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Another new title from All American Adventures - and very different from Ulysses - is Masquerade. It's a kind of gumshoesque quest by Dale Johnson first published only last year in the States by American Eagle Software - and it has a lot going for it.

In this, you play a detective who has the task of tracking down a notorious hit man, and your day begins sharing a hotel room with a body, locked briefcase and an empty magnum. There are plenty of people around who'd like you to make their day - witness the sticks of dynamite tastefully adorning the phone booth in the hotel lobby, and the sinister figure who keeps shadowing you.

The graphics by Rick Incrocci are very good indeed, reminding me of the style used for Mindshadow - and they made it even more fun exploiting the game's generosity in allowing one to explore a number of nicely-illustrated locations before having to tackle any serious problem solving. Like Ulysses, input is confined mainly to verb-noun pairs and again it's possible to toggle between the graphic screen and the last couple of dozen lines of test. Newer adventurers will appreciate the way that a beep is used to signal a significant development in the game - the more experienced will mute the sound to make play a little more difficult.

So slip on that trench coat, grab your snap-brim hat, and practise your Bogart lip in readiness for your first shakedown of this highly enjoyable and, for a change, contemporary adventure. You'll want to play it again.