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Taking control of a new hydrofoil - the HMS Lancer - the player's task is to penetrate an enemy network of inland waterways and destroy as many naval bases as possible.

The action is displayed on a horizontally scrolling screen which shows the river and surrounding banks in forced perspective 3D.

The player's gunboat starts at a refuelling depot, and travels inland with an arsenal of homing missiles, forward-firing torpedoes, and rear-launched depth charges with which to destroy the enemy.

The river banks are populated by hostile installations, ranging from fuel and ammo stores to missile-launching bases. Deadly helicopters, submarines and gunboats also provide problems.

The mission ends when the boat sustains 100% damage, the engine overheats or runs out of fuel, or the player heads for the open sea.

Although Christmas is the time of goodwill, I'm afraid that it would be a crime to admit anything other than complete disgust at Piranha's latest "full-price" offering.

Gunboat looks like it was cobbled together in a couple of weeks, and has slow and jerky scrolling that can't keep up with the boat's movement. The graphics are simply rubbish: infantile sprites whizz around the screen like things possessed, and the backdrops are hardly worthy of a budget production.

To complement the incredible barrage of enemy fire, the control is awkward, making the gameplay difficult, unrewarding and very limited indeed.

Once you've stuck at Gunboat long enough to master (or at least be able to use) the controls, you realise that the game isn't actually worth the effort.

The graphics are blocky and move jerkily, and the screen is cluttered with featureless grey blobs. Death seems to be a particularly easy feat to accomplish, and the general presentation quality is low, with a barrage of confusing and none-too-good sound effects.

This is definitely *not* one for the Christmas list, unless you're expecting Santa the Hun.

Presentation 62%
Fiddly controls, with three weapons accessed from the keyboard.

Graphics 31%
Weak scrolling, jerky animation and bland backdrops.

Sound 42%
No tunes, but plenty of white noise.

Hookability 29%
Difficult from the start, and it gets worse...

Lastability 17%
The poor playability, graphics, and high difficulty, are all likely to deter prolonged interest.

Overall 20%
A poor strategy/shoot-'em-up that fails to appeal at any level.