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One thing is guaranteed: this game will make you a new man, or woman, or mixture of the two. Subtitled 'building a better body', it has nothing to do with weight-lifting or aerobics.

The Mad Doctor, Dr. Franz Johann Blockenspirl of Strudelberg, has a creative urge more akin to God than an artist. In an orgy of spare part surgery, he wants to create a perfect human being. The Doc's identity is the one you adopt if you take up the challenge.

Strudelberg consists of several locations: the Doctor's castle, the poor part of the village, the centre of the village, the graveyard and Lightening Hill. Within these locatins are the rooms of this 3D graphic adventure.

The Doctor starts off in his living quarters of his castle and he must venture forth to find the spare parts, and tools, to build his creation. While going about his necromantic deeds, he must not upset the villagers and underground passages provide a cloak of secrecy for him whenever possible.

The screen display has an action window showing the 3D scene. Under this is the text and status window. This shows the state of the Doctor's health and energy levels, his location, time of day, attitude of the villagers and an option menu.

Each location gives a different set of possibilities which may be scrolled onto the menu or selected by manipulation of the joystick with the fire button pressed. For example, in his laboratory the menu relates to the examination of the corpses. This is necessary to select the best parts for his creation. In the village, however, the menu relates to examining the villages, attacking them and carrying off the bodies.

The villagers lead lives of their own, wandering about at random. At night hardly anyone is around, but during the day the place is teeming with action. Should the Doctor choose to attack someone when others are present, they will rush to the aid of their friend and the Doctor's life will be in danger.

Easy pickings can be found in the graveyard but the condition of the corpses vary. A certain amount of GBH is therefore necessary to accomplish the Doctor's task. Equipment is the other essential for synthesising life and luckily the village has a college and a hospital which are fully equipped. A certain degree of reading around the subject is also necessary.

When the creature has been built, it gains life by being exposed to electrical disturbances on Lightening Hill. Next it is presented to the villagers in the village hall, where the Mad Doctor will be judged on his creation. A perfect specimen will be hailed as a breakthrough, a poor one will seal the Doctor's fate and he will be hanged.

Despite the rather lurid subject of this adventure, it is totally absorbing. The graphics are passable, though not great, but the sound effects are very good indeed.

Nice to see a game with plenty of body.