Adventurers be warned, Doom is no happy haven for the lighthearted.

Seasoned adventurers will no doubt be well aware of the Doom Trilogy from those masters of intrigue at Topologika. For the uninitiated, however, this is a masterpiece of text based action, of which Return To Doom plays the second part and a cracking second part it is too.

Receiving distress signals from the good ship Galapoxi upon the surface of Doom you, as the only person to have escaped from that Godforsaken place, are the perfect choice to go in there and rescue the survivors, one of whom happens to be the Ambassador of Regina.

So, off you go in hot pursuit, landing your craft in a small clearing in the middle of a humid jungle. Now it's up to you.

A quick scout around your immediate vicinity will quickly show you there is more to this adventure than meets the eye — more danger and more puzzles to solve.

Return To Doom is a monster of a game and with only 100 points to be gained from start to finish, you'll be hard put to gain a decent score.

As you start out, you will soon discover plenty of objects to be picked up. Sonic are essential, while others will bring certain death if you try to reach them. One useful tip to be going on with - that cuddly Boogatiger isn't quite as cuddly as it seems.

The first part of the game forms a sort of time trial as you attempt to pick up all of the pieces you need to progress in time to catch hold of some vital information for later use. Take too long and you miss out, leaving you well and truly stuck.

After a few trials and errors, you should work out which pieces to use and which will come in to play later in the game. Then it's off on the trail again, which will bring you into contact with a giant rat, a dog, a computer, a maze that isn't (if you get my drift), cyclones and all matter of different obstacles which you need to solve in order to rescue the surviving crew of the shipwreck.

Remembering passwords and key letters, you'll find yourself thrown through alternative universes on your quest to succeed, and the save/load Option will soon begin to play a major role in your adventure. Use it wisely before trying out rash moves, it could save your life and a lot of time starting from the beginning again.

As a text-only adventure, Return To Doom has to be one of the best, if not the best, offering of the year. The scope of the game is immense and, despite its advanced difficulty level status, you should be able to see your way through it with a little luck and a lot of common sense.

You're on your own, though if you manage to meet your initial deadline, you may get some helpful advice. One more thing, do unto others what you would have clone unto you. In other words, help no someone, or something out, and you may find your favour returned later on when you need it most.