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| Written by Steve Jackson - Illustrated by Russ Nicholson |
I have a kind of love-hate relationship with Steve Jackson's "The Citadel of Chaos". It's one of the earliest fighting fantasy books so it's obvious that they had a lot of new ideas that they were excited to try out, some of which didn't mature until entries much later into the series.
Once again the illustrations, plot and overall atmosphere are fantastic. There's heaps and heaps of lore hidden within the pages here, cunning traps and puzzles, as well as some completely bonkers enemies to take on.
Classic W-T-F creatures such as Dog-Ape and Ape-Dog. Or who could forget the savage Wheelies, a band of angry, rogue-like cheese rolls who just want to slice you up a treat?
But honestly for me its the use of magic where this one falls short. Spells are used like consumables that you have to equip before setting out on your adventure, so if you don't choose the right combination of spells at the start then you can pretty much guarantee you won't make it to the end.
While part of the fun is experimenting with different load-outs, this adventure relies far too heavily on the use of spells to resolve encounters.
I found that most of the time spells either don't work or the book will have you test your luck to see if it had the desired effect anyway. Rendering them completely pointless.
I also found that combat will be an option that frequently leads to a dead end. There's a fight near the end of the book with these creatures called the Ganjees, who unless you have one specific spell free or have picked up an obscure item held behind a very unbalanced encounter, they'll just kill you outright. You don't have the option to engage in physical combat, which for me is where I have the most fun in these adventures.
I also found that combat will be an option that frequently leads to a dead end. There's a fight near the end of the book with these creatures called the Ganjees, who unless you have one specific spell free or have picked up an obscure item held behind a very unbalanced encounter, they'll just kill you outright. You don't have the option to engage in physical combat, which for me is where I have the most fun in these adventures.
Don't get me wrong, The Citadel of Chaos is still a cracking little adventure but it's just bogged down by bad sorcery mechanics. Personally, I'd skip this one and move right on to The Forest of Doom, now that is one heck of a gamebook!
Reviewed by Harrison Marchant
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