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It's said that variety is the spice of life, and I'm inclined to agree. After adventuring in untold numbers of mazes to kill ferocious beasts, I found it refreshing to open the file on Infocom's Deadline, a game of detection.

Inside the file was a large Inspector's casebook packed with information, from how to take fingerprints to making that all-important arrest, including a photograph of the position of the body, and statements made by the victim's family.

All this gave the impression of a straightforward case of suicide - but being an Adventurer I know that things are never that simple!

The action takes place in a large country house and its grounds. The grounds are the pride of a gardener who becomes indifferent if you go rummaging around in his rose beds, until he decides to show you, that is! The body was found in the library, which appears to have only one entrance, and was locked from the inside.

To solve the mystery, you have to deal with five people, not counting the lawyer, newsboy, or whoever else may happen to call in. Each character responds different when questioned, so be careful. If someone feels you are getting a little too close for comfort - you could be the next victim! End of game!

Deadline, true to its name, gives you just twelve hours to crack the case. Timing is all important, as characters going about their daily business unintentionally uncover new evidence. It is vital you are on hand to receive their statements for, once given, they are not repeated.

Like all good detective stories, once started, this game is very hard to put down. Until, that is, you have found the perfect solution. For Deadline, unlike other adventure games, has many different endings. It's only on finding the perfect solution that you are given a summary of the game.

As with all Infocom adventures, the extent of the vocabulary is very impressive, and very rarely did my full-sentence commands get the response "I don't understand that sentence".

Deadline, for the Atari with a minimum of 32K comes from Infocom on two discs, at £34.50. Expensive perhaps, but worth every penny!