Sky Lord Jang Mistral, have been assigned a mission to penetrate
the fortress of the evil geneticist L'Bastin before he can flood the galaxy with his
dog-headed, merciless mutants. And as a side note, bump off L'Bastin and his Prefectas
(what a name!). And all these objectives are top priority - no surprises there!
This isn't to say that the book is poorly written. The plot may be a total stretcher,
but there are some good bits. The spaceship combat rules are a good idea, but poorly
executed in my opinion. And there is an ingenious twist at the end, a twist that I will
not tell you here!
The illustrations are a bit dodgy, but fairly sound. However, my biggest gripe about
this book is its ease. The last enemy is pathetic, and no puzzles or vital bits of info
are needed to win. Hmph!
So, overall, mediocre, and worthy of no special merit for anything at all - bad or
good. No wonder nobody reviewed it on FF.com
MY RATING - 5.5/10
Reviewed by me
This late FF written by Keith Martin is the subject of hot debate about its quality.
You either like it or hate it. I like it. And I've good reason to.
The plot is very sound - a group of wizards who protect the simple fisherfolk of the
Strait of Knives from the dangers of the elements have disappeared without trace. You
and a group of others are sent to investigate. However, your ship is wrecked in a storm
and you are washed up on the beach with only the clothes you stood up in. And the
action keeps on coming, as Keith Martin has you fighting one of your fellow sailors -
who has become undead - in Paragraph 1. You then must explore this place and
(hopefully) beat the evil spirit who killed off the wizards.
This adventure is not easy, oh no. For a start the island is not only filled with the
undead and evil critters, but you must also face the natural hazards of this lump of
rock off south-east Allansia. This includes some common sense - you don't climb the
rigging of a shipwreck during a storm for one!
There are no specially noteworthy scenes, but the atmosphere of the book makes up for
this in spades. The illustrations by Russ Nicolson also give it that bit of extra
atmosphere which.
However, on the gripes department, I have a few - firstly the fact that, in some
places, the book is TOO hard. And sometimes the atmosphere gets simply too much for me,
and I start to want some good, solid undead-hacking.
But overall, not a bad FF. I think it could be improved in some areas though.
MY RATING - 7.3/10
Reviewed by me
"Are you ready for the most unusual Fighting Fantasy adventure yet?" reads
the back of this product of Steve Jackson (the one who wrote Citadel of
Chaos, not the one who did the execrable Scorpion Swamp!). And not
only is it the most unusual, but widely regarded as THE best FF adventure. And while I
don't agree ENTIRELY with this (my favourite FF book is number 54, Legend of
Zagor) it is still an extremely good FF.
The plot is great - you don't know where you are, who you arem or even what you are.
All you get given for the Background section of the adventure is a long, very
entertaining, seemingly irrelevant story. This is great.
While this adventure has come under fire for being too hard, it is this difficulty that
is necessary to convey the feel of the adventure. There are some very good bits, and
there are some downright devious bits - I remember one sequence where you get stuck in
a cycle of battles that go on endlessly... And the coded speech is interesting too.
Pntih fgrijpf efrp nt, thf irfjsvfuryl jtatlf, SORRY! My mistake. Coded speech,
COH-style!
On the gripes front, there is very little to say apart from the HORRENDOUS difficulty
of it. But this dificulty, while not irritating like in The Crimson Tide,
makes you want to come back and keep plugging away at it. Mapmaking is all but
essential. However, one very serious gripe is near the beginning - it seems that if you
get a wrong dice roll you won't be turning to paragraph 460 in a hurry. 460? Yes, 15%
extra paragraphs with this one! And for the same price! Great!
So, find it, buy it, and finish it (on attempt 58 or there about).
MY RATING - 9.6/10
And now, it's time for this offering by Keith P. Phillips. It's not the best FF going,
but it's okay I suppose.
The plot is fairly straightforward - the city of Sardath, in the depths of the Forest
of Night, has not been heard from in weeks. SOMETHING in the forest is attacking it.
Your job is to find out what and stop it if you are able.
This FF book is one tough beast. The enemies aren't particularly high powered, but some
of the puzzles are SERIOUSLY nasty. Take the optical illusion maze. There is an
illustration on one of the pages, but several parts are blocked off by doorways so you
can't see them. Each door leads to another. This is bad.
The other nasty puzzle is the potion mixer. You have to find components with numbers on
and slot them into the mixer to make another potion. Of the possible combinations, at
least two are useless, one is okay, and one is absolutely fatal. That's also bad.
The book does have its good points though - the originality of some puzzles is one, as
is the intricacy. Also it's well written and illustrated. Why Keith Phillips was never
allowed near FF again beats me.
However, it does have some gripes. One of these being the near-impossibility of beating
Le Saucriere the big cheese villain. Poor conversationalists should stay clear of this
one. And the other is the unfairness of at least two parts - getting shot down over
Tiranduil Kelthas, and falling down a 300ft pit after braving dangerous fungi.
So in all, a fair offering.
MY RATING - 7.75/10
Reviewed by me
This is probably the most cringeworthy FF Book of the lot. It is set in a city on
(modern) Earth called Titan City. This is a weird crossbreed of London and New York.
And you, Jean Lafayette, humble office worker by day, moonlight as the Silver Crusader,
with super-powers. In fact you're a kind of hybrid James Bond and Superman. You have a
neat little device called the Crimewatch, which is like a pager in a watch, and a
contact called Gerry the Grass (honest!) who informs on the criminals.
Now, a bunch of terrorists called the F.E.A.R are planning to take over the US Star
Wars SDI satellite and use it to eradicate all the major cities and hold the world to
ransom, blah-di-blah-di-blah, and only you can stop them. What a surprise.
The interesting thing about this book is its, well, twistedness of names. You can visit
a theme park called "Wisnayland", inspect the high-security prison "Woodworm Scrubs",
visit a musical called "Rats" by Lloyd Webber-Andrews, and even buy a copy of FF1 at a
bookshop. Oh, Steve Jackson, you are a cracker.
One of my likings about this book is its inventive scoring system, or "Hero Points". As
well as infiltrating the F.E.A.R meeting to root out the big cheese, you also get
points for being heroic and beating little criminals. But don't waste too much time or
you'll not have found out all the clues to the locations of the F.E.A.R meeting and
thus will lose.
However, a big gripe with this FF is the fact that it is, well, too much like a
novelisation of a bad comic book. It also lacks a certain je ne sais quoi and
doesn't really fit in with other FFs.
So, to sum up, a mixed bag really. Likeable but cringeworthy.
MY RATING - 7.4/10
Reviewed by me
Ahhh... the unbounded joys of being an intergalactic narcotics investigator are brought
home in this little package. Your job is to stop the flow of the illicit narcotic
Satophil-d from Kether to the rest of the universe. And, given that Kether is "a
wild and lawless planet", you've got your work cut out.
Landing at the planet's only city you begin your mission. And everything seems to be
going as normal. That's until you run into "Blaster" Babbet and Zera Gross,
Import/Export Inc. And you smell something ever-so-slightly fishy here.
Further investigations take you to the asteroid belt where you run into a very strange
monastery which yields no clues. Then it's into orbit where one can do a spot of phone
tapping like any true spy would. And from there, out to the tropics... And so it goes
on.
Now one major gripe with this book is the character names. "Blaster" Babbet is okay, as
is Zera Gross (which she is) but Clive Torus... cringe city! And don't get me started
on the policeman who calls you "Mr Zero" instead of the traditional British policeman's
"Sonny Jim"!
There are two possible endings to this book, and another gripe is the fact that one
ending is a cracker, but the other is LIMP! Guess which one I finished with.
So, in all - not bad.
MY RATING - 7.6/10
Reviewed by me
The first, and arguably, best of the FFs set on Earth, either past, present or
future.
House of Hell is a non-stop fun fest from start till finish. While the plot isn't
exactly original - your car breaks down in an abandoned country lane and just by
coincidence there's a large creaky mansion nearby. But good writing and innovative
elements more than make up for this.
The house is owned by Lord Kelnor, the Earl of Drumer. And as you go on, you find out
that there is a sect of Satan worshippers in the house (!!!!). And, some ghost tells
you you must defeat them before you can truly escape. That ain't good.
One of the best new concepts is the "Rapid-Fire Word Game". What happens is, you are
given a letter and must write out the first word relating to the house that comes into
your head that begins with that letter. If you hesitate, you lose a STAMINA point. Then
you add your score up according to the importance of your selected words. If you get
enough points, voila, but if not, it's cage time...
But one gripe I have with the book is its difficulty. It took me an awful lot of tries
to complete it, far more than I would normally expect - and I got frustrated rather.
So, to sum up - Great book but marred by its difficulty.
MY RATING - 8.3/10
Reviewed by me
Never volunteer for anything in the army. Never. Not once. Problem is, you already have
and it's too late to go back now. Furthermore, you've volunteered to go on a highly
secret mission, which should be avoided like the plague.
The mission is to reignite the six stone sentinels which guard the kingdom of Zamarra
which is under attack from the Ostragoth/Jaxartes alliance. And the way to do this is
to plungs the Torch which controls them into the heart of the Fangs of Fury volcano.
Furthermore, you must do this quickly because of the Bracelet which has been attached
to you, and will kill you automatically once the 14 walls of the citadel have been
breached.
For once, the "race against time" concept coined by Luke Sharp actually works! While
you can get to the end with time to spare, more often than not you will be killed by
the Bracelet near the end. Thankfully, Luke Sharp here isn't so trigger-happy as he was
in Daggers of Darkness.
Another good feature is the stick-man code, however it is marred by its great
resemblance to British Semaphore.
However, as always, there are gripes. One of which is the questionability of the plot.
How many volcanoes have fireballs at their cores?! Anyone who took a Geography lesson
knows that volcanoes have magma at their centres and only erupt when the pressure of
magma underneath is great enough to blow their tops off! Another gripe is the ending.
Too "potted", if you ask me. By that I mean it's too concise and abrupt. Maybe Luke was
tired. Oh - and the book is too easy! When you realise that the cyphers are basically
British Semaphore and you clock up the huge numbers of ways to win through (no key?
lockpick. no lockpick? bash the door in.), you'll see what I mean.
So to sum up - Nothing special.
MY RATING - 6.4/10
Reviewed by me
Quite frankly, this FF book blows.
The difficulty level is stupidly high, the plot is wishy-washy, and Paul Mason manages
to cheat you out of your stats. This wouldn't be such a problem if all the enemies were
equally weakened, but no... this is Paul Mason we're on about!
The premise is that the player follows the evil mage Mencius across the planar rift
from some world to Kallamehr in Allansia. Once there, the player must hunt him down and
destroy him. This is easier said than done. There may well be lots to do in this book,
but often a crucial item can be missed and you don't know about it whatsoever. This is
just harsh.
Why in the name of the sacred fishfart there is this "Treatise of Mage Hunting" which
contravenes all we know about FF I'll never know.
To sum up, this book blows. Avoid it if you value your sanity!
MY RATING - 4.4/10
Reviewed by me
The first of the FF Books to feature the ubiquitous Caarth, Temple of Terror is a
sort-of-sequel to #3, Forest of Doom. By Ian Livingstone, it is positively
glowing.
The premise is that Yaztromo (whom "robsterman" allegedly craps turds tougher than) has
sent you on a daring and deadly quest to recover the Five Lost Dragon Artefacts of
Vatos and prevent the evil sorcerer Malbordus from taking over Titan. Problem is, Vatos
just happens to be run over with Malbordus's agents, and the Caarth (evil humans with
the heads of snakes) and Justrali (sort of like the Yuan-Ti from Icewind
Dale - and it's pronounced YHAN-TEE not EWAN T, Alex Betteridge!).
I especially like some of the devices - i.e. the Messenger of Death. This being taps
you on the shoulder and whispers melodramatically, "Death!", and walks off. From then
on, if you see any of the letters in the word, you take STAMINA damage, and if you see
all of them, the Messenger suddenly reappears and watches as you slowly and agonizingly
have the lifeforce sucked out you... Whoever thought that up deserves a pat on the
back!
However, one gripe I have with the book is that it's, well, a bit of a let-down.
Malbordus is a highly powerful and utterlyl evil-minded sorceror, so why does he resort
to hand-to-hand combat rather than slapping you with a Disintegrate Spell? And why
doesn't he have any fun lines like Balthus Dire's "Impudent Peasant"?!
But overall, not too shoddy.
MY RATING - 8.25/10
Reviewed by me
It is fully expected that somebody who is a connoisseur of Stephen King's Dark Tower series and has a link to www.thedarktower.net on their website should like this one.
The premise is that you, the player, have been entrusted with The Aleph, a mystical orb that is infact the entirety of creation, yet at the same time a part of creation. Your mission is to prevent this Aleph from falling into the hands of the Spectral Stalkers or the Archmage Globus, who is only prevented from ruling the whole of existence by not having the Aleph. In short, it puts you in the same sort of position as was put Frodo in The Lord of the Rings and with the Spectral Stalkers being the nine Nazgūl. Get my drift?
Well... the adventure itself is very, very, imaginative, almost to the point of derangedness. The diversity of the worlds you can visit is astounding, including a futuristic museum, a chessboard, The Library of Limbo (rather like the Restaurant at the End of the Universe from The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy), a secret tribal garden in which you happen to appear as their Champion, and many other disturbing and deranged places. I especially liked the Logic Dog... see for yourself.
Another interesting feature is the Trail Score. This increases as you flit between the planes and every so often you must roll dice against it to avoid being caught by the Stalkers. However, this is where the first defect arises. If you are caught, you are not killed. You are not put in a prison or anything else remotely bad. You are taken to the Archmage Globus. Specifically, near the end of the book. And you can win from here. That's no way to write FF.
Another problem which arises is also related to the Trail Score. It's not increased very much, or at least it doesn't seem to be. That's also no way to write FF.
While I don't agree with Robert LaVallie's review of this one entirely, I must admit that it is a very good idea that falls apart rather in the execution. In all, I'd say that if it was better done, it could easily score 8.6 or 8.7. As it is, it has to make do with...
MY RATING - 7.3/10
Reviewed by me
Hmm, an undersea adventure. Interesting.
The premise is, you and your valiant little merchant vessel are raided by pirates, specifically, the dreaded Troll ship which is captained by the imaginatively named Captain Bloodaxe, and made to walk the plank. Still armed, of course. (You would have thought that an evil nautical maniac would have taken all your belongings before shoving you overboard?) But, for some reason, you find yourself able to breathe with gills (?). Coincidentally, you fell right onto the ruined city of Atlantis. Hmm.
By this point (3 paragraphs in, or thereabouts), I was thinking things along the lines of, "This is convenient."
A short while later down in the same paragraph, the book mentions the "Black Pearls" which can give one one's best chance for survival. I am now thinking that this is VERY convenient.
Yes, the plot might be convenient and contrived beyond belief, but it's still an enjoyable undersea romp. That being said, there are many random undersea creatures. Batfish. Ballfish. Borerfish. Swordfish. Axefish. Badgerfish (probably). Dopefish (ok, I'm making this up, but I'm sure it crossed the author's mind). And - get this - Cyrano the Swordfish (obviously The Other Steve Jackson was a Gerard Depardieu fan!).
In all, it's not a bad little romp, but... it's a bit silly and contrived at times. And the bony thing on the cover has nothing to do with the book.
MY RATING - 6.8
24/11/2000
FF40 - Dead of Night
FF.COM RATING - 9.0/10
FF 2 - The Citadel of Chaos
FF.COM RATING - 8.0/10
FF 30 - Chasms of Malice
2. Throw two dice for yourself.
FF.COM RATING - 6.5/10
FF 22 - Robot Commando
FF.COM RATING - Not reviewed
FF 48 - Moonrunner
FF.COM RATING - 7.0/10
23/12/2000
FF 35 - Daggers of Darkness
FF.COM RATING - Not reviewed
23/12/2000
FF 54 - Legend of Zagor
FF.COM RATING - 9.0/10
5/1/2001
FF 43 - The Keep of the Lich-Lord
FF.COM RATING - 9.5/10
FF 13 - Freeway Fighter
FF.COM RATING - 5.5/10
11/1/2001
FF 7 - Island of the Lizard King
FF.COM RATING - 7.75/10
18/1/2001
FF 37 - Portal of Evil
FF.COM RATING - Not Reviewed
20/1/2001
FF 42 - Black Vein Prophecy
FF.COM RATING - 9.5/10
20/1/2001
FF 21 - Trial of Champions
FF.COM RATING - 8.0/10
23/1/2001
FF 47 - The Crimson Tide
FF.COM RATING - 4.0/10
23/1/2001
FF 6 - Deathtrap Dungeon
FF.COM RATING - 9.5/10
10/2/2001
FF 12 - Space Assassin
FF.COM RATING - 4.25/10
13/2/2001
FF 33 - Sky Lord
FF.COM RATING - Not Reviewed
18/2/2001
FF 51 - Island of the Undead
FF.COM RATING - 7.0/10
21/2/2001
FF 24 - Creature of Havoc
FF.COM RATING - 10/10
19/3/2001
FF 49 - Siege of Sardath
FF.COM RATING - Not Reviewed
10/5/2001
FF 17 - Appointment with F.E.A.R
FF.COM RATING - No idea - I'll have to look.
31/5/2001
FF 15 - The Rings of Kether
FF.COM RATING - 5.5/10
30/6/2001
FF 10 - House of Hell
FF.COM RATING - 8.5/10
7/10/2001
FF 39 - Fangs of Fury
FF.COM RATING - 7.0/10
31/10/2001
FF 57 - Magehunter
FF.COM RATING 4.25/10
12/1/2002
FF 14 - Temple of Terror
FF.COM RATING - 9.5/10
4/5/2002
FF 45 - Spectral Stalkers
FF.COM RATING - 6.95/10
4/6/2003
FF 19 - Demons of the Deep
FF.COM RATING - Just checking...