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It is excellent to see a new wargame covering the World War II North African campaign in detail.

The game presents five scenarios, each covering a major battle in this campaign. Detailed scrolling maps allow the player to have a grasp of both local and overall strategy. All kinds of land forces are involved - tanks, infantry, aircraft, artillery, etc - as well as all the different nations.

Commands can be issued by joystick or from the keyboard, and the game plays in accelerated real-time. There are no turns as such - units trundle about following orders set them until one player freezes the action and issues new ones. As units have an I.Q., sometimes they even act on their own initiative. The battles end when "victory conditions" are met by either side. A score and leadership rating is given.

One of the excellent aspects of this program is that either a computer or human opponent can be chosen for either side. Numerous nuances have been added to facilitate gameplay. Sides can be weighted to aid novice players. Sound effects, radio messages, and the ability to redefine unit graphics and speed up/slow down play are just some of the attention to detail which Microprose have included.

Other features include changes in map colour to represent night/day, and on the XL, a flashback facility to see the highlights of the battle. Overall, a superb offering which makes this king of wargame a joy to play.

G.C.