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I suppose we should be used to slightly whacky adventures from that devious mind of Charles Sharpe. The latest to grace my CPC is yet another cheapie from Alternative Software called S.M.A.S.H.E.D., very loosely based on the TV program of a similar title.

The year is 1951 and the place is Korea. You have very recently qualified at medical school and now find yourself, diploma in hand, mending the hurts of Uncle Sam's soldiers at the Strangest Mobile Army Surgical Hospital East of Detroit. You are the newest recruit to this mad, mad, almost front line unit.

Even in the short time you have been there, you have become accustomed to their way of life. To find that your little group has a fully functional alcoholic still was a ray of moonshine in your daily routine of boredom and bullet wounds. To now find it has disappeared is traumatic, and could lead to a serious malfunction in the system.

Your task, should you accept it or not, is to track down the whereabouts of the still. S.M.A.S.H.E.D. does not have a large number of locations and most may be explored as soon as you start the game. Written using Incentive's Graphic Adventure Creator, the graphics and the parser are quite acceptable without being in any way exceptional. The cassette inlay has a list of more than 100 words that are understood, so there is no excuse for getting stuck for a turn of phrase.

As with some other games from the same source, SEARCH has a slightly different meaning to EXAMINE and its regular use is to be recommended. Once you have mapped the terrain, you can start thinking of ways to approach the loss of the still. Talking to several of the characters is vital, and some means of persuading them to talk could prove useful.

Packed into less than fifty locations is a neat little adventure containing a great deal of fun. There are also a couple of mazes to test your mapping skills, but do not get too excited if you find that mapping is the main aim of that particular part of the game.

There are only about 20 objects to find, but everything has some purpose - you just have to find out how to get them and then what use to put them to. Switch on, sit back, and enjoy the Strangest Mobile Army Surgical Hospital East of Detroit.