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Pneumatic Hammers is the latest addition to the almost endless list on Firebird's silver label.

You play the part of the intrepid hero Red O'Blair, the famous trouble-shooter, and must save the Lee Valley gold research bas which is under threat of total destruction. The electrical power lever has broken off the control box which operates the pneumatic hammers and Red must cast a new one - from gold, before there is a rock slide which will destroy the entire base.

The hammers are installed in pillars in the river bed and are now out of control.

The game starts with a nice little title screen showing a helicopter flying down to the base and landing. The sound of the rotor blades gets softer and softer (a nice touch), then the screen clears and you can choose the game settings. When you're satisfied with these, the game starts.

There are six floors to the base and each floor serves a different purpose. The ground floor is where you collect the gold, but first you must collect a metal detector on the first floor. You search the rocks for gold nuggets with this and when you locate one, you drop the metal detector and point to the spot where the gold lies. The gold will then be grabbed by the hand and you must put it into the sack at the bottom of the screen. The gold must then be weighed as only nuggets of 10g, 20g, 50g and 100g are pure enough for casting.

Then it's off to the furnace where the gold is melted down. The temperature here is maintained by the use of an icon hand and when it reaches the right temperature the gold melts.

But there is a problem - the bridge. It must be maintained by replacing the logs that are hammered into the river using a crane; otherwise, you'll be out of gold.

Overall, Pneumatic Hammers has a lot going for it. It has good graphics, an original plot and smooth scrolling, but it can be quite frustrating because of the pixel perfect movement of the icons and might prove too complicated for younger gamers.