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Welcome to Ye Olde arcade adventure. As an example of the swords 'n Sorcery style of game, Drakkhen looks nothing remarkable, a bunch of four 'adventurers' pop up on screen with names that not even the most spaced out Californian hippy would give to their sprogs. At least this time around the quest is vaguely in keeping with what the pundits are calling the ecological nineties; the elaborate and nicely produced booklet that comes as the statutory unasked-for extra to try and justify the thirty quid asking price tells the tale of the aforementioned Paladin.

Voluntarily undertaking a mission to slay the last of the great Drakkhens, the knight has at last managed to dispatch the legendary beast. Like anyone who so blatantly abuses an endangered species, he has now been quite rightly executed by the Emperor. All you have to do is to restore the 'magical balance' to the world, that the overzealous quester caused.

To move around the Archipelagos-like landscape, you change to GROUP mode which allows you to manoeuvre with the aid of a joystick. Every time you come to an encounte rthe mode goes automatically back to CHARACTER and the four characters pop up. The rest of the mechanics breaks no new ground there's character sheets, a choice of weapons and nine icons for a range of actions. Drakkhen looks to be aiming at quality rather than innovation, which is OK but unfortunately that brings us to the gameplay.

Try and get into the dungeon which you start in front of, and a shark leaps out of the surrounding moat and then there were three. Err off the path and touch on a lake and - splosh! - then there were two. Bump into a cross and a huge, indestructible hound's head appears and the rest of the party is Pedigree Chum. A bit of difficulty can often make for an interesting game challenge, but Drakkhen is totally out of order. One encounter and your party will be lucky to hobble off even badly mauled.

Combat is just straightforward computer tallying with minimal visual interest. The scenery is samey and interesting 'happenings' run at about once every three loads. Drakkhen should have a lot going for it, but it has turned out as adventure by committee. Given a few weeks free with time to stumble forward inches at a time. Drakkhen might turn out to have hidden merits, but to find them you'd have to be the sort of compulsive adventurer who wouldn't be dissuaded by a bad review in the first place. Games like this have to be judged up against the AD&D series and the comparison is not flattering.