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Remember the Forbin Project, when that giant computer went wild and decided it didn't like humans after all? And what about HAL, the psychopathic number cruncher with the soft voice in 2001? From the safety of his protective Power Suit, Ed Ricketts says hello very respectfully...

The quest is constantly on for the perfect 3D game - one which gives you freedom of movement, graphical variety and great gameplay. Cybercon 3, the new game from designer Ricardo Pinto (Carrier Command) and programmers The Assembly Line (E-Motion, Interphase) is a further step in that direction.

The game is set far in the future, at a time when a machine called the Cybercon has been built to replace the country's entire military defence forces. Cybercon 2, the latest version is given the same responsibilities as its predecessors. Unfortunately, something goes terribly wrong, and Cybercon 3 decides to wipe out every human being on the planet.

The machine is buried deep within a mountain and surrounded by a complex defence system. All but one entrance has been sealed off by a landslide - deliberately induced by Cybercon 3 in order to deter intruders. The only way to disable the giant machine is for one volunteer to secretly enter the single entrance and find the brain stem (Cybercon's only vulnerable part). Then he or she must blow it up and escape.

In order to do this, you must find and assemble several parts of the Master Key and then use it in your exploration of the complex. Discovering what does what, where and when is all part of the mystery.

The complex is an immensely large area covering some 400 rooms. You move between the many levels by using the computer's lift system. The complex is arranged roughly in increasing levels of hostility - the outer areas are lightly defended. The inner ones are tougher than Fort Knox.

All around the complex you get to meet really vicious droids whose sole purpose is to repel intruders. Try and avoid them if at all possible - they're fatally good at their job.

When Cybercon went berserk if disabled most of the machinery and locked some of the doors. Luckily, you can use a Sonic Key to interrogate objects you find. This often activates them - as long as you've got the right codes, that is. There are loads of objects to help you in your mission if you know where to look.

You don't have a hope of completing the game in one sitting, so "Save Game" rooms are kindly included. Even so, you can leave these only by using a unique code wheel provided with the game - a nice anti-piracy touch.

As you're wandering through the levels just hope and pray you don't meet a certain creature known as the Annihilator. Little is known about him except that he's very intelligent and deadlier than the Alien...

3D games are not new - look at Damocles for instance - but no game has ever offered the graphical depth and freedom you experience in Cybercon 3. Rooms aren't just consecutive square blocks, they're all shapes and sizes - huge shafts spanning several floors, tiny rooms and precarious walkways. It's this variety that makes the graphics something special. There are loads of neat little touches as well - you can look up and down, for instance, and activate remote cameras. The transparent floors are another innovation in the game. From a high vantage point it's possible for you to plan your route ahead from a relatively safe distance. You also get a bit of peace and quiet before the next bout of heavy fighting begins.

Movement perhaps isn't quite as smooth as in certain games but this is because of the complexity of the game. Sound is pleasing too. There's not too much of it, but what there is fits perfectly - the metallic grind of a door opening, for example, and the clang as it closes.

Cybercon 3 is an excellent game that offers real depth of gameplay but doesn't neglect the graphics but doesn't neglect the graphics in the process - there's so much to it. Completing the whole thing certainly isn't easy, but because the game is so interesting there's little chance of you tiring of it quickly.

Designer Ricardo Pinto says he deliberately drew on the film Alien for inspiration, and tried to incorporate the same fear and tension in the game as engendered by the film. He certainly succeeds - you're never sure which direction the next awful threat is going to appear from. Use a cushion if you get frightened!

The opposition's intelligence, the design of the complex and the lifelike handling of your character all mean the impression of reality is completely sustained from start to finish. If you're after a game with a lasting challenge and the graphics to match, get Cybercon 3 - you'll still be playing it when Cybercon 4 arrives.