As per usual, I've ended up engaging in ludic self-indulgence late on a Sunday evening (and let's be honest, what better time for it?). This time around, I've been indulging in my private passion for a bit of Warhammer self-love, throttling the old gaming pole-arm in search of a bit of spirit self-satisfaction. Being a massive fan of the Warhammer universe - one which is very much primed for a bit of the old innuendo (power-fisting anyone? How about a spot of rear penetration using a rod of retribution?) - today I engaged in a bit of tomfoolery with Games Workshop's 'Paths To Victory' chose-your-own adventure rpg books. Making use of the old 'Fighting Fantasy' format, these books adapt a simplified version of GW's wargaming system to the solitaire gamebook format, and quite effectively.
On this occasion I played the Beneath the City of the White Wolf gamebook, to good effect. Typically of the warhammer universe, this fuses gritty fantasy with a Call of Cthulhu-like investigation into strange and reality-bending cults to pretty good effect. Whilst this recapitulates the classic 'Fighting Fantasy' format, GW certainly know their audience - this is definitely written for the more mature gamer, incorporating typically whacked-out GW ultra-violence with oddly prescient political statements (my encounter with a group of the rat-catchers discussing the problems of capitalistic wage-labour in the sewers under Middenheim).
Great stuff. On the Gaming Self-Abuse Guage (tm), this scores 7.5/10.
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