RANKINGS
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1. Where the Shadows Stalk - Score = 5.4 Tier = OK
Attempts to beat: 8
Could this book be any more Lovecraftian? I haven't checked yet, but if there are any other reviews of this book online that DON'T mention H.P. Lovecraft Id be stunned because tha'ts how obvious the parallels are. Still, I'm a big fan of Lovecraft so this isn't necessarily a bad thing. A couple of Stephen King stories came to mind also during this adventure ("The Mist" and "Crouch End"). The story here is actually extremely creepy as we are invited by a friend of ours to investigate the strange goings-on in a small Welsh village that due to a rare earthquake seems to have become infected by a mysterious fog that contains all manner of unnatural "things".
Authors Ian and Clive Bailey do a great job on the setup here and their writing is pretty strong throughout even though there are some odd moments in the form of the dream you have whereby you are visited by Myriddin (Merlin?) and the Wild Hunt. This seemed a little out of place to me but this sequence is probably the most important one in the whole book. It was also, in my playthroughs, far and away the most difficult. In fact, this adventure seemed to take the opposite approach to most as it appeared to me to actually get easier as you go along as opposed to more difficult. The most dangerous encounters to me were the first three I faced: 1. Almost falling off a ledge right at the start where you have to pass one of two skill checks back to back where your odds at each are probably around 50%. 2. The fight against the Changeling immediately after this who has the exact same stats as you. 3. The aforementioned Wild Hunt where you have to defeat two Hunters, one of whom has pretty decent stats. These all occur in the first act of the book and once I made it through this stretch then it became more a matter of picking the most common sense options the rest of the way, such as which weapon and item to use and when.
This brings me to the book's biggest failing. The design just isn't very good. I had the same issue here that I had with some of the Lone Wolf books in that when confronted with a choice, a lot of the time it doesn't matter what you pick, you will arrive at the same point either way in a couple of sections anyway. The encounter with the Changeling was probably the most prominent example of this. You hear a noise behind a hedge and are asked if you want to investigate or walk on. It doesn't matter which you choose, you will be fighting the creature 2 sections later in either case. So what was the point? Also, the farther I got into the book, the more it became a pick-a-path style as opposed to a gamebook. The final act was particularly egregious of this. The book also discourages exploring because the first act can be so difficult that when you finally make it through you don't want to "waste" that character so you attempt to conserve stamina and endurance by doing as little as possible while making your way to the end because who knows when you will make it that far again.
The conflict table in the book (somewhat similar to the combat table in Lone Wolf) I found to be more fairly devised and I liked the inclusion of the five different character attributes (Strength, Stamina, Mentality, Endurance, Dexterity) as I felt it allowed for more variety to the skill checks and combat situations. Not that all that many occurred in the second half of the book mind you. The adventure can basically be broken up into four areas. 1.The initial travel to your friend's manor house and your dream. 2. The investigation of the mine. 3. The investigation of the quarry. 4. The final rescue attempt of the villagers. Only the first two really seem to be fleshed out. The quarry and rescue attempt just flew by in comparison and I'm wondering if the book was rushed in its writing towards the end.
Surprisingly I found the creatures here to be somewhat lacking. I encountered tentacled beings (a no-brainer to be expected here) and some mutants but not really much else of note. A pretty big disappointment considering the source material really. I have to say also, I found the cover of this book to be terrible. The very cartoonish looking mutant (I assume that is what it's supposed to be?) with cap and long hair doesn't really seem to fit very well with the otherworldly horrors the book attempts to portray.
Once the book is defeated, there is a final tacked on section whereby you are given the chance to change your stats for the next book. You could end up either increasing or decreasing your stats going forward and if you choose to roll you MUST accept the result according to the book. (I wonder how many people stuck to that?). Seeing as how my stats were pretty good on my winning playthrough I decided against even trying. I really don't think a lower stat character would have much chance in this book anyway so this whole change your stats thing seems utterly pointless.
Ranking: Really strong story, really weak design. There is a certain satisfaction to winning thanks to the first half of the book, and that along with the overall atmosphere is enough to bring it into the OK tier for me. Here's hoping the game system is put to better use in book 2.
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2. Terrors Out of Time - Score = 8.7 Tier = Great!
Attempts to beat: 18
The writing throughout the book is very atmospheric and engaging, with the exception of some of the dialogue which I don't think is the authors' strong suit. The story does a great job of moving you from locale to locale at breakneck pace, from a darkened British Museum, to a creepy English manor, then on to a harrowing plane trip followed by a series of investigations and confrontations aboard an early 20th century airship. From there we move on to an isolated castle, then on to the pyramid of Khefu (Khufu) outside of Cairo and finally the culmination of the adventure which takes place in the underworld itself. Top that for variety!
Each of the "chapters" of the story is something of its own adventure, whereby you acquire items that may or may not be useful in subsequent chapters. The culmination of most of them usually result in you consulting with your confidant from the first book, archaeologist Charles Petrie-Smith, as you discuss recent events, what they mean, and your plans going forward as you attempt to stop the evil Baron.
Breaking these chapters down for further review:
1. The British Museum- The opening chapter, which is one of the weaker parts of the book. This is somewhat forgivable I guess as the adventure is still finding its footing, although the first book didn't have this problem. Still, there is some very weak dialogue here between your character and Ausbach in your first meeting. There are also some completely pointless options given as you navigate through the museum. No matter which staircase you pick, or hallway you turn down, you end up at the exact same place with nothing gained from trying any of the options given. So...what was the point of that then? Just to make you feel like you were making choices I guess?
2. Shandwick House- The adventure really picks up here as you travel to this countryside manor seeking your stolen pyramidion (the key to entering the underworld). This chapter really plays out as sort of a mini-House of Hell, complete with hunchback! It's not as good as that book of course but it's still great fun exploring the various rooms, discovering clues as to what is really going on, picking up some helpful items and uncovering some unhelpful horrors!
3. The Mail Plane- Oooooo this part. This chapter very much had the "Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom" thing going for it. The setup here is fantastic and the Assassin Bug is truly horrifying. Something about a bug with a human head creeps me out to no end. This was all incredibly well done but boy, is this the toughest part of the book or what? Roughly 80% of my failed attempts occurred right here, either killed by the Assassin Bug or crashing the plane. I'm all for a challenge, but I have to admit it can be very frustrating dying at the same spot over and over and over.
4. The Airship- Another high point of the book. In this chapter we get to do a bit of investigating and learn a lot more about what is actually happening. The encounter with Colonel Schroeder is very tense as is the battle with Ausbach's servant in his quarters. And the encounter with Ausbach himself on TOP of the airship during a thunderstorm? How cool is that!
5. Ausbach's Castle- Ok, this chapter is a bit of a weak link to be honest. I'm not sure why Ausbach leaves you with all your weapons? Nor why your room was made up like your airship cabin? Nevertheless, it's a very short chapter and we pick up a useful item here and eventually escape through the Well of Souls (ok, now that's just a blatant Indiana Jones reference!).
6. Pyramid of Khefu- The penultimate chapter has us exploring the Great Pyramid of Giza itself as we hunt for Ausbach, even though it should be obvious where in the pyramid he is heading. I loved how this is laid out as is the actual Pyramid of Giza (less the entrance to the underworld of course). There are some very cool and horrific things to be discovered here as well.
7. The Underworld- The final chapter, and this is where the surrealism really dials up quite a bit, although we ARE in the underworld so I guess thats to be expected. The final encounter with Ausbach and Het is very well done as there are several ways of dealing with them depending on which items you have and choose to employ, each coming with its own risks. I loved the experimentation this provides. In fact, most of the encounters throughout the whole book provide more than one way to defeat your opponent, which is fantastic.
So, are there any negatives to the adventure? Well, the preponderance of skill checks, many of them difficult, can seem over the top at times (testing your skill against a radio? Really?) The good news is that you always seem to get more than one chance before the death kicks in. In other words you have to fail back-to-back skill checks. The bad news is that if the odds are 50/50 or sometimes outright against you in both checks, it's still going to result in quite a few deaths. I have no clue how a low skilled character (or maybe even a moderately skilled one) would have any hope whatsoever in beating this. While that really doesn't make it much different from a lot of gamebooks from the 80's, it doesn't make it any less frustrating sometimes. I also somewhat have the same problem with this adventure that the previous one had in that some of your choices don't really seem to matter that much. You will arrive at the same section in a couple of page turns no matter what you choose to do. To be fair though, it does seem to have improved from the first book in this regard.
Finally, Id also like to mention the very first section of the book which is described without our character being present. If we are playing as if we were the character, how we would be privy to a scene we didn't observe? It's a small point I guess but this kind of thing bothers me.
Ranking: Much better than the first book in the series. A thrilling adventure that provides something different from the usual fantasy genre. The score could be even higher if a couple of the chapters were improved (the British Museum and Ausbach's castle) and the over the top skill checks were dialed back a bit. If you enjoy Earth-set adventures though this should definitely not be missed.
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