It's always the same, isn't it? There you are, sitting watching the telly, and some Lord from another dimension summons you to his kingdom to defeat another enemy race. Sheesh.

That's what happens in the latest chapter of the Ultima story as you, in the role of Avatar, take on the might of the gargoyles which are crushing the land of Brittania town by town. Thankfully you aren't alone in your quest - with you are three friends from previous journeys to Lord British's country and, being the Avatar (the embodiment of all that is wholesome and good), you also have access to a range of spells. And, of course, there's the Orb Of The Moons, a small stone which allows cosmic travel with the help of the moon's rays. As with all the best kingdoms, there are a load of towns in which you can stock up on supplies and weapons, knock back a few hearty ales at the local hostelry and chat to the inhabitants, many of whom have vital information concerning your assigned task.

And it's a good idea to listen to them, because in Brittania, it's not always the best policy to go charging around with sword unsheathed!

It's hardly surprising considering the time it's taken to arrive, but Ultima VI is the biggest, most involved game in the series. The quest may not seem at first to be too difficult but soon the adventure develops to such an extent that, if you haven't got amazing powers of concentration, you'll become lost in the various sub-quests.

As ever, the game is displayed using a bird's-eye view which works extremely well on a colour system but there is so much detail on the screen that playing on a Hercules machine quickly causes severe eye strain.

The control system is extremely simple to operate, with only ten main icons and a cursor to control your entire destiny, and with the amount of fighting needed to vanquish the hordes of creatures inhabiting Britannia, you'll be more than pleasesd to learn that it only takes a couple of keypresses to unleach a blow to the enemy.

If you haven't got a reasonably fast, colour PC with a hard drive, forget it - Ultima VI takes up around 4 megabytes of disk space so you spend a lot of time swapping disks.

But if you've got a decent system and enjoy large, demanding RPGs, this is one which I'd recommend you pick up without delay.