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Of all the licensed wares in the world, computerised versions of films must be the most awkward to put together. Invariably the licensor imposes restrictions aplenty, which makes life all the more difficult when it comes to producing a product with decent gameplay. Take Predator 2...

What we have here is an Operation Wolf-style blaster spread across four levels, each preceded by a picture and text description to set the scene. Something else the levels have in common is gangs of gun-toting drug-baron minions who attack Lieutenant Harrigan (played by Danny Glover on the silver screen, but in this case you). It's not too difficult to guess what the objective is...

Bad men, bullets and grenades aren't the only things to fill the horizontally scrolling playfield. Innocent bystanders run around like headless chickens, and if you shoot too many of them you can kiss your badge goodbye.

But what of the Predator? Bad luck - the creature you came to see plays a background role in the early stages, using its chameleon-like abilities to blend in with the scenery until the finale. Mind you, it does have a habit of taking out a few of the bad guys for you - just for fun.

Sadly, Harrigan's trusty .45 Magnum has a slow fire-rate and, despite being the most powerful handgun in the world, a single shot isn't enough to despatch foes. It's frustrating, but more so is the fact that the proceedings slow down when there's too much happening on screen. At least the Magnum's ammunition is in unlimited supply, unlike the other weapons picked up along the way.

A few less adversaries but with more prominent behaviour and distinguishable characteristics would have helped, and a greater contrast of colours certainly would - intense concentration is required to make out who's who and what's what and it's enough to make your eyes water.

The peripheral vision effect works well, but being able to see a wireframe Harrigan isn't effective: it looks a little too odd to be believable to see him sliding along with the scrolling screen.

Predator 2 doesn't succeed in coming across as a two-disk product worth a penny short of 26 quid. The addition of a film poster or some stills would have added extra value, but as it stands all that's on offer here is short-term entertainment.

Quite simply a very average blaster in the Operation Wolf tradition. Predator 2 lacks suitable emotional hooks to make you want to play and is insufficiently varied to keep you going.