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One of the most eagerly awaited games of the year, Rainbird's Carrier Command, has finally arrived. So how does Realtime Software's latest epic measure live up to the promise it showed when we previewed it in our January issue?

The game puts you in command of a futuristic aircraft carrier as you battle for control of a group of 64 islands. The first eight pages of the excellently produced 64-page 'Operations Guide', provide you with background information on the importance of the islands, and why they're about to fall into enemy hands.

It seems that the islands owe their existence to an unusually high level of volcanic activity in the area, which was used for countless underground nuclear weapon tests towards the end of the last century.

A team of scientists, dispatched to investigate the islands, put forward a theory that the enormous energy, trapped in the fault below the sea, could be 'tapped' and used as a source of power. To do this, the scientists argued, each of the islands would need to be 'populated' with power stations and command centres, each maintained by service droids. It was decided that two aircraft carriers, each totally computer-controlled, would be built and sent to opposite sides of the group of islands. They would then being 'populating' each island in turn, gradually working towards the centre.

Just as each carrier was anchoring close to their designated 'home islands', a transcript was received from STANZA, the bad guys, revealing that they had tampered with the control software of one of the carriers, ACC Omega, which was now completely under their control.

If, by 12.00 tomorrow, Stanza don't receive a 15 billion dollars ransom they'll begin to systematically destroy all the islands, thus depriving the Earth of a much-needed source of energy.

You are given the helm of the other carrier, ACC Epsilon, and are faced with the daunting task of defeating STANZA before they can carry out their threat. To do this, you must either destroy ACC Omega or gain control of every island, including the enemy's home base.

You start the game, anchored off your home island, with a full complement of four Manta fighters and the same number of Walrus Amphibious assault vehicles. In addition to these, your stores also contain various bits and bobs including missiles, lasers, and bombs of all shapes and sizes, not to mention fuel pods, flares, inflatable Passive Defence Drones and Long Range Communication Pods.

This might sound like a lot of hardware, but you'll soon start running out of fuel and weapons, so a way must be found to produce additional resources for later use.

The answer comes in the form of Automatic Command Centre Builders (ACCBs). These devices come in three varieties: Resource Factory, and Defence. Once a resource ACCB has been 'planted' and a command centre built, a series of mines, rigs, fuel dumps, and ancillary buildings will be created to score the mined raw materials. These raw materials are then shipped, via the Resource Network, to Factory islands, where they are used in the manufacture of weaponry, refined fuel, and other pieces of equipment required by the carrier and its attendant arsenal.

The Resource Network is a series of underground links between many of the islands. The number of such links joining islands under your control, will determine the rate at which fuel, weapons, etc, are transported back to your Stockpile island, from where they can be shuttled aboard your carrier when it's within range. Defence islands differ from resource and factory ones in as much as they are not primarily used for production. Instead, a Defence ACCB will create a squadron of Marauder fighter drones, each armed with heat-seeking missiles. Defence islands are also protected by sea-facing and ground-to-air missile launchers, and contain runways where you can land and refuel your Mantas.

The movement between islands, the deployment of ACCBs and the subsequent management of your resources, including what should be produced when, are the major strategical elements to the game.

For the more arcade-minded amongst you, your fun will come when you reach the point where most of the neutral islands have been captured by one side or the other. Taking an enemy-held island is not easy, but you'll have a lot of fun getting blasted out of the air a few times while getting the hang of it!

To capture a hostile island, you'll need to first weaken its defences with aerial and sea-based attacks. While the enemy is still reeling from the shock, you can quickly scoot up onto the island in a Walrus and install a Virus program in the enemy's Command Centre Building.

The filled graphics in Carrier Command are nothing short of amazing; faster and smoother than anything yet seen on any home micro - 8- or 16-bit. Air attacks are the most fun; swooping down low and skimming over the surface of an enemy island, threading a path through trees and volcanoes and picking out target buildings can be incredibly invigorating, not to mention extremely dangerous.

Overall, the 'Strategy' version of the game will appeal to war gamers and strategists as well as arcaders with a little patience. For those who want a few hours of blasting, there is always the 'Action Game' which immediately plunges the player into a confrontation with the enemy.

Overall, the gameplay could be described as staccato. There are times when you wish you have another pair of hands, but there are others when the game cries out for some form of time compression facility.

For example, co-ordinating a combined air and sea attack requires split-second timing and complete mastery of the plethora of control icons on the various screens in the game. Yet, in complete contrast to such points of high drama, there are periods of up to five minutes when all there is to do is watch your carrier sail, under Autopilot control, from one island to another, perhaps changing the magnification of the map display to relieve the boredom.

Without doubt, one is fully justified in using the well-worn term 'state of the art' when describing the graphics and the sheer technical wizardry of Carrier Command. As a game, it will not be everyone's cup of tea. A high degree of application and strategical planning will be needed before you even sniff victory. If this doesn't put you off, then Carrier Command should give you hours of sophisticated pleasure. If, on the other hand, you're not prepared to work for your play, then look elsewhere.