Freeway Fighter
{{Short description|1985 single-player roleplaying gamebook written by Ian Livingstone}}
{{Infobox book
|image= FF13 Freeway Fighter.jpg
|caption=The original Puffin Books cover (1985)
|author=Ian Livingstone
|illustrator=Kevin Bulmer
|cover_artist=Jim Burns
| genre = Science fiction
| series = Fighting Fantasy
{{unbulleted list
| Puffin number: 13
| Wizard number: 23
}}
|published=Puffin: 1985
Dell/Laurel-Leaf: 1986
|media_type = Print (Paperback)
|isbn= 0-14-031710-4
|isbn_note=(Puffin)
{{ISBN|1-84046-565-4}} (Wizard)
}}
Freeway Fighter is a single-player roleplaying gamebook written by Ian Livingstone, illustrated by Kevin Bulmer and originally published in 1985 by Puffin Books. It was later republished by Wizard Books in 2005. It forms part of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy series. It is the 13th in the series in the original Puffin series ({{ISBN|0-14-031710-4}}) and 23rd in the modern Wizard series ({{ISBN|1-84046-565-4}}).
Rules
{{main|Fighting Fantasy}}
Freeway Fighter was the first Fighting Fantasy title after House of Hell to feature an additional game mechanic: both the player's character and their vehicle have attributes for combat, as there is a combination of both individual and vehicle-based combat. The player's vehicle must also be continually supplied with petrol, with the fuel gauge reaching zero resulting in failure and ending the game. The title also features only 380 references as opposed to the typical 400.
Story
Freeway Fighter is a science-fiction adventure scenario in which the hero must journey through the wilderness to find needed supplies from an oil refinery, to save his town New Hope.{{cite book|last=Schick |first=Lawrence|authorlink=Lawrence Schick|title=Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role-Playing Games|publisher=Prometheus Books |year=1991|isbn=0-87975-653-5|page=366}} Game designer Lawrence Schick describes the scenario as being the same type as Mad Max or Car Wars.
The story takes places in a post-apocalyptic United States, after much of the world's population has fallen victim to a deadly plague. The survivors huddle together in isolated settlements, while the roads are dominated by lawless nomads in heavily armed vehicles. The player takes the role of a citizen of the town New Hope who must drive their armed Dodge Interceptor motorcar across the wastes in order to procure a tanker filled with a fresh supply of petrol for their community. The story also provides a secondary quest: locating and rescuing a kidnapped New Hope leader from outlaws.
Comic
A comic series based on Freeway Fighter was published by Titan Comics in May 2017.Judge Dredd Megazine #383, 16 May 2017, pp. 38-41{{Cite web|url=http://www.fightingfantasy.com/freeway-fighter|title=Freeway Fighter|website=www.fightingfantasy.com|access-date=2018-01-02}}
See also
- Freeway Warrior, four post-apocalyptic gamebooks written by Joe Dever, known for the Lone Wolf series
- Battlecars, an earlier wargame by Ian Livingstone with a similar setting
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{cite web
| title=Freeway Fighter on the official Fighting Fantasy website
| url=http://www.fightingfantasygamebooks.com/ff23.htm}}
- {{cite web
| title=Freeway Fighter on the Wizard Books website
| url=http://www.iconbooks.co.uk/wizard/wbook.cfm?isbn=1-84046-565-4
| access-date=2007-04-29
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070814044334/http://www.iconbooks.co.uk/wizard/wbook.cfm?isbn=1-84046-565-4
| archive-date=2007-08-14
| url-status=dead
}}
- {{cite web
| title=Freeway Fighter on gamebooks.org
| url=http://www.gamebooks.org/show_item.php?id=50}}
- {{cite web|title=Freeway Fighter on the Internet Archive record of the old fightingfantasy.com site |url=//www.fightingfantasy.com/ffb13.htm |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050403202823/http://www.fightingfantasy.com/ffb13.htm |archivedate=April 3, 2005 }}
{{Fighting Fantasy}}
Category:Fighting Fantasy gamebooks