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If there's one thing that all of the great 'cult' programmers have in common, it's that they don't release very many games. This is especially true of Paul Woakes, the man behind the classic 3D space exploration games Mercenary and Damocles (which was, after all, Mercenary II).

Before either of these though, came a more straightforward 3D shoot-'em-up, Encounter, which was, to say the least, revolutionary for its day. That's not to say that it would still impress though, as its day was over seven years ago!

This isn't exactly a prolific output, but Woakes fans (let's call them 'Woaksies') should be pleased to hear that things are speeding up a lttle. As Novagen's Bruce Jordan informs us: "His average is improving - he's up to one a year now."

The next result of this sudden burst of activity will be Mercenary III: The Return Of Damocles. This time around, the game will not only include an even more impressive 3D environment than Damocles, but also something which has never appeared in any of Mercenary's previous incarnations - an enemy.

KC Kim is the evil-doer in question, whose actions more or less mirror those of the player's, making Mercenary II a true one-on-one battle. As long as Mr. Woakes doesn't revert to his old ways, we should bring you a full review over the next couple of issues.

Although it could hardly qualify as a candidate for conversion to the CDTV or some other such multimedia vehicle, Encounter is good clean 3D fun nonetheless. And while the general gameplay is going to win no prizes for its variety, the appearance of such elements as the meteorite storm and the progressive intelligence of the enemy 'Oids' is enough to keep the player coming back - at least for a while.

Despite all of its claims to be a reworking of a classic 8-bit game for the '90s and such like, this is basically a 3D shoot-'em-up in the venerably Battlezone mould, which makes great use of the extra speed afforded by the newer machinery, but unfortunately very little use of the enhanced graphics capabilities.

The use of a 'psychedelic' colour scheme for some of the aliens is about the only attempt made at including a graphic frill - otherwise the look can best be described as functional.

In fact, functional is a word that just about sums the whole thing up. It's a good blast, but not quite the advance that it could have been - especially considering the amount of time that's elapsed since the original's release.