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Your mission is to storm a building in which some terrorists are holding hostages. These captives must be found and brought to safety - a task you have to carry out in three separate parts.

In the first, three snipers must be placed at suitable points around the building. The main display shows a sniper who can run, crawl or perform tumbling rolls.

All of the time he is being tracked by the terrorists' searchlight. If he is caught in the beam he must expect to face a hail of bullets.

Fortunately a sniper has an amazing ability to leap walls or enter any building. This can help him avoid being seen.

On the BBC Micro and Electron you can also see a plan view of the building showing the position of the sniper and suitable places to hide. The Archimedes version does not have a permanent map, but you can view it at almost any time by pressing the spacebar.

The whole action is accompanied by background music, which can be turned off, and suitable noises for gunfire and jumps. These sound effects are by far the best on the Archimedes and not quite so hot on the Electron.

Stage two of the game can be reached if only one sniper is put in position. But it is very useful to get three ready for action. They are then able to help support the assault team who now appear on the roof.

The Archimedes version, in fact, shows them arriving by helicopter and then gives you the option of placing these three new members of the team at suitable positions. For the other computers, the team are just there and able to go.

Their task is to abseil down the building and then kick so that they swing out and then back through a window. The snipers placed earlier can be used to prepare the way by shooting out the glass first. Maybe even eliminating a terrorist or two.

Actually smashing a man through a window is a difficult task. First attempts will lead to many a man plunging earthwards. It is all based on sound effects and you have to release a key at the highest pitched note. Then, if the positioning is right you get a person through.

If you find the use of keys difficult you can use a joystick for the BBC Micro and Electron (Plus One or First Byte types) or the mouse for the Archimedes.

You can move on to level three with only one successful entrant in the building. But with about half a dozen terrorists spread over three floors and six hostages to get to safety, it's best to get all three abseilers through the windows.

Level three is, in fact, a 3D maze. The terrorists can appear at any time and you must be quick on the trigger to survive. A nice touch - to stop the game becoming too violent - is that any shot terrorists are merely disabled.

You can imagine an ambulance arriving later to revive all the unfortunate people. But you can't really escape from the fact that this game is about violence against people with guns.

When hostages are found, they follow you to the safe room on the third floor. You must try to ensure that they are not shot at by your enemy. It helps if you have had some success with your snipers on level two.

If you don't mind the violence, then I can recommend Hostages on all formats. Owners of Archimedes and A3000 computers who buy this will be in for a graphical delight.

The Archimedes version of Hostages has several superior features.

The maze map shows clearly the positions of both terrorists and hostages. Once a terrorist is shot, he stays down. Also, the graphics are a great deal better and smoother...

The Archimedes graphics and sound effects really in a class of their own. The loading screen has moving images of near-photographic quality and this continues right through the program.

Some of the sound effects are very realistic. The scream of anguish as an abseiler falls is truly heart-rending. But don't think that the BBC Micro and Electron versions are without graphic quality. While not in the Archimedes class, they are still very good.

The gameplay is similar on all formats and only slightly slower on the Electron. It's quite hard to get started on the game, but it certainly can grow on you and lead to that "just one more go" syndrome.

Three pupils from Pewsey Vale School, Wiltshire, give their expert verdicts on Hostages:

Michael Farr (aged 12) on an Electron:
"Hostages is a good game about rescuing hostages from a building. They are being held by terrorists.

"I like it because it is different from other games I have played and you have to do more than one thing. I liked level one the best. You have to dodge the terrorists' searchlight by ducking and hiding in buildings. If you don't, you lose a life. It is just like being a commando."

Sarah Tarrant (aged 12) on an Archimedes:
"The program is different from what I expected and, at first, it seemed rather complicated. After a bit, though, I found it competitive and fun. I think you would have to play the game a lot to be able to complete it.

"I thought it was an excellent game and exciting as well. It interesting and did not need too many keys. The graphics are fantastic and I really enjoyed them. I have never played a game like this before. I think it is original, exciting and very well put together."

Kevin Lancaster (aged 12) on a Master:
"I found Hostages hard to understand at first but I soon picked up level one and I was able to hide all of my snipers and move on to level two.

"I really enjoyed this section. An assault team have to abseil down a building and swing out to smash through a window.

"This gets you into the building where the hostages are held. If you want to, you can control a sniper instead to get rid of terrorists. In level three you have a maze with lots of rooms. You have to find the hostages and lead them to safety. You need a lot of patience but I think, all in all, it is a good game."