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Aside from the rather naff packaging, Laser Squad is one of the best games I have ever played on any computer. It's one or two-player tactical warfare situation on a small scale with great graphics, sound, playability and hookability to boot. One-player it's great. Two-player it's unbeatable.

You are put in command of a group of around half a dozen characters, each with different statistics concerning weaponry and basic strength (both manually and characteristically). The group's role depends on which player you are an dwhich of the three basic scenarios that you can choose to play.

The first is the Assassination.

Player one plays the Laser Squad, a band of Rebels given the job of assassinating Sterner Regix, one of the biggest crime bosses. Player two takes the role of Sterner and his house security droids, each armed with high powered lasers. Player one wins if he manages to kill Sternet within 20 game turns (cycles). Player two wins if he manages to wipe out the Laser Squad.

Second comes Moonbase Assault.

As before, player one takes the part of the Laser Squad, who this time have to attack a moonbase from inside, wiping out all the databanks and computer analysers in the base. Player two has to defend it. Player one wins if he manages to wipe out all the computers. Player two wins if he manages to wipe out the laser squad.

Third is Rescue from the mines.

The Laser Squad has to go down into an alien mining colony and rescue the three humans imprisoned there. The aliens have to stop them. Player one wins if the humans are rescued. Player two wins if he manages to wipe out five humans, laser squad or not.

Before a scenario, each player has to select armour and weapons for their respective teams. You are presented with cash and have to buy the best armour and most powerful weapon you can, which is a painstaking process. You have a lot of weapons to choose from, which one you choose depends on where you are going to fight. It's no good having a mega destructive rocket launcher if you're going to be fighting in an enclosed area. You have to deploy your characters. For the uninitiated, deployment is a merely positioning your characters in their start positions. The areas you can deploy in are highlighted, and the computer won't let you deplot anywhere else. Once all this is done, you can get into the game.

A plan of the map can be called up by selecting Scanner on the pop-up menu. On it you can see the positions of all your men, plus the positions of the enemy in any of your men's field of vision, which extends 45' either side of the direction a man is facing.

It's this 'line of sight' rule that governs the combat rules. If you have your back to an opponent, you won't be able to shoot at him, basically because it won't register on your scanner, or even on the main display. You can scroll the main display around, but you won't find any enemy units, which is far more realistic than some previous efforts.

Each man has a number of Action points, and it's these that govern how much that character can do during a turn (it costs one action point (AP) to turn through 45', four to walk forward over level ground etc) and once his supply has worn out, he can't do anything else until the next turn. To move him about, rotate him using the left and right keys, and push forward for him to move in the direction he's facing, and pull back to make him walk backward.

Graphics are large, colourful, full of character and instantly recognisable. The attention to detail is amazing.

Sound is fab. It's actually quite amazing the sounds Mr Gollop has managed to get out of the little rubber-keyed thing.

Laser Squad is one of the hottest games I've ever played. If that isn't enough, Target is releasing expansion packs for the game, with more scenarios and more ideas. Me, I want to see a construction set.

In the mansion in the first scenario there are a couple of bathrooms, each complete with a loo and a sink, as well as lots of other rooms, all fully furnished and some even have some pretty attractive carpet.