The news has just broken that a number of hostages have been taken by terrorists at a foreign embassy. The Terrorist Combat Squad are called in to deal with the situation. Your role is to co-ordinate the operation to enter the embassy and rescue the hostages.

First you position three men (Delta, Echo and Mike) around the building. The terrorists sweep the surrounding buildings with spotlights. If one of your men is caught in the light they are assailed by a hail of bullets. If enough hits are sustained then the man dies. Skillful use of windows, doorways and low walls can ensure that your men are kept hidden from fire. Trying to get a man into a narrow doorway can be quite fiddly. You need to position him in exactly the correct spot for him to hide. This section of the game has very good scrolling graphics and is relatively easy to complete with just a little practice. The machine gun sounds and spotlight effects are most convincing.

Once one or more of your men have reached their assigned positions, you progress to the next level. Here you guide three more Paratroopers down the side of the building. This level sports very fast vertical scrolling, and well-defined graphics. Each man has covering fire from the troopers which were positioned in the first part of the game.

Swinging through windows in SAS fashion is the only way to enter the building. This section of the game is very tricky as you have to time the swing just right to gain entry. If you mess up you fall to the ground like a ton of bricks. The windows are made easier to smash through by being shot out. You can switch between controlling the Paratrooper and marksman at any time. If you get all of the men into the building, you then pass onto the last level.

This is where the real action begins. Inside the Embassy you are presented with a 3D view of the corridors and rooms. The movements of each man is shown on a mini map. The 3D graphics move very quickly providing the illusion of running. Each and every room needs to be searched to find hostages. When you do find one, he jumps up and down with joy. Keep your eyes peeled for the heavily armed terrorists that roam the corridors. Terrorists have no qualms about shooting you in the back so beware! You need to turn quickly, draw your gun, aim and fire in a fraction of a second or he will fire again and again until you are dead. The atmosphere generated in this level is excellent. A sense of panic often wells up inside when you hear the sound of the terrorist's gun.

The last section of the game holds the greatest challenge. The other two sections being more of a preliminary sequence. It takes lots of hard work before you are able to safely bring out all the hostages. Hostages is a top quality conversion with only one or two minor faults. The last section is going to challenge the best gamers. After all the levels have been completed: the game starts again but with a higher level of difficulty. Well done, Peter Scott.

Verdict: a worthy addition to any game collection.