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The world's most famous wreck is the subject of this novel new release from Electric Dreams - the company based in Southampton, the port which RMS Titanic sailed from on her doomed maiden voyage.

Your job is to raise the wreck. Sounds simple, but this addictive game involves solving over 100 problems - some with tortuous multi-level solutions.

At 2.20am on Aptril 15th, 1912, the greatest passenger liner in history struck an iceberg and sank beneath the Atlantic taking with her 1,500 passengers and crew. The disaster has gripped the world ever since. Rumours of her precious cargo have inspired many to think about a salvage bid. And have thus inspired this new game.

As the owner/director of the Titanic Salvage Company, your sole aim is to raise the mighty Titanic from the sea bed. To aid you in your mission, your research and development department has produced the T.S.1 an advanced deepwater submersible.

To finance this epic voyage you have convinced some rich and powerful sponsors to back your venture. However, money is in short supply and you will have to raise more during the expedition.

There are a number of ways to accomplish this: favourable reports in the newspaper may lead to an increase in sponsorship; pleasing the reporters could result in cash gifts; objects found in the Titanic may be sold.

Your well-equipped mothership is bobbing about on the Atlantic almost two miles above the watery grave of the world's most famous cruise liner.

On a previous unsuccessful salvage mission an automated submersible attached eight flotation begs to the hull of the Titanic. Due to a fault in its memory, the positions of the bags were not recorded.

The object of your search is to locate the eight buttons that will inflate the bags and bring the Titanic back to the surface for the first time in over 70 years.

There are four main screens featured in the game. There's the Calendar Screen which contains a calendar - of course - and icons which allow you to access other areas of the game. Like the Press Room, the Finance Room and last but by no means least, the screen which displays the interior of your salvage sub.

The Calendar screen merely displays the month and date - just to give you an idea of the passage of time. There's no limit to the game by the way. You can keep going as long as you have enough money to finance your activities. The icons along the top of this screen are your gateway to other parts of the game.

Your activities in the Press Room are of vital important to your finances. You must answer the questions put to you in the manner you judge the most likely to satisfy the particular publication.

Press conferences may be called by you or by the press in which case the mothership will send a message down to T.S.1. You do not have to attend a conference, but if you don't, reporters are likely to invent a story. Should you call your own conference there is no guarantee that any reporters will attend.

Once a conference has been called and attended, you will see a number of reporters on television screens in front of you. One of them will then address you by identifying his or her newspaper and then asking a question. You then decide who will hear your reply - either one reporter or all of those present.

You can please the press by sending back photographs of your finds using your sub's on-board camera. Some pictures please certain papers more than others however. For example, The Stun really loves the picture of the whalebone corset you'll discover in the stewardesses room! But be careful - some pictures, if published, could offend some of your sponsors. Which brings us neatly to the Finance Room.

In the Finance Room, you are given information on the current state of your bank balance and receive from your sponsors their feelings on your progress. These feelings will be expressed as an altercation to their weekly contribution to the salvage operation.

The Finance Room is entered by selecting the appropriate icon from the Calendar Screen. Inside the room, your current balance, a list of your sponsors and their weekly donations, an analysis of repair costs and repair time for the last dive and a monitor for receiving messages are accessible.

Messages may be received from your sponsors or from your accountant.

You can call a sponsor in order to request more money by selecting the telephone icon. Then use the joystick to light the picture of the sponsor you wish to contact and press the fire button.

Whether or not the sponsor grants your request, or even replies, depends on many factors. It is definitely not recommended that you make requests too often!

Selecting the "dive" icon from the Calendar Screen puts you in T.S.1 ready for the descent. You will see a play of the Titanic in the viewscreen. The first thing you must do is select one of five possible entry points.

Once you are inside the Titanic, you may begin to move around and explore. You will notice that some walls have doors in them. Open doors are filled, whilst locked doors are in outline only. In order to move through an open door, position your submersible in front of the door and press the fire button. If you try to move through a locked door, or if you miss the open door, T.S.1 will hit the wall causing damage and loss of power. The sub has a self-centring device and you will always finish up in the middle of the next room.

In certain rooms you will be able to move up or down between the docks.

Each time you enter a room, its name or purpose will be displayed on the message screen. There is no need to enter the room to discover its name or purpose. You can use the on-board scanner.

Locked doors may only be opened by solving problems. Problems may be solved by manipulating the objects to be found in the Titanic. The objects required to solve a problem and the room in which the problem must be solved are all linked together in some way.

It may be sufficient to drop two objects near to each other in a certain room, some objects combine to produce more objects when brought into contact in the correct room, other objects merely need to be touched to produce results. It is up to you to discover the correct way to open the doors and progress, through the Titanic to your goal.

However strange some of the objects you come across within the rooms of the Titanic's five main decks they were actually part of the ship's real cargo when it sank. Even odd items like a Mechanical Camel!

The graphics depicting your view of the ship use a novel approach. You have to illuminate the room with your sub's light which gives a sort of "snowstorm" appearance to the rooms. As your power runs down, it gets harder to see and, unless you move quickly, you could end up trapped and require an expensive rescue. You can also drop sonar buoys around the wreck which will help you work out your position in an emergency.

Occasionally you will need the help of your laboratories on board the mothership to solve problems. The labs can examine, combine or repair objects sent to them.

The sub's robot arm is your means of manipulating objects. It is very sensitive and rather delicate, so be careful with it.

If you wish to grasp an object, you must position the open jaws of the robot arm around the object and then close them. When you do this, the name of the object will appear on the message line. Not all objects may be picked up, some are too heavy for the robot arm whilst others are fixed to the Titanic in some way.

Some of the problems are distinctly humorous in a crossword-sort of style. The message window on the dive screen which describes objects will often give you clues to what they are useful for.

You'll need arcade and strategy skills to succeed in this game. And be prepared to spend some time on it. An expert with all the clues at his disposal takes around six to seven hours to complete the game.

Titanic is a very playable, entertaining and stimulating game. If you enjoy a challenge, don't miss it. One of the best Electric Dreams releases yet.