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The Rats is a game based on the book by James Herbert, in which giant killer rats threaten London.

The book isn't supplied with the game. And although the background of the story might make the game more enjoyable, having read it beforehand I can assure you that it is not essential.

Play alternates between strategy sessions and adventure "interludes", the objective is to organise your strategy in such a way that the Research and Development establishment comes up with superweapons capable of destroying the rat population.

In the adventure episodes you take the part of various characters in the story.

The greater area of the screen comprises a text window, to the left of which is a vertical column. Below these runs a strip offering a choice of COMMAND, INVENTORY or REDESCRIBE.

The mini-adventure starts off by telling you where you are and what objects can be seen. By moving a highlighing cursor, you can select one of the three options. The most frequently used option, of course, is COMMAND, which causes a list of verbs to be displayed in the column to the left of the text window. Only verbs which can currently be used appear in the list.

Next the cursor must be moved over the verb required and selected by pressing the fire button. Options for the next command word will be displayed following this. In other words, the game is controlled by text icons, either through the keyboard or joystick. Thus a command sentence is built up by selecting a combination from the lists.

To a certain extent you are playing blind. Supposing you had selected OPEN from the verb list - you would not know what things could be opened until after committing yourself to the verb, but then you would know exactly what was openable.

This is a novel way of entering commands in an adventure but gives the feeling that the options are more limited than in a conventional adventure, and that you are being led by the hand.

A mini adventure may end in success or failure (usually a grizzly death being chewed to pieces by rats) and although the outcome affects the progress in the overall strategy, it is not fatal to the game as a whole.

The adventures, played in real time, rely on strategy in dealing with an urgent situation rather than solving problems. During play, parts of the text window are overlaid with graphics, to the accompaniment of sound. These depict attacks by the rats, and their horror-stricken victims.

Even successful strategies in the adventures can lead to failure as there is a random element built in, and sometimes the rats are just too powerful, whatever action the player takes.

Between the adventures come the 'real' strategy parts of the game, during which the player can allocate his research resources to different aspects dealing with the menace, and as more information becomes available, deploy and equip his forces to defend the population and eventually annihilate the deadly creatures.

The strategy must be directed at containing the rats in the London area, for once they get out into the country at large the game is lost.

As with the adventure sections, the strategies are executed by moving the highlighting cursor.

The presentation of graphics and sound effects was rather disappointing as the semi-animated pictures didn't come up to the standard I had expected of the C64 version. I felt there was scope for them to have been far more dramatic.

The text, white on grey, called for a lot of fiddling with the colour, brightness and contrast on the TV set before it became easily legible. Even then it lacked enough contrast to make a comfortable read.

My other criticism is that once ended, no option for replay is given, and a complete reload is required, as the computer is left locked solid and has to be turned off before it is any further use.

It takes a little experimentation and practice to get the hang of playing the game, and to understand what is going on.

The Rats is a novel and entertaining game, and should be enjoyed by those to whom the format I have described appeals. On the other hand, I would not recommend it to someone looking for a mainstream adventure.

The Rats is published by Hodder and Stoughton and is available for the 48K Spectrum and Commodore 64.