Movie Review: Hundra (1983)

Last year, I gave a shout out to one of my favorite cheesy 80s Swords & Sorcery romps, "Red Sonja".

This week, I wanted to take a look at another 80s Swords & Sorcery yarn featuring a sword-wielding female barbarian that, by contrast, had far too much bad to be So Good, It's Bad, "Hundra":

The set up is fairly typical for an 80s barbarian flick (e.g., The Beastmaster (1982)): Hundra (played by Laurene Landon) and her tribe are living peacefully when their village is suddenly attacked without warning by raiders, who slaughter everyone except the main character.  Now, Hundra is off on a quest for vengeance.

The particular twist here is that Hundra's tribe is all-female, and Hundra is the most all-female of them all, having never been with a man and being loudly misandrist (e.g., she berates her faithful dog for being male).  So, when she travels to the tribe's old wise woman after the massacre, she is taken aback when the latter tells her that she must breed to repopulate the tribe!

Of course, pretty much all men in movie are terrible, if not downright rapists, so, as you might expect, many of them die on Hundra's blade.

I wanted to like "Hundra" but it's just not good: the acting is terrible even for a low budget 80s Italian-Spanish production.  Laurene Landon is the only one who's even competent and while she makes for a striking and statuesque figure, Landon plays things far too straight for the film to have camp value.

Also, the fight scenes are poorly choreographed and the "humor" is often tonally jarring and out of place (e.g., random farting noises).  And the film is far too rapey for a rollicking swashbuckler.

So, if you want to watch a Swords & Sorcery with a strong female lead, go watch Red Sonja again (I've done so dozens of times and still find it quite amusing).  If you still have some spare time and are a completist of Swords & Sorcery films, maybe think about this movie.

Movie Review: "Fire and Ice" (1983)

This week, I wanted to give a shout out to perhaps the most ambitious barbarian-themed fantasy film produced in the wake of "Conan the Barbarian" (1982), the classic animated Swords & Sorcery yarn, "Fire and Ice":

In "Fire and Ice," the evil Queen Juliana of Icepeak and her sociopathic and totally not gay son, Lord Nekron, seek to conquer the world with dark sorcery by unleashing a seemingly unstoppable glacier.  As the glacier nears the last free kingdom of Firekeep, subhuman minions from Icepeak kidnap the scantily-clad Princess Teegra to marry Nekron.

Teegra escapes and meets up with Larn, a handsome hunky barbarian warrior wearing only a loincloth, the displaced survivor of a village destroyed by the glacier.  After Larn is knocked unconscious and Teegra is once again kidnapped by the subhumans, we meet the real star of the show, the mysterious badass who's so mysterious that his name is never given in the movie (although he's called Darkwolf in the credits)!  Thus, when we watched this flick in the ancient 80s, my friend Chris dubbed him "Cat Dude".

All we ever learn about Cat Dude is that he's a ridiculous badass and an unstoppable murder machine. While Larn is the ostensible hero of the film, Cat Dude is the one who actually gets things done.  

Things end up as you might expect from a Swords & Sorcery yarn (hint, it involves Cat Dude's axe and Nekron's chest).

"Fire and Ice" is a basic good vs. evil story and if that's how you judge this movie, it's not very good as the plot is straightforward and the second act drags a bit.  However, as collaboration between noted animation director Ralph Bakshi and his long-time friend, the all-time great fantasy illustrator Frank Frazetta, it's metal!

The film is basically a Frazetta painting turned into a movie, which is unsurprising since Frazetta provided the character designs and the fantasy setting.  There's many a mighty thew and scantily clad bosom to be found, and the flick is visually stunning, depicting a savage and primitive world filled with horrific monstrosities, weird and wild landscapes, lost ancient civilizations and copious amounts of dark sorcery.

Also notable is the film's use of rotoscoping, in which scenes were shot in live action and then traced onto animation cels, as with Bakshi's earlier adaptation of Lord of the Rings.  This provides an amazing sense of realism to the characters' motions.

For comparison, here is actress Cynthia Leake:

And here is Princess Teegra:

So, if you want to see an epic animated Swords & Sorcery yarn featuring barbarians, buxom babes, and lots of things getting murdered, check out this overlooked gem!  

RPG Focus: Moldvay Basic Dungeons & Dragons (1981)

I've mentioned before that the Mentzer Red box (Basic Dungeons & Dragons 1983) was my introduction to tabletop RPGs (preceded by the Choose Your Own Adventure series and similar gamebooks), but this week, I wanted to take a look the another influential iteration of Basic D&D written by Tom Moldvay:

  

Moldvay Basic was the second incarnation of Basic D&D, following Basic Dungeons & Dragons (1977) written by J. Eric Holmes.  Holmes Basic was something of a strange beast, being a combination of Original Dungeons & Dragons (1974) and some of the early Supplements, and meant to be both an introduction to tabletop RPGs and to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (even though Holmes Basic is not 100% compatible with AD&D).  

Like Holmes Basic, Moldvay Basic is an introductory text and covers the basic concepts and rules for  Dungeons & Dragons and PCs of Levels 1 to 3.  Unlike Holmes Basic, Moldvay Basic (which forms the "B" in B/X D&D), along with Dave Cook's Expert Set  (which forms the "X" in B/X D&D), was designed to be a complete separate game.

This is partly a result of the settlement of one of the lawsuits by D&D co-creator Dave Arneson against TSR, which split Dungeons & Dragons into two parallel product lines, Basic and Advanced.  Thus, for legal reasons, Moldvay Basic was promoted as a continuation of OD&D (i.e., Messr Arneson would collect royalties from B/X D&D, as well as the later BECMI D&D, but not AD&D).

Moldvay Basic came in a boxed set with 64 page rule book (Holmes Basic was 48 pages), with cover art by the legendary Erol Otus.  In addition, the set included the module B2 The Keep on the Borderlands, the classic six polyhedral dice made (of soft plastic that would wear down with use (eventually, rolling the d20 could take some time until it stopped moving as it became more and more spherical)), and a marking crayon for filling in the numbers on the dice.  The interior artwork is Old School but often cartoonish in nature and considered to be generally weaker than the interior artwork for BECMI D&D.

However, Moldvay Basic does shine as an excellent example of lean RPG Design, presenting a stripped down and streamlined version of the OD&D engine.  The rules here are clear, concise and accessible.  For example, Moldvay Basic's rules for Initiative are, in contrast to their than their 1st ed. AD&D counterpart, approximately a bazillion times more concise and understandable:

To determine initiative, each side rolls 1d6 (the DM rolls for the monsters). The side with the higher roll may move first and attack first in combat for that round. If both sides roll the same number, the DM may either have both sides roll again, or may consider movement and combat for both sides to occur at the same time (known as simultaneous combat).

The side "with the initiative" has the first choice of actions. Members of that side may choose to fight, run, throw a spell, take de- fensive positions and wait to see what the other side does, start talking, or do anything else that the players or DM can imagine.

If combat occurs, the side with the initiative always strikes first in that round. Both sides should roll for initiative each round. If both sides tie on their initiative rolls, and combat is simultaneous, it is possible for both sides to be killed!

Quick and elegant!  By comparison, 1st ed. AD&D Initiative by the book is hotly debated to this day and sometimes requires a flowchart for beginners.

All of Moldvay Basic is written in this easy to follow and understand manner.

There's also a great, simple and powerful rule often overlooked near the end of Moldvay Basic on page B60:

"There's always a chance." The DM may want to base a character's chance of doing something on his or her ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, and so forth). To perform a difficult task (such as climbing up a rope or thinking of a forgotten clue), the player should roll the ability score or less on ld20. The DM may give a bonus or penalty to the roll, depending on the difficulty of the action (-4 for a simple task to +4 for a difficult one). A roll of 1 should always succeed, and a roll of 20 should always fail.

This is a quick and elegant of addressing TSR-era D&D's lack of a skill system!

It's this speed and elegance that has made my old AD&D1 DM switch to using B/X during convention play.

So, if you are fan of TSR-era D&D but are looking for a lighter/faster interpretation or you are new to RPGs in general and want to cut your teeth using Dungeons & Dragons, you really should take a gander at Moldvay Basic!

Movie Review: Willow (1988)

This week, I wanted to give a shout out to yet another film that I thought was totally awesome as a kid, but, with hindsight, doesn't look as shiny, George Lucas' foray into High Fantasy, Willow:

Willow has a somewhat meandering plot wherein a girl with a special birthmark is prophesied to bring about the downfall of the evil sorceress Queen Bavmorda.  Consequently, Bavmorda imprisons all the pregnant women in her realm.  Nevertheless, this baby Elora Danan, is born and smuggled to safety, eventually ending up in the care of our titular character, Willow Ufgood.

Willow is a simple farmer who dreams of becoming a sorcerer and is tasked with finding a safe place for Elora Danan.  Along the way, he meets rogue sellsword Madmartigan, a couple of brownies (who are the comic relief), Princess Sorcha (daughter of Queen Bavmorda, who does a heel-face turn) and Fin Raziel (a good sorceress polymorphed into a possum).  Also, armies clash, swashbuckling happens and dark sorcery must be averted!

Much like Star Wars, Willow is a mishmash of different ideas and inspirations, some of them painfully obvious in hindsight, such as Star Wars (Madmartigan is pretty much fantasy Han Solo) and the Lord of the Rings (the Nelwyns are pretty much Hobbits with the serial numbers filed off).  However unlike Star Wars, in Willow that mishmash never really comes together, unfortunately.

This film also suffers from an underwhelming performance from lead actor Warwick Davis, who fails to solidly anchor this ambitious project with his often hammy and wooden delivery.  And the tone of the film wildly swings from super kid-friendly to really grim dark.

Still, there are also plenty of positives.  Val Kilmer brings the necessary rock star qualities to Madmartigan and the rest of the cast is filled with good character actors.  The cinematography, action sequences, production design and costuming are good to excellent.  The VFX look dated now, but were good for the time.

So, if you are looking for an ambitious but flawed epic fantasy film that's still a fun romp, this might be up your alley!

Movie Review: The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982)

Sometimes, when I revisit a fondly remembered film from my youth, said film holds up despite the passage of time.  Sometimes, it doesn't.  The Sword and the Sorcerer falls into the latter category.

Not having seen The Sword and the Sorcerer in decades, I was hoping that this would be a masterwork, ala Conan the Barbarian (1982), even thought all I really remembered was Talon's *THREE* bladed sword, whose parallel blades shoot off!  Woo-hoo!  Seriously, at the time, I thought this sword was one of the coolest things ever.

However, on the re-watch, I found that the poor fight choreography, the preponderance of clichés, the special effects that haven't aged well and the easily correctable script problems were off-putting: For example, it's not spelled out, but Talon banging Princess Alana was probably incest.

Still, to be fair, The Sword and the Sorcerer is certainly not a poor Sword & Sorcery yarn.  I mean, there's a sword (with *THREE* blades!?!) and a sorcerer, can't be much more Sword & Sorcery than that, right?  Plus, it's got a hot princess (the super lovely Kathleen Beller), the requisite gore, violence and nudity for a Hard "R" and a story that zips along and that remains interesting, if sometimes goofy, throughout.

In The Sword and the Sorcerer, evil King Cromwell seeks to conquer the known world by resurrecting Xusia of Delos, an evil archmagus.  Team Evil's path to global domination begins by knocking over the peaceful Kingdom of Ehdan and murdering all of the Ehdanian royal family except for the youngest son, Talon, who gets away with the *THREE* bladed sword.  Then, Cromwell makes the smart play of trying to assassinate Xusia before the sorcerer inevitably turns on him.

Unfortunately, Cromwell mucks up the assassination and Xusia escapes.  Years later, both the surviving wizard and the surviving prince, now a famous mercenary leader, return to Ehdan to seek their vengeance.  The movie ends pretty much as you would expect.

Where The Sword and the Sorcerer is more impressive is how it differs from the host of other post-Conan fantasy action films: drawing much from Errol Flynn swashbucklers, the film laced with humor and Talon is as likely to fire off a quip as swing his sword.  Also, the double villain structure allows for some clever treachery and backstabbing.  And, the princess shows more spunk than the typical helpless damsel, using the patented knee to the balls technique.

Plus, Lee Horsely is a much, much, much better actor than Arnold Schwarzenegger.  For example, Messr Horsely plays Talon with easy wit and good comedic timing.  And director Albert Pyun isn't afraid to go after the laughs either: after the rousing "let's go save our leader" speech in the brothel, the movie immediately jump cuts to the would-be rescuers in the dungeon.  Hi*LAR*ious!

If you're looking for a fun, campy pulp action film and are willing to relax your brain, The Sword and the Sorcerer isn't a bad choice.  Alternately, if you want to see a sword with *THREE* blades, this is the movie for you!

Movie Review: The Beastmaster (1982)

Based (loosely) on the hugely influential and genre defining tales of R.E. Howard's legendary Swords & Sorcery protagonist, the 1982 film "Conan the Barbarian" was itself also hugely influential and genre defining, and spawned a host of imitators in the years that followed.  Of these, this week, I wanted to give a shout out to one of the best yarns produced in Arnie's long shadow, "The Beastmaster":

"The Beastmaster" begins with a prologue of sorts, where three witches with hideous faces but sexy bodies give high priest Maax (confusingly pronunced MAY-aks), played by Rip Torn, a prophecy that he'll die by the son of King Zed.  The King busts in, two of Maax's henchmen commit suicide for unclear reasons and everyone is surprisingly nonchalant.

Things get weirder when one of the hideous sexy witches manages to sneak into the royal bedchamber with a cow (!), to teleport the unborn prince from the Queen's womb into the cow's womb (!!)... even though the cow is male (!!!), and to sneak out.  After the cow gives birth to the prince, the hideous sexy witch attempts to ritually murder the infant, but the baby is saved by a timely passerby.

The child grows up to be Dar (played by Marc Singer), a farm boy unaware of his true lineage (where have we heard THAT before?).  Dar leads a simple but happy life and discovers his ability to communicate telepathically with animals.  Unfortunately, his village is massacred by the Jun Horde (and Maax, who's there as well for some reason), which sends Dar, who now only wears a few bits of strategically placed leather, out into the world to seek revenge.

In short order, Dar encounters his animal companions: an eagle (Sharak), a pair of ferrets (Kodo and Podo), and a black tiger (Ruh).  He also puts together a band of human heroes, including the former slave girl Kiri (played by the very lovely Tonya Roberts), whom many people feel is the best part of this movie.

The rest of the story meanders a fair bit, and the film's five act structure produces what feels like a false ending (especially since the real ending is not hugely necessary to the overall narrative), but the pacing is fast and the story is filled with interesting Swords & Sorcery moments, such as Dar's encounter with the weird bat creatures.

Immediately, one can see the "influences" of "Conan the Barbarian" on "The Beastmaster":

• Barbarian?  Check.
• Dark sorcery?  Check.
• Mighty thews?  Check.
• Quest for vengeance after village is massacred?  Check.
• Villain is the leader of a nefarious cult?  Check.

And so on.  However, one important difference between the Cimmerian and the Beastmaster is the  latter's twist on the genre (being able to telepathically communicate with animals), and this actually saves the entire film from being a complete ripoff, as it gives the titular character a unique skill set.

The film also feels quite different, partly because "The Beastmaster", unlike "Conan the Barbarian," has good amounts of mostly effective humor, which helps to alleviate the mostly hammy acting (the times that Dar is "speaking" to his eagle are painfully funny/bad).  Of course, hammy acting is sometimes actually a strength, such as Rip Torn spending the entire movie chewing scenery.

The film is goofy, mixed with sudden moments of grim dark (which the film doesn't dwell upon), and has plenty of cheese without crossing the line into outright camp.  Mostly.

Not certain how that bird can carry that child...

"The Beastmaster" is not a great movie but, if you accept it for what it is, it is great fun.  The flaws can be glaring, such as the poor fight choreography or the strange bits of plot (Dar's love interest is his cousin!).  However, there are also plenty of good points, such as the excellent costume design, excellent cinemotography, excellent work with animals and pretty decent practical and optical effects for the time.  Director Don Coscarelli, Jr. also tried to imbue an epic feel to the film (e.g., building an actual ziggurat) and there are other nice touches (e.g., Maax is a charlatan magician).

If you are a fan of Swords & Sorcery movies and/or you want to be as pervy as our hero (watching Kiri bathe naked), you owe it to yourself to watch this 80's classic!

Gamebook Review: "Bloodfeud of Altheus" (1985)

Last year, I discussed the seminal Choose Your Own Adventure (CYOA) series of gamebooks and the legendary Lone Wolf series by Joe Dever.  Today, I wanted to look at another excellent, if under appreciated, RPG gamebook, the first entry in the Cretan Chronicles trilogy, "Bloodfeud of Altheus":

In the days of yore, I spent many, many hours pouring over the ancient tales from Greek mythology: the trials of mighty Heracles, the battles of the Trojan War, the foibles of various mortals and deities, the general dickishness of Zeus.  One of my favorite yarns was the story of Theseus and the dreaded Minotaur, so it's not surprising that I took a shine to this series.

In the Cretan Chronicles, things went a bit differently- Theseus has been slain at the heart of the labyrinth of Minos!  It falls to his younger brother Altheus, played by you, to finish Theseus' quest and to seek vengeance for your fallen kin.

Traveling through mythic Greece, you strive to prove yourself a true Achaean hero as you face numerous challenges, mortal and otherwise.  The gamebook also rewards knowledge of Greek mythology, as a number of familiar names pop up.

The Cretan Chronicles series is perhaps the best blending of rules and setting in a gamebook.  Unlike other gamebook series, which mostly used generic rules, the Cretan Chronicles attempted to model  the feel and pathos of Greek mythology.  For example, in "Bloodfeud of Altheus," you are supposed to role-play the titular character in a suitably heroic manner.

To "encourage" such, there's the infamous Honor/Shame mechanic, where you gain Honor points for honorable actions and you also gain Shame points for (you guessed it) shameful actions.  Most notably, you were supposed to kill yourself if your Shame exceeded your Honor- and if you didn't Zeus does it for you with a thunderbolt!

Respect My Authoritah!

This gamebook is also notable for its hint mechanic.  At numerous points in the story, you have the option of performing a non-standard action.  Be wary, for if you choose to do something that No Greek Hero would do, you will be penalized!  In addition, the book's notion of what is appropriate for a Greek Hero is sometimes very arbitrary and even bizarre- a great emulation of the source material!

Another nice detail is your relationships with six different gods and goddesses.  You select a Patron deity among them, each of which has different in-game effects, and are Favored/Neutral/Disfavored by the rest, which affects your story at various points.

So, if you are a fan of Greek myths and/or Old School gaming, grab your sword, slip on your himation and read this gamebook- or die of Shame!

Movie Review: Red Sonja (1985)

This week, I wanted to give a shout out to a fun, if flawed, Swords & Sorcery romp that I watched many times on VHS when I was younger, "Red Sonja":

In this film, our titular character (played by newcomer Brigitte Nielsen) out is out to stop evil Queen Gedren (played by Sandahl Bergman), before the latter uses a powerful artifact of dark sorcery to destroy the world by flood and earthquake.  Sonja and Gedren have history: Sonja rejected Gedren's advances, so the Queen had Sonja raped and most of her family murdered.

Years later, after a magical spirit gives Sonja great sword fighting skills by and she receives training from a sword master to hone those skills, she finds that Gedren has also murdered her sister, a priestess guarding the Talisman (the aforementioned artifact of dark sorcery), whilst stealing the Talisman.  So, the Red One sets out to seek bloody vengeance (and also to save the world).

Along the way, she forms a motley party of adventurers (including Arnold Schwarzenegger playing a Conan the Barbarian expy), carves up anyone who stands in her way, and learns that not all men are evil.

This film has many, many drawbacks: Richard Fleischer, who directed "Conan the Destroyer" (1984), also helms this flick and "Red Sonja" shares many of the same problems, such as the dull direction, the significant departure from the dark, brooding, serious style of adult fantasy of "Conan the Barbarian" (1982), the weak story and lack of tension, the uninspired soundtrack, the cheap laughs, etc.

There is also plenty of bad acting and dialogue, such as this classic line:

Gedren... Where are youuuu?

Sandahl Bergman, who was supposed to be Sonja but declined, does a decent job of chewing scenery as the villain but Arnold mostly sleepwalks through completing his contractual obligations.

Speaking of which, as the third in Arnold's barbarian trilogy, this film was meant to be another Conan film but the producers ran into problems when they lost the rights to that character.  So, instead, they decided to change the main character.  Based on the character Red Sonya of Rogatino, Robert E. Howard's short story "The Shadow of the Vulture" (1934), Red Sonja is a swashbucking warrior woman popularized by Marvel Comics and set in R. E. Howard's Hyborian Age (also home to Conan the Barbarian).

Anyway, IMHO, "Red Sonja" is still fun if you take it for what it is, a lean 80s Action flick with 65 on screen murders, including the decapitation of the hapless sorcerer and one dude getting crushed to death.  The action choreography is mostly decent to good and the costume and production design (except for the Killing Machine, which was laughable even in the '80s) are excellent.

Indeed, I actually rate "Red Sonja" above "Conan the Destroyer," which I found to be rather dull.    "Red Sonja" is faster paced and filled with more action.  Queen Gedren is batshit insane and is at least funnier than the evil queen in "Conan the Destroyer".  And the kid sidekick (Prince Tarn) is way less annoying than Malak the Thief, actually has a character arc and proves to eventually be brave and useful.

Also, there's nothing really silly in "Red Sonja" on par with Zula (played by Grace Jones) wearing a tail or Andre the Giant in a rubber monster costume.

So, if you have some spare time and you're a fan of Swords & Sorcery, you could definitely do worse than spend 90 minutes back in the days of yore, when women were women and men mostly met the business end of Red Sonja's blade!

Video Game Review: "Dark Heart of Uukrul" (1989)

This week, I wanted to give a shout out to another overlooked CRPG gem from yesteryear, "Dark Heart of Uukrul":

"Dark Heart of Uukrul" is an Old School dungeon crawling CRPG where you play a party of adventurers (Fighter, Paladin, Priest and Magician) exploring the underground city of Eriosthe.  Not only must you survive and level up, but your ultimate goal is to figure out a way to defeat the eponymous dark lord.

Reminiscent of Ultima IV's innovative character creation, the computer asks a series of questions to determine your beginning stats.  Thus, each PC reflects their attitude and experience.  Additionally, within each class, there are subclasses, but what, if any, effect a subclass has upon the game is not explained, nor can it be easily deduced.

Indeed, this lack of information also shows up in other parts of the game.  Sometimes, this is a problem.  For example, no stats are given for items so finding out what they do is a process of trial-and-error.  Sometimes, this adds additional flavor and/or challenge.  For example, a particular sprite in combat can be several different creatures, so the player doesn't initially know what he's fighting until battle begins in earnest.   Old School!

Often compared unfavorably to the contemporary and well-loved Gold Box series of CRPGs (e.g., Pool of Radiance, Curse of the Azure Bonds, etc.), based on 1st edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, "Dark Heart of Uukrul" also uses a third person view for exploration and a top down view for combat.  In addition, like most CRPGs, "Dark Heart of Uukrul" uses a class/level system.  However, the similarities stop there.

Written by Ian Boswell and Martin Buis, a couple of comp sci students from New Zealand, Uukrul was a fresh perspective on CRPGs that placed a much stronger emphasis on player skill and creativity rather than combat, making it more akin to Zork and other text adventures.  As Boswell notes:

"[W]e did set out to make the game memorable, and the things the player remembers most are solving challenges, not hacking up monsters. It’s the puzzles and the plot that people remember. Both Martin and I were fond of puzzles and intellectual challenges, so we imbedded some of our favourites into the game, and created new ones of our own. The very best puzzles, I find, are ones where you see the pieces, but the “big picture” is hidden from view until you put the pieces together the right way, and then the logic dawns on you and everything makes sense."

As a result, although overshadowed by the Gold Box series, IMHO "Dark Heart of Uukrul" actually does a better job of emulating the feel of an Old School dungeon crawl, where thinking your way out of jams is more important that fighting your way out.

Speaking of dungeon crawling, Eriosthe is enormous (in today's parlance it is a megadungeon) with passages and rooms that seem to stretch out for ages.  The dungeon design is excellent, pushing the player to think.  Fortunately, there's an excellent automapping function.

Furthermore, in the best Old School tradition, you feel a real sense of dread and foreboding and you're always gambling whether to push forward or to fall back and recoup your strength because you have no idea what the heck might show up.  Speaking of which, there's still plenty of fighting to be had.

It's good that the exploration phase of the game is strong because combat is lacking for several reasons.  Firstly, although PCs can move diagonally (if there is space), they can only attack orthogonally, which leads to some strange situations.  Secondly, there are NO RANGED WEAPONS!  Consequently, your ranged offense is entirely limited to magical attacks from your Priest and Magician.  Thirdly, there are no sounds in the game.  While this actually helps in the exploration phase of the game (there are short well-written statements which add to the atmosphere), in combat the absence is noticeable.

Not known for fantasy games, Brøderbund commissioned and published "Dark Heart of Uukrul" to cash in on the popularity of CRPGs such as Wizardry and Ultima.  However, the game was a commercial failure with only 5000 sales (of which I was one).  Nevertheless, something of a cult following has developed over the years.

This is another game that isn't for everyone but if you are looking for a challenging dungeon crawler in the best Old School tradition and if you are willing overlook its shortcomings, "Dark Heart of Uukrul" just might be right for you.

Gamebook Review: "Flight from the Dark" (1984)

A couple months ago, I discussed the seminal Choose Your Own Adventure (CYOA) series of gamebooks.  In the wake of CYOA's success and the concurrent success of tabletop role-playing (most notably Dungeons & Dragons), it is unsurprising that folks would start to blend the two, publishing gamebooks with light RPG mechanics.  Today, I wanted to look at the first entry of one of the best of these hybrids, "Flight from the Dark" by Joe Dever:

In "Flight from the Dark," the reader plays the titular protagonist of the Lone Wolf series who, at this point, is an initiate and the sole survivor of the Kai monastery following a successful surprise attack by their archenemies, the Darklords.  However, the Darklords have just gotten started and Lone Wolf must race against his enemies to reach the capital in time to warn the King of the impeding danger.

"Flight from the Dark" is the first book in the Lone Wolf series, which as of today has twenty-nine books.  This probably makes the Lone Wolf series the oldest continuous gamebook, as well as perhaps the longest continuous novel with a single protagonist.

Like other pieces of interactive fiction, the Lone Wolf books are written from a second-person point of view, in present tense, which immediately puts the reader into a roleplaying mindset.  In addition, unlike CYOA (which are purely narrative), the Lone Wolf series also features very simple RPG mechanics that are clearly influenced by Dungeons & Dragons, as noted by the author in the forward:

"While working in Los Angeles in 1977 [Joe Dever] discovered a then little-known game called ‘Dungeons & Dragons’. Although the game was in its infancy, Joe at once realised its huge potential and began designing his own role-playing games along similar conceptual lines. These first games were to form the basis of a fantasy world called Magnamund, which later became the setting for the Lone Wolf books."

There are two stats in Lone Wolf, Combat Skill and Hit Points... I mean "Endurance" Points:

Combat consists of comparing the opponents' Combat Skills, using a random number generator, and referencing the result on the appropriately named Combat Results Table.  Rinse and repeat until Lone Wolf or his foe(s) are dead, hopefully the latter.

One can also see on the Action Chart above that the reader must select five of the Kai Disciplines in the first book.  Not only does this provide customization and re-readability (i.e., a reader's play though can be different with each reading), but also a basis advancement, since the reader may add one additional Discipline after each of the first five books (the later books use a different but similar system).  This also provides incentive to read the books in the correct order.

In terms of structure, the Lone Wolf books use a set of narrative bottlenecks, with a series of branching paths between each bottleneck.  This structure works better with the light RPG mechanics than a purely narrative approach, since some paths may be more optimal for a particular PC than another one.

In also must be said that many of the books feature the excellent and distinctive artwork of Gary Chalk:

As a millennial gift, Messr Dever generously allowed Project Aon to publish the Lone Wolf books online for free!  So, there's no excuse not to read them.