13) Freeway Fighter

[thealmightymudworm]

masterchief:

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Do you love this book so much you tuck it under the covers at night? Did you hate it so badly you used it as loo-roll? Let the world know!

~MC~


~ Vae Victis! ~

[thealmightymudworm]

sleepytemplar:

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I got this in the mail yesterday and gave it a shot... pretty interesting, but I have to admit I can't play it without thinking of Road Blaster.

[thealmightymudworm]

sunil060902:

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Not outstanding in any way, yet this has special resonance for me - the first ever FF I ever got, through the Puffin Book Club at school, way back in 1985.

Now I wonder what would have happened if instead of this I got another "Observer's" series book on planes or whatever....


"Your progress has been watched, foul creature of destruction!"

[thealmightymudworm]

masterchief:

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Ah man, I love those old laser disc games. The non-existent gameplay, the unfairly short timings....
But there was just something about games like this and Dragon's Lair that kept me coming back for more!

I used to love having to go to an arcade to play games, and they were always so much better than what we could get at home. Yeah, we got conversions and that but it never really felt the same.
Sorry, I'll let you get back to Freeway Fighter now!


~ Vae Victis! ~

[thealmightymudworm]

sylas:

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This one doesn't do it for me.

I'd have preferred if they didn't go Mad Max about it and went instead down the road of Death Race.
Run over an unexpecting child - 10 Hero Points. Although that might result in a bad influence on the target audience.


Two Words

[thealmightymudworm]

hynreck:

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Man, I loved that one when I was young, Le combattant de l'autoroute, because I was a huge Mad Max fan. I'm still a Mad Max fan today, but not so much of this book anymore! It even looked kind of boring, since it is so obviously "inspired" by The Road Warrior... Mr. Livingstone was either a big fan of the second movie or a clever opportunist as the third movie was also released in 1985...
"I love the smell of marketing in the morning!"

What I dislike about Freeway Fighter, apart from everything blatantly ripped off from the movie (even the title), is stuff like how everything is missing in this post-disease (apocalyptic) world except ammunition. Everybody's carrying a truckload. Then look at that, every nasty modern barbarian manage to outfit their car either James Bond style or Fast and Furious, and oh we can have them look like tanks if we want to, we can have turrets and... well ain't that nifty! Every thug is either a mechanic genius or know some secret government garage to spruce up their car. And they are all so pretty, so shiny and new, out of the corner's car wash with the scantily clad ladies.

And let's not go into the territory of silly encounters, shall we? Okay, maybe a little. What's with all these guys who wants to duel anyway? Is that the new "in" code of honour for bad guys nowadays? And what's with all the races? I can understand if some sub-group likes to party on the side, but what's with the bunch of guys and gals who waits in the middle of the road for someone, anyone, to come over and race with them? They are so desperate for a bit of fun in those times of hardship and struggle and survival that they actually stand there, lining the road, just waiting? What do they do for encores? What do they do when no-one shows up?

The inside illos are mostly ugly. The cars are well drawn, even most of the human figures, but, as I've read on the excellent Titannica, the illos were apparently a rush job, and it looks like it. The new cover illustration for the Wizard edition (albeit not truly new) seems better overall, prettier than the old one, mainly because in this one, there are no cheesy human characters. Though I could see how some would lap up the cheese as part of the deal, as this book, and the story within, is pretty much chocking on it.

And the mistakes. I've spotted quite a few mistakes! I will try to post most of them in a future post, but right now my hands are nearly full with a little baby who can't stand still...

Still, there are fun parts in the book, but it's mostly for hardcore fans, or those who wants to relive and play a cheap version of the Mad Max movies.


Speak in extremes, it will save you time.

[thealmightymudworm]

hynreck:

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Okay, some mistakes, some on the light side, some on the dark side...

In the background: soccer world cup? Since when does the name soccer is used outside of the U.S? I guess Ian Livingstone thought this book would sell better to American readers? Which does not compute, since Mad Max is Australian anyway and he still keeps stuff like kilometers which Americans can't understand.

Section 13: Illos does not quite fit the description from the text. I know illos were a rush job, but still, the plain motorcycle helmet drawn is a far cry from aviator style helmet, google and scarf described.

Section 206, followed by 346: The text describes a change of tire occurring. Even though beforehand I had no flat whatsoever. I guess it is possible to get one at that point (leading to those sections), I couldn't verify, but clearly I didn't get one yet ended up changing my flat tire. Pretty weird.

Biggest one I could spot:

Section 379, in the race against the Ford for that can of fuel: The Ford is trying to pass you by, just before the finish line. You have to guess which side it's going to pass you by, left or right. To swerve left and thus, block the left side, you go to section 20, which is the right answer. If instead you choose to swerve right, you turn to section 80, which proceeds to tell you that the Ford passes you by on your right side and that you've anticipated the move wrong by going to the left...!

Clearly, in that piece of text, the directions are inverted, but it's still frustrating to find out you lose while doing what the text says you didn't.
If I don't make sense, read it up, you'll see!


Speak in extremes, it will save you time.

[thealmightymudworm]

greenspine:

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hynreck said:

Section 206, followed by 346: The text describes a change of tire occuring. Even though beforehand I had no flat whatsoever. I guess it is possible to get one at that point (leading to those sections), I couldn't verify, but clearly I didn't get one yet ended up changing my flat tire. Pretty weird.

It is possible to get a flat if you approach the roadblock in the wrong manner. I'm pretty sure that Ian got his section numbers mixed up, and the post-flat fight section leads to the 'no flat' aftermath.

[thealmightymudworm]

hynreck:

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That would explain... Wonder if he was in a hurry to release the book before Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. If so, that would explain the rush feel...


Speak in extremes, it will save you time.

[thealmightymudworm]

hynreck:

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Anybody here can explain to me why we add 24 to stamina? Why the exception? I can maybe understand for the car's armour, but stamina?

I'm looking at you Greenspine!


Speak in extremes, it will save you time.

[thealmightymudworm]

greenspine:

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Reluctance to imply that Mel Gibson is a wimp?

[thealmightymudworm]

hynreck:

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Please don't make Mr. Livingstone cry! He still has his Lethal Weapon poster up on his bedroom wall...


Speak in extremes, it will save you time.

[thealmightymudworm]

oakdweller:

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Oh dear. Cars. I've never been a huge fan of vehicles - or indeed other stuff that British males are 'supposed' to be into such as football, beer and martial arts films. When people gave me toy cars as a kid I didn't race them over the lino, but treated them like characters instead. This is why it took me a long time to get Freeway Fighter for my collection and why its the only book from the #1 - #24 range that I had to buy with the dragon banner on the front cover. To be honest, the only reason that I bought it at all was because the geek in me could no longer cope with the gap on the shelf between Space Assassin and Temple of Terror. (I believe that this was about the same time that Phantoms of Fear was published, so I'd managed to hold out for quite some time).
 
When I got it home I sighed heavily before opening the book, "Go on then, bore me with screeching cars and revving motorbike gangs if you must". (This was the only FF book ever that I hadn't checked out the interior art of on the way home before playing it through first). I was wary of the heavy rules section, which I knew was going to add to the frustration, but quite liked the cool idea of recording the Interceptor's equipment within a drawing of the car itself. I was also encouraged by the fun idea of crossing off little icons of your iron spikes, spare wheels etc. as you use them up.
        It all went downhill once I started the adventure. I got incredibly frustrated that I failed four times in a row for the same reason: lack of petrol. Even as a thirteen year old I didn't mind losing (and was even disappointed if I won a book in less than three attempts), but losing in the same way on different references sucked - even more than I did at syphoning fuel. Having a narrow path to victory is one thing, but lack of variation on the doomed paths is not acceptable. I realise that Livingstone was trying to put as much earthy realism into this particular book as possible and reasoned that fuel depletion would, understandably, be a vital factor. However, by taking it too far he made my irritated thirteen year-old self re-christen the book, Petrol Hunt.
 
There are some great examples of post-apocalyptic fiction out there. The best that I've read in text form is the short story The Immortals by Martin Amis, although Stephen King's The Stand is really cool too. But film and TV have been really adept at it too, oddly enough usually when on a low budget (the original Survivors series from the 70s and the BBC film Threads, which is the most haunting thing that I've ever seen). The world of Mad Max may be hard to swallow, but it is done with such conviction and style that it draws you in - even for this car-hater.
        Freeway Fighter opts for the Survivors route to explain the breakdown of society: most of the Earth's population dying due to a virus. It also - again, understandably - chooses a Mad Max-style outcome for the game world. Writing about a post-apocalyptic world and doing it well is not easy of course because you need to keep track of each of the 'threads' which used to hold everything together, realising the consequences of having them cut. As Hynreck pointed out, Freeway Fighter is just a world where everything except for ammunition has run out. The bandits, thrill-seekers and opportunist thugs in the Mad Max films are all given a little background detail (or at least allusions) as to how they survive; Freeway Fighter just glosses over the way where they get their endless fuel from. They must also have a huge food stockpile too (just look at how fit and healthy everyone is), but I'm not sure that the book ever mentions how anyone manages this. Most glaring of all, how the hell do you drive that tanker back to New Hope at the end?
        My conclusion is that the post-apocalyptic world just isn't gamebook material; devising all of the antagonists, traps, clue-givers, bonus-providers and so on that a FF requires just stretches credulity too far. The only realistic alternative would be to forget the Mad Max style and instead opt for a more OTT zombie/mutated critter world (as in the successful computer game Fallout 3).
 
The last minute illustrations are bland and somewhat perfunctory on the whole, but there are no disasters either (with the single exception of the awful car crash for reference 90).

[thealmightymudworm]

greenspine:

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oakdweller said:

My conclusion is that the post-apocalyptic world just isn't gamebook material; devising all of the antagonists, traps, clue-givers, bonus-providers and so on that a FF requires just stretches credulity too far.

Joe Dever's Freeway Warrior series uses a similar setting to better effect, and Virtual Reality Adventures 5, Heart of Ice, is a great post-apocalyptic adventure. On the available evidence, I'd say that post-apocalypse isn't good Livingstone gamebook material, but it definitely has potential with other approaches.

[thealmightymudworm]

green_zigzag:

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masterchief said:

Ah man, I love those old laser disc games. The non-existent gameplay, the unfairly short timings.... But there was just something about games like this and Dragon's Lair that kept me coming back for more!
I used to love having to go to an arcade to play games, and they were always so much better than what we could get at home. Yeah, we got conversions and that but it never really felt the same.
Sorry, I'll let you get back to Freeway Fighter now!

Oh yeah, video arcades, now you're talking, many an hour and cash wasted on:
Double Dragon
Golden Axe
Final Fight
Streetfighter 1 & 2
etc...

Anyway, back on topic, I adored Freeway Fighter back in the day, really did like the whole "apocalyptic" Mad Max thing going on, I also found this book interesting as the illustrations were very different to most of the others, very straight-lined and minimalistic, if you get my meaning.
Great book, it's in my top 5.


All your bases are belong to us!

[thealmightymudworm]

masterchief:

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Threads was filmed on my doorstep. Not literally. Some of the locations used are only a couple of miles from me. Final Fight! Oh my god, I think I only put more ten p's into Streetfighter II.
I've never been very good at Freeway Fighter, for the fuel reason. Also I have a habit of rolling poor stats; the last time I played I got killed by the encounter near the exploding ambulance.
Good spot on the error Greenspine! Is that one on the Titannica list?
As an administrator I can edit my own posts here willy-nilly, so I will when I get the time sticky a post that I can add to that lists all the errors in books that we need to be wary of whilst playing. As new ones pop up I can simply edit the post and add to it as necessary.
I remember reading somewhere once that, including typo's, item descriptions and other trivialities Tower of Destruction is the most bugged book with literally dozens of mistakes, but as I say most of them were trivial. I think it was on a blog somewhere, or a review. May have been someone on Damien's site, I'm not sure.
Anyway, sorry to go off-topic.


~ Vae Victis! ~

[thealmightymudworm]

green_zigzag:

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I remember Threads well...Scared the sh*t out of me as a 7 year old, I'm from Leeds so know many of the locations myself.

I remember vividly playing out on our estate on our BMX's one evening during the six week summer holidays and some of the older kids saying that it could really happen, I literally did not sleep a wink that night!

I've not actually seen it since then...Have you?  if so has it stood the test of time?


All your bases are belong to us!

[thealmightymudworm]

rollforluck:

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I saw a clip of Threads once. Someone weed down their leg. So yeah.

Not keen on Fighting Fantasy’s Freeway Fighter or Mel Gibson, I’m afraid. But I do like the adventure sheet!

[thealmightymudworm]

sebforder:

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green_zigzag said:

I've not actually seen it [Threads] since then...Have you?  if so has it stood the test of time?

You tell us...

[a moderator]

My TUFFF playthrough:

While the load the car is carrying must have some effect on the rate of fuel consumption, you'd think that New Hope would figure out a way to send more than one person on a mission this important. But no, it's just me.

Check the mirror, look out for dozy pedestrians (just because over 85% of the population is dead, that doesn't mean there are no oblivious twits who'll step out in front of me at an inopportune moment), and I'm off. Stopping for no apparent reason at an unidentified town, I hear a shotgun. investigating doesn't sound very clever, but what the hey? Next thing, he's got the drop on me, but I know better than to lie in this instance. Mr gunman and I part on amicable terms, and he warns me to be careful of Joe's Garage. They're not too good on removing food from the shelves once it's past the sell-by date, or something.

Despite the warning, I decide to stop at the garage, and it's obvious that something dodgy is afoot, as it's not self-service. Or am I inappropriately extrapolating from British garages? I try chatting up the girl anyway, and her boyfriend gets all jealous, so I have to punch him in the face a few times to convince him that I should be allowed to leave with my cranium intact. His partner drives off, and I search the garage until I'm sure that the mine she left by one of my wheels has evaporated. While I recognise that civilisation has broken down, it does seem a trifle odd that this garage contains nothing driving-related whatsoever. Still, that chain might come in handy.

Next up I'm attacked by a man with a stupid short ponytail. He's in a modified Chevrolet (they've even nailed an extra 'v' onto its abbreviation, unless I'm mixing up cars and actors), and I need to decide whether the Firepower imbalance justifies using one of my precious rockets. No, I'll need them against the tougher opponents later on. And a house.

Well, I'm the one who drives away, but I've lost my no claims bonus for sure. That ding is not going to come out of the bodywork any time soon. Following ruminations on how values have changed in this post-cataclysm world, I get informed that the council leader has been kidnapped, and if I could fit rescuing him into my schedule, that'd be just peachy. What, am I the only person from the whole of New Hope who's remotely competent at action hero stuff?

Back when Ian was writing this book, the name Sinclair meant computers - laughably primitive by today's standards (and with some of the wackiest keyboards ever devised), but not unimpressive in those days. Then, a couple of months before publication, Sir Clive torpedoed his reputation by launching one of the most ridiculed vehicles in motoring history - the C5. So it's kind of amusing that by the time the book came out, the name of the guy my road warrior character is supposed to save from his captors was inextricably linked with a self-propelled sidecar that even Reliant Robin drivers could mock with impunity.

Junction. Ian tends to like west, so I'll try that. Nope, that leads to the partially-raised drawbridge, and while I'm not averse to the odd gap-leaping stunt (I have The Blues Brothers - the original movie only - on DVD), I'm pretty sure that that's on the non-Sinclair-saving path. Turn around, go back, try not to think about why these redundant detours don't cause me to have to refuel that bit more quickly.

Ignore the ambulance, as Ian is being all ironic and has turned it into a portable House of Pain. Investigate a turning, and it's another bridge, this one even less friendly. Turn round, continue east, and up ahead is a roadblock, Fire missile one. This scares a couple of bikers out of hiding, I give chase, and my edge over them with Firepower is insufficient to keep them from worsening the ding to the point of total unroadworthiness.

Fade out on hero optimistically trying to hitch-hike back home.

[vagsancho]

A fantastic book. Not magical however. I do not love it.

[hynreck]

Not magical. Does not love it. Still fantastic.
Vag, you've officially become more puzzling than the Caramilk. Congrats on beating a yummy bar of sweetness.

[dragonwarrior8]

I played this book a lot as a kid but never beat it. Didn't really come close I don't think. I did enjoy blowing stuff up with rockets though and having a James Bond set of weapons at my disposal. I also liked the shooting combat rules. Having said that, this book has some major problems.

First off, how is this book not considered plagiarism? I mean, racing a car across a post-apocalyptic wasteland to retrieve fuel is one thing, but you even drive an Interceptor?? At best its creative bankruptcy.

Second, and this might be my biggest problem with the adventure, is the Blitz Race. I believe you have to win this to beat the book and as far as I can tell (and I hope someone will correct me if Im mistaken) the whole race comes down to one single skill-check die roll as you race toward the stone bridge. Is there no other way to complete the adventure if you lose this? I lost this one check 6 times in a row and for the first time in my adult playthroughs of the range I felt infuriated. Its one thing to have a tough battle that you have trouble getting past, lord knows it took me many tries to get past the battles at the end of Deathtrap Dungeon, but at least with those you can carb load (ie. scarf provisions) before the battle and use luck to help you get in a few extra hits so there was some strategy involved. Having the whole adventure being lost on ONE roll is TERRIBLE design and Im having trouble just letting it slide.

I found the writing in this book to be very poor as well. "Hi, my name's Leonardi. I used to play ball for the Mets. Now I race cars" might be the worst line in one of the books Ive read yet.

On the positive side I did enjoy racing across the wasteland and blowing things up with rockets (still!).

[a moderator]

At least it's only the one roll. In some of the later FF books there are multiple situations where having a chance of success depends on rolling the right number. And some of these instances aren't stat-related, so even a decent Skill/Stamina/Luck won't help.

[dragonwarrior8]

Apr 28, 2019 21:49:48 GMT a moderator said:

At least it's only the one roll. In some of the later FF books there are multiple situations where having a chance of success depends on rolling the right number. And some of these instances aren't stat-related, so even a decent Skill/Stamina/Luck won't help.

You guys scare me when you tell me these things and what I have to look forward to. lol.

[marblefigure]

Not just that roll you have to beware of! Make sure you don't crash at the 'rat man's' motel or you won't live to enjoy your success. Seriously, rat man made Norman Bates seem relatively normal.

[vagsancho]

This book does not seem to have been written by Ian livingstone.
It's very different the style.

[johnbrawn1972]

Jun 18, 2019 21:11:58 GMT vagsancho said:

This book does not seem to have been written by Ian livingstone.
It's very different the style.

It is called a rush job.

[a moderator]

The different genre from usual also goes some way towards explaining the stylistic differences.

[philsadler]

Jun 18, 2019 21:11:58 GMT vagsancho said:

This book does not seem to have been written by Ian livingstone.
It's very different the style.

Maybe he had it ghost written like some of his other books?

(/sarcasm)