Righty-ho, time for something a little different. The vast majority of the FF gamebooks were set in the fantasy world, but my favourites were always the less frequent attempts at sci-fi. Reading modern day reviews of the books it's apparent that the sci-fi gamebooks tend to be the least well remembered, but I'm not sure if that is because of the general standard of the books or that most readers, in a book series that sprouted out of the dungeons and dragons style table top games, just prefer the fantasy genre.
So I have a copy of "Freeway Fighter", the 13th in the FF series which if I just say "Mad Max" then I can avoid having to bother to explain the plot. The lady on the cover even looks a bit like Tina Turner.
Just before I get into more awesome role play, a little bit of triva that 15 minutes on the internet earnt me: The car you drive is a Dodge Interceptor, which was actually the name of a concept car released by Dodge in the 80's (however, the pictures in Freeway Fighter make it look more like a Lamborghini Countach in my eyes). Anyway, the interceptor was featured in the 1986 film (a year after the book came out, incidentally) called "The Wraith". I'll quote the headline of an IMDB review to give you a flavour of the film:
"Best movie about a ghost from outter space who drives a race car and takes on a gang of motor thugs in Arizona"
So (a) I'm definitely going to track that film down and (b) I'm going to role play Freeway Fighter as a grumpy ghost from outer space.
It's dice rolling time, with some extra rules to learn for this book:
Skill: 9
Stamina: 28
Luck: 12
Ugh, so low skill and luck, but a lucky sod.
My Interceptor car also has some stats:
Firepower: 8 (max = 12)
Armour: 28 (max = 36)
Basically the car's skill and stamina, and equally crap as the Grumpy Ghost's I'm role playing as. If I'm the best hope this poor village has of bringing some precious fuel supplies back, they're screwed. Serves them right for giving me a crap car. Tempted just to try and drive off into the sunset never to return.
In this book there is hand combat (in which it is possible to get knocked out rather than outright killed), gun battles and vehicle battles, each of which with different sets of rules. Bit of a faff if you ask me.
Just before I don the leather armour and cool pair of shades that driving my future car demand, a quick aside. The kid that had this book before me was a DIRTY STINKING CHEAT. His pencil scrawls reveal that his stamina and luck scores were allowed to exceed their initial values in clear contravention of the rules. Scumbag.
Ok, here we go. A space ghost decides to help some poor town in a post-apocalypse future where society has broken down, yada yada. Let's go kick some arse.
Space ghost is well aware of his lack of fighting prowess and crap car so when he hears a shotgun blast in a remote town he stopped in, it's foot down and get the hell out of there. Maybe playing as a coward will win the day here.
Space ghost tries to chat up some lady he meets at a gas station and is promptly mugged. Give up his car keys within 5 minutes of starting the damn book, or knife fight? Space ghost quite probably cuts himself pulling the knife out of his trousers, but here goes nothing.
It all comes down to the last dice role and space ghost knocks the thug spark out. The girl gets away while space ghost is doing a victory dance at winning he first ever fight on planet Earth. Onwards (after using a medpack)
And immediately into some vehicle combat. Crappit.The interceptor gets a bit beaten up, but space ghost perseveres and continues on.
Space ghost miscalculates and an event he thought would depend on his good luck actually turns out to be based on his rubbish skill. Nevertheless the dice gods are favourable and he escapes in tact.
Space ghost runs out of petrol and that's it.
WHAT THE FECK?!
What a shitty end to the story. You're basically driving around at random then arbitrarily die. That is rubbish.
The story says you can make it back home on foot to start again, so slightly better than dieing I guess, but still annoying so early into the adventure. I think it would be better to hook people in more first. And, if you are going to kill them early on, make it feel less random.
Humph.
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