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Anyone who says that Hewson are trying to promote violence ought to get their wrists slapped. Who could say that a company which has made its name from making games that contain huge, colourful explosions and myriads of different weapons could be violent. Not I. [Shome strange logik here, Tone - Ed]

You are the custodian of some tomb or other, and your mission is to protect the tomb from some attacking alien pods. To do this, you first have to seek out the pods using your attack radar. Then you have to collect them and take them to the pod destruction chambers situated around the screens. Collect enough and you go onto the next, more maze-like area.

Each screen is quite large, at least a hundred screens in area, if not more. Dotted about are four things. The first are the armouries. It's here you can buy new and more powerful weapons. As with Cybernoid and Cybernoid 2, there are lots of different weapons, all of them limited. In Custodian, there are ten different forms of destruction to choose from, and the funny thing is, only two of them are of any use. The other eight, consisting of things like vertical firing bullets and four-way plasma bombs, just don't seem to affect the enemy at all. The smart bomb, and a handy little mace-like homing bomb and the best two. To buy them, you have to use up credits. At the start of the game, you are blessed with 1,000 points. As you kill the enemy, you earn more, allowing you to purchase more expensive items.

Second up are the teleports. These zap you to another teleport capsule somewhere else on the level. As with all types of transport, it costs money; in this case 100 credits. It's not all bad, though. It does give you some energy back.

The third things you find are the pod destruction chambers. Collect a pod by running over it, and then fly into these black holes. You are then presented with four laser cannons, all converging on one spot, controlled by a cursor. You have to blow away the pod that appears in the distance and rushes toward you. Let it get too near and it escapes, taking some of your energy with it.

The last, and probably the most annoying, thing you find, are the walls. These are here just to make life difficult. Some have holes in them for you to fly through, many don't. The higher the level, the more walls you're likely to encounter.

Graphics owe much in style to Cybernoid, although larger. The scrolling is smooth and fast - sometimes a bit too fast. All the usual explosions and things are there, of course though because of the unplayability, you're not likely to see many.

The sound is all right, but nothing to tell your granny about over dinner. There is a tune, but it's more annoying than entertaining, and thankful, you can turn if off.

The main problem with this game, and this is the one that I'm really going to chew over, is that it is too boring. Bouncing uncontrollably into things which are scrolling too fast for me to concentrate on - whilst trying to shoot aliens that are going to be off the screen before the bullet gets anywhere near them - is not my idea of fun. Far from it.

A real let down from the masters of innovation. If this is the way that Hewson are now moving, then they soon won't be worth the laurels they're resting on.