Terrorists can be unfair at times...

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Have you ever wondered what it is like to patrol a street, just waiting for someone to shoot at you? That is the theme of SAS Commander from Comsoft.

Unlike Northern Ireland however, the terrorists can be distinguished by their uniform. Which is just as well, since approximately 20 per cent of the time they open fire from behind hostages and you must dodge the bullets and hold your fire until the hostage gets out of the way. Shooting a hostage by mistake will earn you an immediate dishonourable discharge.

The game consists of a series of street scenes. In street 1 there is only one terrorist shooting at a time. In Street 2 there are two on stage at once and Street 3 has three working together.

What happens after Street 3 I don't know - I never survived that long without being hit the four times necessary to kill me.

It seems a little unfair that while the terrorist can angle his shots across the screen to hit you, you can only shoot vertically - this is what makes it so difficult when there are two or three terrorists in action.

There is nothing particularly outstanding about this game. However, its price - £4.95 on cassette for BBC or Electron - makes it better value than a lot of games on the market.

No doubt it will make an acceptable birthday present for many younger readers.

Michael Gilbert