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It's time to polish up on the dirty tricks and perfect that evil sneer again for a game that will bring out the nasty streak in everyone.

In Oil Imperium you are an oil magnate trying to wipe out your opponents and gain a monopoly on the world's market. To start with, you must establish yourself; build an oil field or two, buy a storage tank and you're all set to wreak havoc on your rivals.

Once you've got a bit of money you can hire mercenaries to set fire to oil fields, rob a competitor's bank, blackmail rival agents or blow up storage tanks. Of course, your opponents will be trying to do the same to you, but there is a way to stop them. Detectives can be hired and if they uncover any illegal dealings then a court case ensues where some of the offender's oil fields can be confiscated.

The normal day-to-day running of the company is done from the office, but sometimes you may have to pop out to extinguish the odd fire, connect the occasional pipeline or drill for oil. These three events make up the arcade action part of the game.

It's been a long while since I've seen a game that's as well presented as Oil Imperium, every part of the game is very slick [Good pun, Mark! - Ed] and easy to use.

The graphics are very impressive in all respects, right throughout the game, and because of the multitude of possibilities they are also extremely varied. There are very few sound effects but the excellent music more than makes up for this.

You can choose to play against the computer, friends or a combination of both, and what's more, there's four variations of the game to test the budding tycoon to the full. Each time you play is slightly different because of the random distribution of oil.

Oil Imperium mixes strategy with arcade action and the result is a real winner that will have you hooked for weeks. If you want something to get your teeth into then this is the game for you. By the way, don't worry if all this sounds a bit like Dallas; it isn't a dream, it just plays like one.