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The place - Chicago. The era - the late 1920's. Prohibition has been in force for several years now, allowing the more enterprising of criminals to build up business empires based on the illicit trafficking of alcoholic liquor.

In an attempt to retain their slice of the market, rival gangs indulge in bloody wars of attrition - murder becomes a household word, and fear riddles the streets of the windy city.

Unable to adequately police the city, Mercenaries like yourself have been called in to help control the ascending crime wave in the only way you know how... termination with extreme prejudice.

Positioning yourself in one of the seedier parts of town, your brief is to kill all the hired gunmen as they appear from their hiding places across the street. Armed with the ubiquitous Thompson sub machine-gun, you line up the gun's cross hairs over your intended victim and press the Fire button to send a hail of lead in his general direction.

The block opposite contains many buildings, only small sections of which are immediately visible surrounding your gunsight. Moving the gunsight causes the block to scroll past - vertically and horizontally - enabling the whole street to be viewed.

Gangsters appear at openings, windows, doors and the roof of the block and on the sidewalk. If they come out of hiding in a part of the block not within your local field of view, a small arrow appears at the bottom of the screen pointing in their general direction.

As soon as one gangster is despatched, five seconds are allotted in which to find and shoot the next, the time shown numerically at the side of the screen. Failing to kill your opponent in time is rewarded with a hail of returning fire which, unless dodged, proves fatal.

Dodging bullets is achieved by pressing any key, whereupon the screen then turns grey and the offending bullets go whizzing past. Releasing the key resumes the countdown timer, giving you another chance to pinpoint the opposition.

Avoiding shots in this way may be carried out many times, but a second meter displays the total amount of 'dodge' time remaining. Should this run out, you have to resort to your speed and skill as a marksman to continue the mission.

On receiving three separate bullet wounds, the pain becomes too much for you to continue and safe in the knowledge of a job well done, you expire quietly.

Variety is sadly lacking from this latest trans-channel offering. The game itself is neatly implemented and contains some very noteworthy graphics, but unfortunately it falls well short in the entertainment stakes.

Once you get the hang of the shaking gunsight, there's simply nothing left to offer any challenge. Having played for what seemed like ages, I'd obtained a score of over $5,000 with five lives left and little possibility of being shot. I could have at least doubled this - very dull! For me, Prohibition quickly lost its attraction.

Once the wobbling gunsight has been mastered, scanning the buildings and shooting down gangsters becomes a breeze. After I'd got to grips with the tricky control method I waited for something exciting to happen.

It didn't, and I became increasingly bored when man after man was despatched. The novelty of shooting down the gangsters wears off surprisingly quickly, and when this happens there's very little excitement to be gleaned.

The lack of variety proves to be a millstone around Prohibition's neck, and at ten pounds I'd expect a little more fun for my money. Play the arcade game City 1931 a couple of times, and spend the balance elsewhere.

I thought that I was really going to like this one. The promise of packing a tommy-gun and indiscriminately eliminating hoodlums sounded like it could provide a great deal of fun.

However, the finished product wasn't really all that I expected it to be. The action is simply too repetitive to be really compulsive, and the superb graphics and presentation don't make up for the irritation caused by the awkward control method.

I appreciate that the juddering gunsight is supposed to simulate the uncontrollable nature of a 1920's machine gun, but it is too hard to handle, and makes aiming a matter of luck rather than skill.

Essentially, Prohibition is an extremely polished product which would have benefited greatly from having some more time spent on the gameplay.

Presentation 40%
Minimal documentation and a total lack of options.

Graphics 82%
Detailed and varied characters set against colourful and impressive backdrops.

Sound 60%
A slightly irritating tune plays along as the carnage ensues - good gunshots though.

Hookability 67%
The first few plays are entertaining enough.

Lastability 29%
The repetitive gameplay and lack of variety quickly kills the enjoyment.

Overall 49%
An interesting idea, let down by poor game design and lack of variety.