Faith, Hope and Charity take to the skies again

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During the war the Mediterranean island of Malta found itself under attack from wave after wave of German planes.

In those troubled times all the island had in the way of air defence were three ancient Gloster Gladiators. They became known as Faith, Hope and Charity for reasons you might guess. Now you can relive the situation in BBC Soft's excellent new game Canyon.

As one of the defenders of the enbattled state of Asdel you only have three biplanes to repel the unwarranted aggression of your warlike neighbour of Xar.

On their side they have fighter bom bers, missile boats, mines and rather unpleasant giant flame throwers. In other words, overwhelmingly superior forces.

In essence it's just a version of the old arcade game where you journey from left to right along a tunnel avoid ing obstacles on the way. This time you are travelling from top to bottom of the screen along one of a series of 24 canyons. These progres sively get more difficult to negotiate and become more heavily defended. The Xarian forces come at you thick and fast and the game becomes a test of reactions and nerve. You can nearly always avoid a Xarian opponent but you lose points if he gets by.

The one thing in your favour is that the enemy fleet and their accompany ing aircraft have to attack Asdel via a series of narrow canyons. This makes them easy pickings if you are quick enough.

The problem is that the canyon walls are high and irregular and the islands in the middle of the river have mountains just waiting for you to hit them.

Of course the Xarians, with their advanced technology, aren't worried by the obstacles but you in your little radar-less plane with its one pitiful cannon are all too vulnerable.

The controls are simple to use and well explained. You can choose the speed of the game, the number of the enemy you meet and the width of the canyon you fly down, each having four levels of difficulty. This allows you to match the game conditions to suit each player.

If you find the going too hard you can always stop the game and start again with new difficulty factors. There are also three special practice games to help you improve your skills. Can you get through the enemy fleet, thwart his attack and eventually reach Xar itself, there to be met by the Final Question?

Well you might be able to, but I certainly can't - though as soon as I've finished writing this I'll be back trying. The game is fascinating. The gra phics are good, the instructions excellent (you get an instructive little booklet) and the whole thing is a pleasure.

Pete Bibby