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Nemesis The Warlock is the latest in a series of comicbook adaptations. To be more specific, it's the latest in a series of adaptations from the once-wonderful 2000 AD, home of Dredd, Rogue Trooper and other futurist confections.

Nemesis' role in the eternal struggle between good, evil and the income tax man lies in his fight against Torquemada, Grand Master of Termight. Torquemada must be defeated, and to manage this Nemesis must fight his way to the heart of the Torquemada Empire.

Rule 17 of the Bad Guy's Handbook says that Good Guys must be attacked by "a selection of underlings, of which some or all may have mystic powers". In this case, the underlings deployed by Walque-Torque are his Terminators. These have the interesting property of turning into Zombies if they are left to lie in a state of death for too long. Not your ordinary, mind-if-I-pop-in-for-a-cuppa, type Zombies but those of the scythewielding variety. Tricky blighters who can be a little difficult to dispose of.

Dead bodies in any case are vital to the Nemesonian cause. To exit a screen (composed of a set of platforms at various levels), Nemesis has to pile 'em high and pile 'em deep. At some point the resolve of the remaining Terminators will be seriously weakened by this scene of carnage, and Nemesis can wander around looking for the hidden exit.

In fact, there's a good chance that the exit for which he searches will only be accessible if he's piled enough corpses in the right place, and isn't squeamish about tramping all over them. But we all know what happens to dead Terminators, don't we?

Nemesis can convert live Terminators into dead stepping stones in a number of interesting ways. His mainstay is his trusty sword, Excessus, who is a fully signed up member of the Armaments (Blood Drinking) Union and committed to widespread death as a matter of policy. Another way of involuntary euthanasia for the Terms is to pick up weapons and ammo that lie around the place. And finally, once per screen, Nemesis can void a gutful of acid all over the place, killing everything that the stuff touches.

The physical appearance of Nemesis, if you haven't read the strip, is just a teensy-weensy bit odd. His head is shaped like a cross between an antelope (horns), Thrust Two (front) and a Philips pre-war radio (speaker grill). The bargain basement psychologists out there can now spend a happy hour speculating on whether it was this peculiar appearance that lead to him taking up a life of death. The rest of you should pay attention as I describe the denouement.

The longer Nemesis takes to exit a screen, the stronger grows Torquemada's influence and the more Zombies appear. And as time goes on generally the spiny fingers of El Torquo close ever tighter on Nemesis' heart, until squipppblobble! The brave warrior dies of coronary enfistment. But that won't happen, because Nemesis will Get There First, and Right Will Triumph.

It says so in the rules.

"Porterhouse Cambridge, your starter for 10. How many computer games have used the word Nemesis in the title?"

BZZZ...

"Porterhouse Brennan"

"Errr 36"

"I'm sorry, the correct answer is one more than when I started the question".

And so it goes: At least these guys have an excuse because they are doing a comic strip adaptation of that ilk. Less easy to excuse are the dodgy graphics, the lame ideas (C'mon, how long did they spend on the plot? Two, maybe three minutes?).

If the sprites were changed (maybe not even then) this could be any other game. 2000 AD doesn't enter into it.

Nemesis is a game with a good deal of atmosphere which goes to compensate for the mediocre graphics (strange, the title page is great) and game design. Its biggest attraction for me was that it introduces the Nemesis character to the unenlightened. I hadn't discovered the joys of 2000 AD before this came in for review. He is a goodie with all the hallmarks of a Dr Who baddie. The terminators tumble spectacularly when they get hit by your bullets. Just remember to watch your step on the higher levels. A game for the Nemesis devote.

Tumtetum. Our pal Nemesis is an odd shape, and he's got a very funny walk indeed. Worse than that Cleese chapple. Intellectual requirements - nil. Once you've killed lots of enemy, you find the exit by wandering randomly about the place.

Sometimes I get so depressed about this job...