Item - Blast Out in Lebanon

This book has much in common with the previous volume in this series -- despite its irritatingly macho and ultra-patriotic attitude, it features good writing and interesting artwork. It's also a bit superior to Viet Rampage in terms of plotting (there's more of it) and game design (though there are some minor continuity breaks, like how many dead bodies appeared in one night and exactly what weapons were encountered in a particular situation). The book is a bit on the easy side -- I completed the adventure successfully on my first try, and although I did have a number of exceptional dice rolls, it feels like I could have been just as successful with less remarkable luck on my side. Still, the book has multiple successful endings, so it has a certain degree of replay value even if unfortunate deaths don't necessitate starting over from time to time. Admittedly, though, I wasn't really motivated to attempt a replay -- the storyline is pretty linear no matter what you do, and the book's possibilities are limited by its length -- 116 sections just can't offer the same array of paths as the 350-400 sections typical of most British gamebooks. Nonetheless, this is a worthwhile (and fairly quick) read, especially if you enjoy the action/espionage genre more than I do.

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