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Hyperbole is a strange old concept: the idea of hyping something up to a totally ridiculous degree. Codemasters were one of the earliest exponents in the world of computer games of course, with their famous inlay cards bearing quotes from the managing director like "this is the best game I have ever played", "this game is totally perfect" and "this game can raise the dead" etc.

Psygnosis could well have topped all that here though. According to the Aquaventura box, "for four years computer games players have been awaiting this, the release of the decade". Really? I'll just flick through my diaries for the last four years to see exactly what I've been "waiting for" over the period. Hmm... well, I don't seem to have mentioned a nice-looking but repetitive and shallow 3D shoot-'em-up anywhere. Tsch.

Maybe it's Psygnosis displaying some wacky Scouse humour, saving up a year's supply of blah for one of their weakest releases in ages.

That's not to say that Aquaventura is totally rotten. No, it's actually quite good fun for the first four or five plays. The graphics are incredibly smooth and the soundtrack is simply beautiful. It's easy to forget the point of the game and just swoop around the 3D landscape as the title tune lulls you into a trance. This soon gets boring though.

Once you've sussed out the radar screen, the confusing gun sights, and the order in which you have to shoot things, the game loses most of its appeal. Enemy craft loiter aimlessly in the firing line till you put them out of their misery, and the end-of-level guardian can best be destroyed using the sophisticated 'hold down Fire whenever you can see the thing' technique. As for your own craft, this seems more at risk from invisible energy zapping forces than anything else. It's simply a case of trying to complete the mission before your craft spontaneously combusts before your eyes.

Complete the level and, a few graphic interludes later, your craft is whizzing down a tunnel, trying not to crash into either walls or enemies. Survive this and you are plonked back on the outside, same scenario, only this time you have two solar panels to destroy. And so on. And so on. And so on. Sigh. What a shame that such neat sound and graphics were wasted on what amounts to not very much of a game. So little to do, so little reason to keep doing it. 'Scuse me while I slip into a coma...

If you bought last month's Amiga Power you'll have a demo of the first level of this game. Since every level is so similar (tunnel bits excepted) this is not too far removed from having the whole game. To add the illusion of increasingly difficult levels, simply play the demo over and over again. Once you've completed it normally, try it again whilst hopping on one leg, then maybe try it with a tea towel wrapped around your face, and so on. Even if you've got the full game you could try this too - it could well boost that long-term appeal no end.

As an ambient relaxation tool, this does okay. As a game, it gets dull by the sixth play. If it is ambiance and relaxation that you're after, try fitting a coloured light bulb.