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Arcade adventures show no signs of losing their popularity and I have managed to sneak a look at a pre-production version of Warehouse, a new game by Pillar Graphics.

You are Fred the storekeeper to Alf, an interstellar trader. The stores have recently been moved to Tymorg, but this has left a backlog of irate customers.

Keeping alive the belief that the customer is always right - whoever said that did not work in the retail trade - your task is hampered by the fact that the warehouse is crawling with lots of nasties and littered with tricks and traps. Added to this, you don't know what you are looking for.

Like other games of this ilk you have to search a maze for certain items. The screen doesn't scroll, but instead flicks quickly from one part to the next.

Controls are left, right, up, down and fire - yes, your thoughtful employers haven't left you completely defenceless. You can carry three items at once, and apart from the goods there are other items you will need to complete your task.

Your first challenge, sorry, customer, is a writer, and for him you must find a notebook and ink. When you find them, take them to the office and put them on the conveyor belt.

Monsters appear on every screen from a portal but a quick blast will close it for good if you can't get to it. Help is provided by portal blasters, extra ammo, transporter keys, alien freeze devices and other handy bits and pieces you collect on your travels.

You get five lives, which is considerably better than two verbal warnings and one written one. But when you're reincarnated - Oh, no! Not another warehouse assistant - you're in a different part of the warehouse too.

There are four different starting points, which gives you a better picture of the maze than if you were plonked back at the start each time.

The sprites are big and chunky and the movement is smooth, though you do seem to get zapped by the baddies before they actually touch you, which I resented.

Also, it was rather frustrating to find that you can't move and fire at the same time. So to attack a portal with all guns blazing to knock out emerging aliens requires some dextrous key manipulation.

Your other customers include a priest, a lockmaker, a mechanic and an assassin. A word of warning - the warehouse is also the headquarters of Zorg, the most wanted man in the universe.

Warehouse is not going to do the reputation of the MSC, YTS or JTS any good at all. You don't even get any money, just a place in the hall of fame - when you're dead. But it's fun while you're alive.

Ian Waugh