Publisher: Adventure International
Price: £9.95
Memory: 48K

The second game, Secret Mission, has more of a plot and places you on the inside of a nuclear reactor which is threatened by a suicide bomber.

The detctive-cum-spy format is set in a futuristic world where you must learn the function of numerous control panels and must find ways to pass security doors guarded by video cameras and electronic security systems. The reactor building is split into a number of colour coded levels and the first task is to discover the correct passes to enter protected sections.

Both programs are well produced and the idea of providing broad hints at difficult points provides an incentive to carry one if you get stuck - which will happen, I assure you.

The next in the series can also be found under the title Mission impossible, if you have an old copy. The opening sequences of the game are based on that bygone TV series of the same name and the TV people objected to the use of the title.

This one is slightly different from the two preceding games in the series, in that it is not a treasure hunting/storing Adventure. There is, instead, a definite goal that must be attained.

The game starts off with you finding yourself in a room with only a tape recorder for company. Playing the tape informed me, Mr Phelps, that my mission (should I decide to accept it) was to stop a saboteur's time bomb destroying an automated nuclear reactor. The saboteur had a heart complaint and, planning suicide with the bomb, was still around. To make movement inside the building difficult, he had rewired the security system!

When the tape had stopped playing, I searched the office for the envelope and keys promised me on the tape, but there was none to be found.

To put it mildly, I was well and truly stumped, so I got on the phone to Helpline Headquarters (Keith's place) and asked him if my version of the game was corrupted?

Keith retorted with a small laugh and mentioned something about moving around a bit and everything would fall into place. He could have given me a bit more help. I cursed under my breath - so much for "staff" perks! But then suddenly, just as he had said, everything started happening.

I heard a thump and soon found the saboteur lying on the floor, dead, together with a torn and completely unreadable map. It seemed I was on my own again. Only pride prevented me from phoning Keith again, but I managed to convince myself that I could, somehow, solve the game alone!

After a bit of exploration, I managed to obtain a pass that allowed me through some of the security doors around the reactor, but in a moment of stupidity I paid no heed to caution and somehow set off the detonation sequences of the bomb. Within a few moves - BOOOM - I was dead!

After a few days' hard work I managed to win through and was rather disappointed that, after all that brain-bashing, I was not rewarded with anything more than a "Well done".

I felt that the text was slightly lacking in atmosphere, so for once I have to say that playing the game with the graphics ON is an advantage, to compensate.

This game is rated under Scott's own difficulty level as advanced, and I believe him. So don't let this one be your first introduction to Scott's series - try a couple of easier ones first, to become familiar with Scott's own brand of logic.