2077 AD was a year of note for two reasons. There were centenary celebrations for Virginia Wade's victory at Wimbledon in the women's singles, and secondly, world civilisation went to pot. British tennis might have been beyond salvation, but world leaders gamely set about wresting the world from anarchy by building a huge mechanised space station called Deadalus, that would enforce peace through a rigid code of civil conduct. And it worked. Society became so ordered that, decades leter, some people got rather bored with Deadalus intervening in their affairs. A radical new force of freedom terrorists (s'you) plans to reform the world order, and the destruction of Deadalus itself is their first daring operation.

Obviously inspired by Doom and the current slough of 3D maze blasters.

Infiltrate all levels of the space station Deadalus, destroying robot defenders and kitting out your unit.

Deadalus may have got its name from the master craftsman of Greek legend. Working for King Minos of Crete he created the labyrinth used to keep the gruesome minotaur. Deadalus is in essence a tortuous maze. Each floor consists of a series of dealed chambers linked by corridors. There is only one exit and a key is required to access future levels. Map fans are thwarted by each level being randomly generated, so that each game, or even level, are never the same twice.

Deadalus acts as god over a variety of machinery. All are attuned to your destruction. You'll come to recognise robot types and their attack methods. Some fire quickly, others ram, and others will only attack when you approach. Deadalus tracks your progress and you will encounter more robots if you retrace your steps.

If you take too long to find the exit a vicious hunter-type robot, the bugsweeper, is unleashed.

Your LAOCORN attack unit is not short of clip-ons and gun mounts. There are four standard weapons: Vulcan cannon, Laser cannon, Missile, and Arm punch. The first three of these have limited magazines that must be replenished with clips lying around and others gained from dead enemies.

The arm weapon is a limitless close-range attack to use when your ammunition is exhausted. Weapons may be powered up to varying potentials, that increases their potency, and the amount of ammunition that can be carried.

Deadalus is a tricky one. It's definitely not a great game, but perhaps an okay one. Every session leaves you thinking you've had enough, but a few hours later and you feel the urge to go further.

In its favour is the excellent presentation - with a fabulously arranged display and an effective atmosphere, largely created by the music. The problem is the random level generation. It makes them all pretty samey, and laborious to trudge through.

These parts, the majority of the game, feature pretty simplistic gameplay. Much more interesting are the levels with a clear. Deadalus would also have benefitted from more imposing enemies.

Putting its weaknesses aside, it works to a degree on a simple reflex blaster level.

Developers seem to have Doom on the brain, but few ideas beyond the basic 3D maze blaster. Deadalus competes with Doom in the visual department, but lacks the depth of gameplay to match it.

After skimming round a few levels, it's apparent that there's no more to do than find the key and the exit. Unlike the cleverly designed Doom, the levels are literally slotted together from basic blocks, making some ludicously short and others laboriously long.

Your weapons are all dull and uninspiring, even after repeated power-ups. Pity 'bout all that, because, as you see, Deadalus could have been a stunner, but like so many before, it failed to capitalise. For £90, forget it!!

The LAOCORN has an onboard generator in addition to its offensive equipment. The various uses of the generator are limited by a finite power supply, but this is occasionally replenishable:

1. Hover Jet Lifts the LAOCORN off the ground, to enable rapid propulsion. Medium energy use.

2. Plasma Barrier Brief forward energy shield against enemy fire. Low energy use.

3. Power Booster Temporary increased weapon power. Low energy use.

4. Blaze Laser Wipes out all enemies in radar range. High energy use.

5. Refresh Transfers generator energy to shield.

Graphics 88%
P. Instantly impressive 3D scaling, creating the gloomy metallicy world of Deadalus. Nice display instrumentation.
N. Gets repetitive.

Sound 91%
P. Wonderful music that adds atmosphere without intruding. Quite early Jarre/Vangelis. Backed up with superior sound effects.

Playability 71%
P. The smooth and speedy controls offer immediate gratification.
N. The game's lack of depth is quickly apparent.

Lastability 69%
P. Very challenging, as the power-ups dry up and the levels become more complex.
N. Deadalus fails to maintain a sense of expectation and excitement beyond the early levels.

Value For Money 50%
P. Hideously overpriced when Doom on the 32X is essentially a much better stab at the same thing.

Overall 70%
A rather misconceived Doom clone that is big on atmospherics, but remote on gameplay. Only for the most avid space cadets.