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It's getting late. You're 18 million miles from home, half your guys are injured, you've got no more ammo and about 60 aliens are closing in. Welcome to the Space Marines...

Twenty-five millennia ago, mankind headed for the stars. But it took thousands of years to get anywhere near them because spacecraft then were incredibly slow and complete rubbish. They also leaked.

But all it took was one remarkable scientific mind, working away in his laboratory late one night, to invent the Warp Drive. It was a major breakthrough. This enabled spaceships to travel faster than the speed of light. So, basically, we could go anywhere we wanted without having to wait for years to get there.

But Warp Drive is a weird thing. Ships in it have disappeared without reason, and emerged centuries later, millions of years from their destinations. These knackered and bent ships are called space-hulks. And they're dangerous places, filled with all sorts of nastiness.

Realising that space is a pretty dangerous place, filled with dangerous creatures with pointed teeth and claws, the humans created the Space Marines. And this is where you come in. You are in charge of up to three rock-hard units of these guys. Your masters tell you to carry out various missions, such as extermination, rescue, destruction or, er, total annihilation. Foolishly, you agree to do these.

The first you must do is select your weapons. As well as these fine firearms, you can use grenades, bionic bits and other explosives.

The game is played on a 40 x 40 square 'board', and depending on which phase you're playing, the view is either 2D or 3D. There are twelve missions to choose from. Each has got a specific goal, so it's not just a case of running around blasting aliens at random.

Of course, if you've played HeroQuest, you'll be pretty familiar with the control system of Space Crusade. Each team member has movement points, which decreases as you wander around. There is also one fire phase per turn, so when combat occurs, the Marines can start blasting away. Like the board game, you can gain the benefits of Order Cards, which let you move or fire twice in one turn. These add a lot to the combat elements.

Movement of your guys is carried out on a clear top-down view, with the squares marked. To the side of it is a large map of the entire ship. As you move around, you can scan the area for aliens. If alien dots appear, tool up and move out. It's dead exciting once you get a contact, and planning the assault or ambush is great.

All the boring bits (dice rolls, sight-lines, etc) are done for you, so just choose your target, move in and use some serious tactics and firepower.

Each guy has a different weapon, some with immense destructiveness, so plan your attacks carefully. Once you're in position, it's time to open fire. Again, all your possible targets are highlighted, so it's easy to do.

Once you fire, the view switches to a spanky 3D effect. You see your guys blasting and the alien taking some serious hits. If you've done it right, he explodes and vanishes. Time to move on with the hunt.

Everything in the game is icon-controlled using the joystick, so it's both easy and flexible, leaving you to concentrate on your strategies. Brilliant indeed.

There are loads of different aliens, so although you can pinpoint them on the scanner, you don't know what sort they are. You might find a poncy droid, or it might be a massive ED-209-like Dreadnought. If it is, run away. They're hard as nails.

The best thing about Space Crusade is it's not too fiddly to use and the excitement level is incredibly high. Do you split your team into separate groups? Keep them together? Work with the other human players or try and get the objective by yourself? If you do achieve your objective, you'll get a promotion and a bit of R 'n R before moving on to the next scenario. You can save and load your best squads, too.

Space Crusade is an excellent tactical combat game. There's plenty of blasting, lots of skilful planning and loads of nail-biting suspense. And when you eventually manage to corner the terrifying Dreadnought and blow its tin legs off, it's absolutely marvellous.

The Space Marines are allowed to have any weapons they choose. They usually stick to the stuff they know best, though. And dangerous stuff it is!

1. Bolter
   This is an automatic weapon which fires a stream of small-calibre explosive shells. Excellent for blowing up things like doors, windows and pot plants.
2. Bolter Pistol
   A smaller handheld version of the Bolter, this is more suited to use in confined space, where it's difficult to operate a long, bulky machine gun.
3. Missile Launcher
   This launches missiles, surprisingly. If they hit, they damage the target severely. If they miss, they sometimes damage something else, often leaving the target intact.
4. Assault Cannon
   Very heavy weapon. Whatever you aim it at vanishes in a cloud of atoms instantly. Be careful not to point it at friends, and make sure all pets are safely locked indoors.
5. Plasma Gun
   This, er, fires long coloured strings of plasma. It's a great weapon to take to parties, and brightens up even the dullest funeral.

1. Great atmosphere. Sort of Aliens meets Robocop.
2. Excellent sound effects, just like in real space.
3. Dead exciting. The air of suspense builds up as you wander around.
4. Top-view is clear and nice to look at.
5. 3D view is not as clear, but much more exciting!
6. Loads of different weapons and aliens.
7. And tons of missions, with expansion packs promised.
8. LOAD and SAVE function is particularly useful.
9. Plenty of serious laser-cannon firing involved!

1. The aliens don't move very quickly.