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One of the best adventure games ever written has at long last been converted to the Amstrad! Based on the book of the same name by Frederick Forsyth. The Fourth Protocol plunges you into the murky depths of Intelligence work. If you thought that being a spy was all glamour like James Bond, then think again. You play the part of John Preston, an investigator with MI5. You have just been promoted to Head of Security when the news breaks that certain top NATO documents are being leaked and you must follow up the case with all possible speed.

As the story develops, it becomes apparent that the Russians are trying to explode a small nuclear device in Britain just before the general election. By blaming it on the Americans, it is hoped that enough people will switch their votes and elect a left wing government who will then ally with the Russians and withdraw from Nato.

The game loads in three parts and is entirely icon-driven (unlike the previous versions). Part 1 starts with you sat behind your desk surrounded by VDUs, telephones, charts and filling cabinets. Information arrives on your desk via memos, reports, sitreps (situation reports) and phone messages but you must also dig out extra clues from the various files if you can access them.

One of the nice things about the game is that you are not just concerned with your main case, but are still responsible or all other security. So, you get messages to investigate this bloke or that who has been acting 'a bit funny recently'. You must look into this promptly even though you suspect it is nothing but a red herring or else your assessment will drop rapidly. You can assign watchers to suspects in order to find out what they are up to and balancing who watches whom is a nice tactical struggle as you frequently have several people under observation at any given time.

The game is not without its touches of humour either. At one stage, you get called out to install security locks in Hut 17 and your natural inclination is to stick locks on everything and get on with more important matters. Do that and a tense memo lands on your desk a couple of days later stating that whilst toilet rolls may be a security item up in London, they are not down here so please come and remove the locks from the loos!

If you succeed in persuading the Big Chief who the traitor is and how he was recruited, you are given a code which allows access to the next part of the game.

Part two sees you chasing round the country trying to find the location of the bomb. You need to find money and passes as you follow up lead all round the country. The icons allow you to talk to someone, use an object, move, wait and look, as well as utilities allowing you to save your current position. Part three is the SAS assault on the building where the bomb is stored. You command the team and must eliminate the KGB agents with your weapons before finding and defusing the bomb - a geiger counter and some information gleaned from the earlier parts of the game will come in useful here.

The Fourth Protocol comes complete with dossier of information and jargon helpful to spies as well as three one-time pads - a system of codes that you will need to use in order to be able to access files at Blenheim (consult your own telephone file for the number). The game plays superbly. The icons are very easy to use and mean that you don't have to go searching for the right word or phrase and the atmosphere created really gives the feel of a harassed man working desperately against the clock. Highly recommended. (PS. So is the book if you haven't read that yet.)