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Overrun! is, to quote the cover, 'a tactical game of modern land warfare' spanning combat in the Arab/Israeli October War of '73, present day and future Middle East conflict and of course the next big battle - conventional war in Central Europe.

Based around the highly successful Typhoon Of Steel game system (an improved version of the evergreen Panzer Strike!) Overrun! is primarily concerned with individual unit action which is recreated literally blow by blow. Each square on the 30 x 90 map is 50 yards in size - this is where Typhoon and Panzer proved most powerful as wargames. No higher level action here, it's all 'down in the dirt' battling throughout.

As well as the standard military hardware currently serving in the various modern theatres of war Overrun! also provides room for future battles with prototype weapons such as the Russian T-94 Main Battle Tank, reactive armour, FOGM missiles, Mil-Mi 23 Havoc helicopters and more.

Variety is the spice of life but Overrun! isn't too hot in flavour with only the eight Middle East and Central Europe hypothetical scenarios. Thankfully, a build scenario option is available (with an Auto Build option within).

The control system is easy enough to use, despite the awkward 1-8 layout for cursor movement. How about improving on this, SSI? It may be the standard now but for veterans it's a nuisance and for novices it's at times murder. Following orders, play is conducted using the 'pulse' system to determine firing and movement order. Slow yes but realistic enough to offer a good sense of low-scale (i.e. individual) combat.

Play is, as ever, strong to very strong in challenge - one game involving the scenario 'Shootout on the E4' saw meagre US forces holding against a bottle-necked mass of Soviet armour for all of two hours. Sporadic attacks and constant probing of the US defences saw limited combat building up to a devastating all out attack through the trees. Very sneaky but ultimately very effective as the US units crumbled under the computer's Red forces. A challenge and a half this most certainly is. With anti-tank, missiles, HEAT (High Explosive Anti Tank) shells and Mil-Mi 24 Hind helicopters battles are over a lot quicker than in Typhoon Of Steel and Napoleon.

The 'what if' potential of Overrun! is one of the game's strong points and through this the player gets to create history rather than recreate it. The mechanics of play work as well as any other recent SSI game but the potential for extensive coverage of modern conflicts has been missed.

Presentation 87%
Technical detail abounds, extensive specifications with highly informative briefing manual. Standard SSI game presentation but neatly done nevertheless.

Challenge 81%
A very high challenge across the board to keep you sweating, and at times very vicious.

Authenticity 75%
Open-ended with the future war scenarios but satisfyingly gritty Middle East combat.

Overall 80%
Slips up in the possibilities of modern combat but despite this an extensive and very comprehensive wargame.