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The fairey Swordfish was used for aerial search and destroy missions against submarines during the Second World War. This game invites you to take the role of a German submarine commander gien the task of delaying the allied landings in the Mediterranean under the relentless attacks of the marauding Swordfishes. Nothing is wrong with the game's concept but its realisation is a different kettle of Swordfishes.

The only controls you have are the function keys for dive, surface, open and close hatch, with the joystick being used for targetting torpedoes, moving the anti-aircraft gun and firing these weapons.

The screen shows a view across a bay and the convoy ships move across your line of sight with the planes flying towards you "Beach Head"-style. To stave off this bombardment you must shoot down the planes and torpedo the ships without sustaining too much damage yourself. Therein lies the problem. The gun can only be launched underwater. The result is that you have to decide which is the greater threat, the reality is that you get shot to pieces.

I found the game frustrating to play, the torpedoes leave no trace of their progress and the gun is difficult to aim correctly. Also, the amount of damage which the submarine can sustain is set to such a low tolerance that the game no sooner starts than it ends.

Despite the similarities to one of the Beach Head screens, the game adds just enough to make it acceptable as a game in its own right. It is limited in its scope and frustrating to play. In my case, frustration has given way to indifference.