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Fighting Fantasy #12
Space Assassin
A tyrannical despot is bent on destroying the world!
Looming above your home planet is the vast hulk of the starship Vandervecken. Aboard, the crazed scientist Cyrus is planning to unleash a gruesome experiment upon your world, which will destroy all life as it is known, leaving only hideous mutations in its wake. YOU are an assassin, and your mission is to stop him – before it is too late!
Two dice, a pencil and an eraser are all you need to make your journey. YOU decide which way to go, which dangers to risk and which monsters to fight.
Looming above your home planet is the vast hulk of the starship Vandervecken. Aboard, the crazed scientist Cyrus is planning to unleash a gruesome experiment upon your world, which will destroy all life as it is known, leaving only hideous mutations in its wake. YOU are an assassin, and your mission is to stop him – before it is too late!
Two dice, a pencil and an eraser are all you need to make your journey. YOU decide which way to go, which dangers to risk and which monsters to fight.
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First published February 1, 1985
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 27, 2014
Time to take out a megalomaniacal scientists
29 June 2012
This is the second science-fiction fighting fantasy gamebook though it has taken a different angle than Starship Traveller. This time you are a lone assassin who must sneak aboard a spaceship and assassinate the commander of the ship who happens to be a mad scientist bent on destroying as much of the universe as possible through the use of his biological weapons. From what I gathered, your planet was marked for experimentation, so it is obviously time to deal with this maniac.
The gamebook is a little different in that you have armour which slowly degrades as you make your way through the spaceship, and you also get a choice of weapons at the beginning. You can take a melee weapon, a blaster, some grenades, or a gravity bomb. However, a little hint, you can actually pick up some of these weapons (such as a blaster and a gravity bomb) as you begin exploring the ship and thus you can be a little selective in what you chose at the beginning (I believe you can only chose two weapons).
In a way this book is like a dungeon crawl, however the dungeon is a giant spaceship (actually it is not that big, but it is big enough to be able to explore). The dungeon though, like the others, tends to go in one direction, and other than a couple of choices, you generally follow along a corridor (or a maintenance tunnel) and visit whatever rooms that are connected to them. Also, unlike some of the other books, you do not necessarily need to collect certain objects to complete the adventure, however some objects make completing the adventure a little easier (or moreso the combat, if you are using the combat system, which I have not).
This was actually the first time that I have read this particular adventure, and I must admit that I have found it quite enjoyable, though I suspect it is because I am becoming a little more warmer to the science-fiction genre. Previously I really only read the ones that were set in a fantasy world, and more particularly, the fantasy world of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone (Titan). This time I am intending on giving all of them (or at least all of them that I have) a go.
29 June 2012
This is the second science-fiction fighting fantasy gamebook though it has taken a different angle than Starship Traveller. This time you are a lone assassin who must sneak aboard a spaceship and assassinate the commander of the ship who happens to be a mad scientist bent on destroying as much of the universe as possible through the use of his biological weapons. From what I gathered, your planet was marked for experimentation, so it is obviously time to deal with this maniac.
The gamebook is a little different in that you have armour which slowly degrades as you make your way through the spaceship, and you also get a choice of weapons at the beginning. You can take a melee weapon, a blaster, some grenades, or a gravity bomb. However, a little hint, you can actually pick up some of these weapons (such as a blaster and a gravity bomb) as you begin exploring the ship and thus you can be a little selective in what you chose at the beginning (I believe you can only chose two weapons).
In a way this book is like a dungeon crawl, however the dungeon is a giant spaceship (actually it is not that big, but it is big enough to be able to explore). The dungeon though, like the others, tends to go in one direction, and other than a couple of choices, you generally follow along a corridor (or a maintenance tunnel) and visit whatever rooms that are connected to them. Also, unlike some of the other books, you do not necessarily need to collect certain objects to complete the adventure, however some objects make completing the adventure a little easier (or moreso the combat, if you are using the combat system, which I have not).
This was actually the first time that I have read this particular adventure, and I must admit that I have found it quite enjoyable, though I suspect it is because I am becoming a little more warmer to the science-fiction genre. Previously I really only read the ones that were set in a fantasy world, and more particularly, the fantasy world of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone (Titan). This time I am intending on giving all of them (or at least all of them that I have) a go.
December 2, 2021
Just boring.
So apparently the guy who wrote this got all inspired by Warlock of Firetop Mountain (when it was the only FF available) and decided to write his own FF and eventually submitted it to be published. With that in mind, I guess it's not too bad.
But really, it's just a dungeon crawl, in many ways similar to WoFM - two separate corridors with side rooms that you duck in and out of; a fairly pointless detour to an alien landscape set out on a 6 by 6 grid and then a final corridor with some more rooms and traps.
The main problem with the book is the lack of story and the worst part is the ending. Defeat the baddie, turn to 400, and.... "Your mission is a success. Congratulations." That's it?
Map available here : http://outspaced.fightingfantasy.org/...
Also read it 18/4/86
So apparently the guy who wrote this got all inspired by Warlock of Firetop Mountain (when it was the only FF available) and decided to write his own FF and eventually submitted it to be published. With that in mind, I guess it's not too bad.
But really, it's just a dungeon crawl, in many ways similar to WoFM - two separate corridors with side rooms that you duck in and out of; a fairly pointless detour to an alien landscape set out on a 6 by 6 grid and then a final corridor with some more rooms and traps.
The main problem with the book is the lack of story and the worst part is the ending. Defeat the baddie, turn to 400, and.... "Your mission is a success. Congratulations." That's it?
Map available here : http://outspaced.fightingfantasy.org/...
Also read it 18/4/86
November 17, 2016
אני לא יכול להגיד שסיימתי את הספר. אבל בהחלט תפסתי את האיש הרע.
למרות ש"סיימתי" את הספר, מדפדוף נראה שפספסתי כמה סצנות מאוד נחמדות(כפרים של חייזרים, קרב טנקים וכנראה עוד כמה דברים).
מאוד נחמד להעביר את הזמן ומומלץ למי שאוהב את הסוג ספרים הזה.
למרות ש"סיימתי" את הספר, מדפדוף נראה שפספסתי כמה סצנות מאוד נחמדות(כפרים של חייזרים, קרב טנקים וכנראה עוד כמה דברים).
מאוד נחמד להעביר את הזמן ומומלץ למי שאוהב את הסוג ספרים הזה.
December 26, 2021
We died fairly early on here - a bomb did for us - but nonetheless I really enjoyed playing it. Very much a dungeon crawler type of gameplay, except with ducts and steel corridors replacing labyrinths and rocks. Lots of robotic enemies and a more complex dual combat system with separate rules for hand to hand combat and gunplay. Looking forward to playing this again.
Another play of this one, and we got a lot further this time. It remained entertaining throughout, with some imaginative jaunts through magical space and even a sojourn on a vast alien planet. Some of it is quite dastardly - a 2/3 chance of dying at one point - which spices it up a bit, and I also liked the inclusion of some maths puzzles to add to the variety of the gameplay.
Another play of this one, and we got a lot further this time. It remained entertaining throughout, with some imaginative jaunts through magical space and even a sojourn on a vast alien planet. Some of it is quite dastardly - a 2/3 chance of dying at one point - which spices it up a bit, and I also liked the inclusion of some maths puzzles to add to the variety of the gameplay.
June 4, 2016
This was alright at the start, moving about a space ship with some robot enemies etc. Then I was randomly teleported to a planet with endless grassy plains, empty forests, some aliens, an angry bear in a cave and some white water rafting before fighting a sea monster to somehow end up back on the space ship. Then thrown into some simulation tank combat only to win and fall down a gravity chute towards a monster and potential insta-death, to survive and then try to handle some Indiana Jones style tiled floor insta-death. Too random, too much luck.
Not cool....
Not cool....
June 2, 2015
I've read comments from a lot of people who don't rate 'Space Assassin', and the Fighting Fantasy sci-fi books always tended to be less popular than the fantasy ones. But this is a pretty solid read and held my attention.
The exploration of the vast ship belonging to mad scientist Cyrus is a fairly logical progression of labs and security features. There is one section set upon an entire alien planetscape which is contained aboard the ship, miles across, to house his mutant experiments. The path forward is never difficult to find, and when there are choices to be made, I found that sufficient clues and hints had been dropped to generally be able to choose wisely.
On the down side, it's a little sterile as there's very little interaction to be had with other characters except for fighting them, a couple of the villain's bio experiments in progress being the only exceptions.
It has to be said that this is easier than most gamebooks. I completed it first time as a kid and only had a single instant failure section before completing it this time round. But that isn't necessarily any bad thing. The story is carried along through exploration and it's not necessary for every book to be punishingly difficult. This actually came as a sweet relief after playing 'Khare' over the previous couple of days!
Not one of the most memorable books, I suspect it won't blaze in my memory like 'City of Thieves' or 'Deathtrap Dungeon'. But it's a pleasant and interesting read in its own right.
The exploration of the vast ship belonging to mad scientist Cyrus is a fairly logical progression of labs and security features. There is one section set upon an entire alien planetscape which is contained aboard the ship, miles across, to house his mutant experiments. The path forward is never difficult to find, and when there are choices to be made, I found that sufficient clues and hints had been dropped to generally be able to choose wisely.
On the down side, it's a little sterile as there's very little interaction to be had with other characters except for fighting them, a couple of the villain's bio experiments in progress being the only exceptions.
It has to be said that this is easier than most gamebooks. I completed it first time as a kid and only had a single instant failure section before completing it this time round. But that isn't necessarily any bad thing. The story is carried along through exploration and it's not necessary for every book to be punishingly difficult. This actually came as a sweet relief after playing 'Khare' over the previous couple of days!
Not one of the most memorable books, I suspect it won't blaze in my memory like 'City of Thieves' or 'Deathtrap Dungeon'. But it's a pleasant and interesting read in its own right.
January 15, 2024
As years pass, my tastes drift ever away from straight fantasy and towards the realm of science fiction. I do wish the Fighting Fantasy series had done more of the latter. Maybe they stopped because the scifi books invariably rather sucked... or maybe the books sucked because their hearts were never fully in it. Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
But yes, Space Assassin rather does suck. It's basically your regular dungeon crawl with a shiny metal coat of paint over it... except for the bits where it inexplicably beams down on a fantasy planet with a whole bunch of completely nondescript grassland to trudge through basically at random. The luck score does nothing at all - I didn't find a single actual luck test, though I guess I still used it in fights. The ending is a disappointment even by this book's standards.
On the other hand, it has a few nice additions to the rules that I hope will be retained in future scifi installments. And the art's good and there is a modicum of science fiction atmosphere. Half star for all of that. Still not enough to go back to it, though.
But yes, Space Assassin rather does suck. It's basically your regular dungeon crawl with a shiny metal coat of paint over it... except for the bits where it inexplicably beams down on a fantasy planet with a whole bunch of completely nondescript grassland to trudge through basically at random. The luck score does nothing at all - I didn't find a single actual luck test, though I guess I still used it in fights. The ending is a disappointment even by this book's standards.
On the other hand, it has a few nice additions to the rules that I hope will be retained in future scifi installments. And the art's good and there is a modicum of science fiction atmosphere. Half star for all of that. Still not enough to go back to it, though.
January 13, 2024
I just read some very interesting blog posts about Andrew Chapman and why he did not write more Fighting Fantasy despite the fact that what he wrote was excellent.
He also wrote the only two player Fighting Fantasy books which I have and will definitely have to try out!
The last science fiction Fighting Fantasy book was “Starship Traveller” and I have to admit that I had fun with it, despite my utter failure.
SKILL 8, STAMINA 18, LUCK 11
Not great for an assassin but it will have to do.
Of course, another flaw of the CGB program is that it has no provision for gunfire.
Whew! 7 PORTABOTS (7/2) shredded my armor and hurt me badly but I did beat them finally! It was made all the worse by the hoops I had to jump through to manage the CGB program.
It might be an oversite but in this adventure you CANNOT use your LUCK in combat! Which makes my high LUCK a little less fortunate.
Well even after eating a Pep Pill I was eaten by a SCALLOPIAN FANG (9/10). I could have run away but I’m a space assassin damn it!
He also wrote the only two player Fighting Fantasy books which I have and will definitely have to try out!
The last science fiction Fighting Fantasy book was “Starship Traveller” and I have to admit that I had fun with it, despite my utter failure.
SKILL 8, STAMINA 18, LUCK 11
Not great for an assassin but it will have to do.
Of course, another flaw of the CGB program is that it has no provision for gunfire.
Whew! 7 PORTABOTS (7/2) shredded my armor and hurt me badly but I did beat them finally! It was made all the worse by the hoops I had to jump through to manage the CGB program.
It might be an oversite but in this adventure you CANNOT use your LUCK in combat! Which makes my high LUCK a little less fortunate.
Well even after eating a Pep Pill I was eaten by a SCALLOPIAN FANG (9/10). I could have run away but I’m a space assassin damn it!
June 13, 2023
An okay entry in the Fighting Fantasy series. This book has nice illustrations and some fun and interesting encounters (okay, not the one with the space cleaners--WTF). I also liked the different combat rules and found the armour system interesting; it results in a lot of extra rolling per combat, but also tends to make combat shorter due to extra damage.
Where the book fails is its haphazard stitching-together of encounters and some questionable decision-making by the main character, who is less space assassin than bounty hunter. The book also ends abruptly with an unsatisfying, "Hey, you did it. Go you," sort of way. It's fine.
Where the book fails is its haphazard stitching-together of encounters and some questionable decision-making by the main character, who is less space assassin than bounty hunter. The book also ends abruptly with an unsatisfying, "Hey, you did it. Go you," sort of way. It's fine.
June 2, 2019
Although I somehow managed to complete this on my first attempt,I found this one average at best!! Like all the Sci_ Fi books do far I have not found one I really like as yet!!
February 20, 2021
A good CYOA with a more detailed fighting system.
December 18, 2022
The first really solid science fiction entry in the series. Full review: https://refereeingandreflection.wordp...
December 3, 2021
(6) Beaucoup de temps libre cette semaine ! J’en ai profité pour venir à bout du Mercenaire de l’espace, dépit fantastique number 12, et de son insignifiance suprême. En gros, un savant fou fait sa job de savant fou (torture, expériences, domination du monde, etc), il faut donc l’arrêter. Une organisation transplanétaire bidon prend modèle sur les states en envoyant un mercenaire faire la job sale. Sa mission : ne pas crever d’ennui en zigouillant les robots et les mollusques (oui oui) sur son chemin. Il sera aidé par un arsenal digne du film Commando (le Schwarzy quintessentiel), grenades (oui !), désintégrateur (OUI !), veste pare-rayons pis toute qui va lui servir genre trois fois dans le livre, pis, euh, un écureuil volant qui parle. Le dernier paragraphe est bouclé en 4 lignes qui disent en gros « tu as gagné, bravo toi » et je me suis dit que si cette perte de temps sidérale n´amène pas un individu à réévaluer ses priorités dans sa vie, rien ne le fera.
points positifs : la couverture
points négatifs : le reste
points positifs : la couverture
points négatifs : le reste
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews