With Outpost now coming in at four months behind its planned release date, the scenario of the game should be pretty much common knowledge by now. For those for whom it's still unfamiliar, however, the Earth is about to suffer a cataclysmic collision with a meteorite, which will end all possibility of human life on the planet. As commander-in-chief of mankind's final gesture - a starship that will carry 200 people to a different star system in an attempt to colonise a new planet and rebuild human civilisation - you have to make the crucial decisions that will ensure the ultimate survival of the race.

The first, relatively simple, task is to select four star systems for investigation by remote probes. While the craft make their way to their destinations, you have to load your spaceship with the items you deem necessary for survival on your new world. Then comes the moment of truth; you have to select one star system to visit in the hope of finding a viable planet at the end of your journey.

All you've got to base your decision on is the scant information gleaned from your advanced probes. You have to weigh the data, balance the pros and cons of each system and, basing your decision on a myriad of factors, determine which resources to take with you. If you chose to take a geological probe, for example, you may be able to overcome the scarcity of certain minerals on your planet. But that may mean not taking a satellite to forewarn you of solar flares. The combinations are extensive, to say the least, and only after several tries will you have worked out an optimum configuration.

Sometimes it's easy to believe that programmers live on a different planet to the rest of us. A planet where complex ideas appear gloriously straightforward. Where frustration is unheard of. And where having a manual that actually instructs is a luxury. If there is such a planet, the programmers at Sierra have seaside apartments there, because the manual for Outpost is woefully inadequate. It's inexcusably lax of Sierra to provide only the barest introduction to the workings and principles of a game as complex as this. Although the lack of guidance is not an insurmountable obstacle, even seasoned players will struggle to find the pattern behind the game's apparent randomness.

That said, though, Outpost is an excellent game - and not just in terms of looks. Admittedly, the ten-minute full SVGA intro does grab your attention, as does the rendition of Holst's Planet Suite in the background. The numerous cut-scenes not only look lovely, but add greatly to the atmosphere. But beneath the gloss there's a highly engrossing strategy game - which is a pleasant surprise when so many games of this ilk prove too labyrinthine to be really enjoyable.

Outpost is not an easy game. It's certainly not instantly accessible. Anyone who plays it is bound to lose their first few games without fully realising why. But you soon find there's a logic to everything, and challenge arises out of frustration. Give it time and thought and it turns out to be the best strategy game since the all-conquering Civilisation.