Item - The Green Hydra

The first part of this book, which involves a trek though a marsh and some encounters in the city of Suthorp, is very much like the first book. Fights are not too tough (though in some cases bad strategy may seriously hinder the player) and hit points are replenished after every battle, so difficulty is once again low (except for one non-mandatory battle which, in contrast, is almost impossible to win, also marred by a badly-explained mass combat system). The routes through the first part do not offer much in terms of meaningful variety. Things get a bit more interesting once the city is reached, with a few interesting choices and puzzles. The final part of the adventure, however, is radically different from the rest. It involves a dungeon-crawl, and this time the player's health is not constantly replenished. Even though many healing items and power-ups will ensure this part of the adventure is not too hard to get through, it's still more interesting than the rest of the book. The player has freedom to navigate the dungeon using a map, and if the route is not chosen carefully, it is possible to become trapped and fail. In spite of this, the dungeon is not too hard.

Despite the fact that throughout most of the book the encounters are designed for a Level 3 character, it's easy to reach Level 4 in this adventure, which only contributes to its easiness.

In this book the player character develops an attachment to a female character, which is only for the better. While in most fantasy gamebooks the only passions that seem to move characters are fighting and collecting treasure, it's good to see human relationships being explored here, even if it's done in an amateurish and crude way.

Leslie Morrill's illustrations are better than those in the first volume, and contribute greatly to the setting's detail.

This book shouldn't take more than one or two tries to get through. Even though I'm not really pleased with the challenge level, I must admit this adventure offers a detailed setting, and the dungeon part is rather well done even if it could have been much better with a higher difficulty. Overall, while far from being at the level of the Lone Wolf series, this is a better book than its predecessor and something of a boost in quality in this rather weak series.

More reviews by Guillermo

A step up from the previous book, The Green Hydra has Conan, I mean Sagard, leaving Cimmeria, I mean Ratikka, on a trading mission. His party is ambushed by Picts, I mean Hukkas, and goes on an adventure to the southern kingdoms.

The storyline is fine if unmemorable. The combat is somewhat tedious. The artwork is an improvement on the last book. The main difference is a maze you must navigate, which is fine. There is a final conflict with a sleeping green hydra of the title. You even gain a girlfriend in the form of a priestess named Ketza Kota.

More reviews by Kveto