Item - Gladiators Game Book No. 2

This is a more traditional gamebook than the previous one. You first determine your gender and randomly roll up five attributes (Stamina, Agility, Upper Body Strength, Lower Body Strength and Luck), then you compete in the various Gladiators challenges. Stamina and Luck work basically like the same attributes in Fighting Fantasy. The other three are roughly equivalent to specialized versions of Fighting Fantasy's Skill score. You compete in events by rolling skill tests and making the occasional choice. Challenges and opponents are different depending on your gender, increasing replay value. Overall, it's a slightly better book than the previous one, but it's not very exciting, especially if, like me, you're unfamiliar with the show that inspired it. There's also far too much emphasis on luck to make it much fun; point-based character creation would have been an improvement, as would the inclusion of more strategic choices. I guess for some this is something of a collector's item, but that's about all it's good for.

My High Scores - 16 points with a 4-second loss (male), 38 points with a 5.5-second win (female)

More reviews by Demian

[Rating: 3/10]
[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 (female score of 38, male score of 24), 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