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In this, the second part of the Godkiller series, the protagonist has been stripped of his deity-vanquishing powers. Removed from time and space, he's dumped squarely in the demonic city of Dis (which shares its name with the city in Dante's Divine Comedy). It represents the sixth through ninth circles of hell, and inspiration clearly apparent in the look and feel of the graphics. Surrounded by guardians of the underworld, you take on the role of the titular Chthonian Godkiller as you explore the map in search of fifteen lost souls and three mystical artefacts. Recovering these items enables you to reconnect to the primary source of the universe and exact revenge.

One of the latest in the long line of games developed with the aid of the Mojon Twins' Churrera game engine, Godkiller 2: Exile shares many game mechanics with Land Of Mire Mare. Enemies include skeletons and deathly knights who guard various areas, and a number of gates bar progress until the keys to unlock them are found.

Portals, strewn around the map, transport you to other locations. The large map and its labyrinthian nature mean there's plenty to explore. Side A of the cassette contains the game, while side B provides some welcome backstory presented in a slideshow format. An impressively put-together (and spoiler-free!) image of the game map is also included and is recommended to have close by as you play.

The first screen provides a power-up, granting you the ability to fire magical energy bolts at enemies, but after that you're on your own.

Godkiller 2: Exile is heavy on atmosphere and exploration, but it requires quite a bit of trial-and-error to get through.

The presentation is both good and 'could do better' in equal parts. The inlay, map and background story are fantastic but there's nothing in the way of a controls list included. The M key is necessary for picking up items and activating portals (even when you're using a joystick) and the only way to know this is either through a visit to the website or by uncovering this fact accidentally.

The impressive map looks organic with its bushes and rocks, but the collectable items blend in too well with them. Certain tiles at the far north of the map hide parts of the player character when you walk by, and although you can move in eight directions, you're only able to fire the magic bolts in four directions.

While the game makes use of the full screen, having more than two sprites moving around causes it to slow down - there's a good reason why the classics tended to use two-thirds (or less) of the screen in order to keep things running smoothly. Last, the unique items you need to collect respawn in their original positions when you leave and re-enter the area.

After selecting your control method and starting the game, you may feel a bit lost - no modern-day handholding here. Godkiller 2: Exile has the potential to be a great game but loses a few points due to its rough edges. I'm looking forward to the final part of the trilogy and I hope that some of the issues here have been addressed in the forthcoming sequel.

God Killer 2 has an attractive graphic appearance (with some exceptions, see below) - albeit each screen can sometimes be a little bit busy with background graphics hiding objects that you need to collect.

This is another game that would really benefit from a 128K tune warbling along in the background as you play - there's a reasonably good tune on the menu but then deathly silence ensues, other than footsteps and basic effects. The game engine slows down with very little happening on the screen and the animations of the baddies don't match the splendour of the rest of the graphics - little failings that let the overall feeling down.

Control Keys: Q, A, O, P, SPACE (and M!)
Joystick: Kempston, Sinclair
Keyboard Play: Responsive movement and action
Use of colour: Nice vibrant colours, but some items are hard to see
Graphics: Great character and enemy sprites. Scenery has a distinctive architecture
Sound: Neil Parsons' catchy, wistful AY title track does a good job of setting the mood. Basic spot effects throughout
General rating: Potentially great game let down by a few simple oversights, like lack of in-game music