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Normally, my loudly voiced opinions are an unwavering edifice to the obstinate. I'm not one to hedge my bets. Crusoe however has caused much rewriting in the Keaton notepad.

Initially I thought it an overly ambitious and largely inaccessible graphic adventure, noteworthy only for its ornate presentation. Then, while dispensing the usual barrage of expletives (aka the final option) I stumbled across *most* unexpected retorts. As you might imagine, I warmed to the adventure immediately.

In fact, this interchange became something of a game within the game. The program's foul file is surprisingly large and a quite inordinate amount of time was spent plumbing its depths. Modesty forbids me from revealing more.

Interest duly rekindled, I went on to further explore the island, and was eventually won over. The presentation is superb. The display is split between a representation of the island and a status log, which reveals, in archaic script, your current physical condition, the time and day and even the prevailing weather!

As Crusoe, your objective is to escape from your sandy atoll and return to Blighty. On hand is much useful junk (violins, dead birds and doorknobs) and naturally enough Man Friday also lurks nearby. The action itself is played out in real-time via the map display. Standard Save Game facilities are available, although I was rather miffed to discover that Quit only re-energises your supplies and doesn't return you to a start position.

Get yourself in a pickle and you've no choice but to kill the power! An over-dramatic option, I'm sure you'll agree. Still, whoever said life on a desert island was a bunch of beefjerky? Not I!