Anyone into battle sims will probably remember Rorke's Drift. Cohort uses an improved version of the same gaming system, but takes a step back in time to the days of Imperial Rome. Here two opposing armies face each other across one of four Fields Of Honour. There are seven unit types for you to muck around with - light, medium and heavy infantry, light, medium and heavy cavalry and archers - and you can choose to either use a preset selection or compose your own army of up to sixteen units.

What sets Cohort (and Rorke's Drift) apart from the majority of wargames is the way that the game's been designed. Cohort's characters are cute, fully animated people who walk, run, charge and fight at your command. The combat arena is many times bigger than the screen and you can either scroll around under mouse control or jump to a specific location using the full-screen map.

While it was an interesting way of doing things, Rourke's Drift had some rough edges - it's nice to see that things have been improved upon here. The icon control system is much better for a start - things are clearer, and you can now move units as a single group and group them in formations. However, it's still too complicated for its own good - actions such as attempting to regroup a unit in battle often have hilarious rather than strategic effect, as the legionnaires jostle with each other to get past. And although the manual talks about the different tactics that the Roman legions used against enemies such as barbarian, Macedonian and Carthaginian armies, you never get to see them - your computer opponents are always just another bunch of Romans.

Although the game has its flaws, Cohort has a lot of immediate appeal. I was locked into it for a couple of days before its attraction started to fade. The control system is still not all its cracked up to be and silly anomalies (such as the cavalry sound effects still working when there are no horses on the field) take their toll.

A fine off-beat battle sim, more accessible than most. Not worth £29.99 though. One meg only too.