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This is it: your worst nightmare. As boss of the Direct Intervention Combat Team, you've encountered some tricky situations in your time, but this one is going to be the toughest test of your career to date."

The terrorists have taken innocent hostages and left the streets for the sanctuary of the embassy. No-one's corning out and no-one's going in except, that is, for your six crack troops. Your mission is to get inside and eliminate each of the terrorists without causing harm to the hostages, a tall order when the terrorists control all three levels of the embassy building. Your move.

First off, you've got to position your three marksmen Delta, Echo and Mike, in the three buildings overlooking the scene of the crime. This is easier said than done. A brief overview of the area will mark the best locations for your men with a flashing cross.

One at a time, move your men silently along the street, taking care to avoid the terrorist spotlights. If you're spotted, they'll open fire, so use all of the movements available to you to duck behind walls, jump through windows and hide in door recesses.

Once you've safely positioned one marksman, press fire and do it all over again with the next. If you manage to set up all three first time round, you're doing very well indeed. Now it's time for the second stage.

Down comes the helicopter and three more of your men are dropped onto the roof of the embassy. Your next task is to abseil down the outside of the building and smash through the windows into the building. You'll need to be quick to control your descent and timing is vital as you go through the windows.

Once inside, you're on the hunt. Examine every room and keep your eyes open for terrorists. If you see one, blow him away, then approach the hostages and get them to follow you to a windowless room before going off for more.

At any time during the game, you can return to your marksmen and examine the windows. If you see a shadow, be careful, it could be a hostage and not a terrorist. Blowing out the windows will help your abseilers to gain entry and you might even be able to work out which of the shadows needs to be killed.

Hostages is an extremely tense, nail-biting thriller which will have you glued to the screen throughout. As you start out, pick your difficulty level, from Lieutenant to the complex scenario of Commander, and then choose from further difficulty options linking the timescale of the whole operation. A few rounds on the training level are a must, to enable you to get used to the chopping and changing between agents and to get to grips with the ropework.

The scenario of the game is excellent and the shadowy atmosphere created by the clever graphics combines to create a package of suspense that will be hard to put down. Get out and get gunning.