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In Combat Lynx, Durrell Software have come up with a unique and exciting war game. As the pilot of a fully-armed and potentially lethal Lynx helicopter, you are required to provide air support for four bases. These are constantly under threat of attack by enemy ground forces. You have a whole arsenal of weapons at your disposal, including landmines, wire-guided and anti-tank missiles, air-to-air missiles, and gun pods.

You can select any mix of weapons systems or a standard load. Your defence can be offensive or defensive and, to help you in this, you've access to a constantly updated intelligence map. This shows the ground contours, the positions of your bases and the dispositions of enemy forces.

From this you can decide where best to lay your mines and where to find the enemy vehicles which you can then strafe with your guns or destroy with your missiles.

While this is going on, you're constantly under attack by enemy missiles. Luckily these aren't guided, and can be easily avoided once you get the hang of the controls.

They're not the only hazards, however - because, like any flying machine, you have a limited range and need to keep a watchful eye on the fuel and temperature gauges.

The instrument panel also incorporates an airspeed indicator, altimeter, compass, and a very useful map co-ordinates indicator which relates directly to the intelligence map.

You can preset the co-ordinates of a particular target and then watch as your position winds down to coincide with them as you guide your machine towards it. Don't do as I did and become so interested in this that you fly into a hillside!

There's more to the game than merely zapping the enemy. Your bases sustain damage and casualties occur in the defence. The wounded have to be taken to hospital (Base No 1) and movements of fresh troops are undertaken by means of your helicopter.

Equally inevitable is the fact that as you get airborne with a helicopter full of wounded, a desperate call for help comes through from a base under heavy attack. What do you do?

It's not for the young or slow of reflex, as flying the helicopter, avoiding missiles and firing the weapons takes a great deal of acquired skill.

There are at least fifteen separate keys to use, some having dual and triple function depending on the situation. But I do feel that some of these could have been situated in a slightly more convenient way.

The graphics are highly detailed, extremely colourful and very well defined, and I was particularly impressed with the realistic way in which the weapons systems worked.

There are four levels. The "easy" still required a great deal of skill and the "hardest" was, for me, virtually impossible. Together with the very professional packaging, this all adds up to a superb game, thoroughly recommended.

Adam Young