Item - Gladiators Game Book No. 1

This isn't a traditional gamebook; there's very little text to read and no non-linear page-turning. It's basically like a less interesting version of a Star Wars Episode I Adventure. First you randomly select an opponent. Then, for six challenges, you choose one of four possible actions, using knowledge from your opponent's description to plan your strategy. After choosing the action, you read the corresponding text, which inevitably reveals a complication. After choosing how to deal with the complication, you look up your choices under the name of your opponent and see how many points you scored. After doing this six times, you enter the Eliminator, where five times in a row you roll a die, which randomly gives you thirty points, takes away thirty points, or does nothing at all (at equal odds for any option). After this, your score is evaluated. The whole thing is pretty dumb, with very little text and fairly obvious strategy. The replay value inherent in having twelve potential opponents is nice, but the basically uninteresting gameplay cancels out this benefit. The really big problem is that there's something wrong with the scoring system, which is basically the only potential source of interest in the whole book. The scores in the challenge descriptions don't match up with the scores in the outcome sections, and the scoring evaluation at the end makes no sense -- it breaks the scoring down into "up to 350," "up to 600" and "over 600," but according to my calculations, the highest possible score is 330. Something's not right here! Seems another case of rushing a product out the door to cash in on a popular license without actually bothering to create anything interesting first.

My High Score - 330

More reviews by Demian

[Rating: 2/10]
[Recommended? NO]

As a kid, I grew up watching the insanely fun Gladiators (2008) series as well as reruns of both the original UK and US versions of the classic television series of the same name. To this day I sincerely believe the shows have an inherently classic premise, fun challenges and a greater deal of immersive appeal to viewers than the vast majority of programmes that have come out before or after. (I've always thought, though, that unsuccessful contenders deserved some sort of consolation prize.) As such, my review of these two "gamebooks" is definitely informed at least a little bit by my memories and associated sentiments toward the show.

The pair of Gladiators books, despite poor reviews, were a moderate commercial success upon release, and despite bearing the "gamebook" name in their title I wouldn't necessarily outright identify them as wholeheartedly successful gamebooks, per se. Each of the challenges is essentially a choice-based mechanism with largely predetermined facets of luck and skill presented without much concealment by the book's writers. While I tend to enter a gamebook with high hopes and low expectations, perhaps I expected too much going into this gamebook, or merely anticipated something more along the lines of the inherently puzzle-driven "The Crystal Maze" gamebook... but the end result was far from satisfying.

By the end of the Eliminator of my second play (scores: 270, then 330), I'd neither felt challenged nor tuckered out, and I surmised that the replay value didn't thoroughly extend the experience. The gameplay never truly connected for me, and I also wasn't impressed by the faulty scoring system; while I didn't outright dislike the book, I found the experience to be an all-around letdown, which was a real shame. Unfortunately, I don't recommend the book - to compare expectations versus reality, it's reminiscent of Evan Dollard's Joust defeat against Titan (Michael O'Hearn): short, swift, and quick to get knocked away after a bewilderingly blunt blow to the face. ^^

(Mysteriously disappears into the shadows.)

More reviews by Shadeheart