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Just to prove the fact that lovely big treasures come in discreet and polite packaging, Andy Hutchinson meets the Storm Master and asks, "Now, what on earth do you mean, Gusty?"

Apologies, but Storm Master sounds like the name of an episode of He-Man, or perhaps Dungeons And Dragons. However, in keeping with laws on literalness, this game is, in fact, about a chap who's jolly good at whistling up the odd hurricane. Now, rather than becoming a pathetic show-off at parties ("Have you seen my hurricane trick?"), this enterprising bloke hires himself out to a nation and does his wind tricks to help invading squadrons on their way. All of which cunningly disguises the fact that this is, in fact, another god-game.

The plot goes something like this. There are two islands called Eolia (sounds a bit rude) and Sharkaania. These two islands have been at war with each other for absolutely ages and there's no sign of a let up. You are the ruler of Eolia and your job - do say if you've already heard all this - is to completely destroy Sharkaania in the hope that it has better beaches than you. Everything's controlled by the nine (?!) members of the Council of Seven: the Adviser, the Ecclesiast, the Master Miller, the High Constable, the Joker, the Leonardo, the Scribe, the Inquisitor and the Commander. These dudes enable you to influence events on the island and build an armada suitable for trampling on neighbouring countries. Thus, to perform an action you simply click on the appropriate dude and the necessary icons magically appear. Of course, while you're rustling up an army, the Sharkaanians are doing their own plotting. Every now and then they launch an attack on you or murder one of your officials. The answer's to rustle up some troops and get your own back. This isn't as easy as it sounds because you've actually got to design, build and test your way vehicles first.

This section of the game is great fun. You're presented with a rough blueprint for four different kinds of aircraft. The idea is to bolt things like sails, propellers and catapults onto them, kit them out with a crew and then see if the thing flies. More often than not, you see your wonderful war machine bounce off the ground and explode in a ball of flames, but get it right and you can commission a number of them for use in attacks.

Successful campaigns are quite tricky. For starters, you've got to have managed the economy competently so you've got the necessary resources to throw behind your lads. It's also wise to make sure you've got enough treasure to support the venture and enough trained up soldiers to actually do the dirty work.

Make the trip abroad and you can start bombing and raiding Sharkaania. Your squadron of flying craft - they're definitely not aeroplanes - can anchor anywhere and bomb the surrounding area to oblivion. Obviously, the more aircraft you have, the quicker you destroy something. Hang around too long and you're attacked yourself.

A 3D action sequence kicks off here, though if you're purely into strategy, you can turn this bit off at the start of the game. The idea of this section is to shoot down the other chaps. At your disposal you have a catapult - which isn't terribly accurate but is very powerful - and wodges of arrows, which you can fire in six directions. Shoot down all the enemies and you can either carry on bombing or head for home and a slap up lunch in Mrs Bandereroes' Victual Saloon.

Storm Master is a lot of fun. The French programming team have created a weird but very atmospheric game which all hangs together brilliantly. It's a god-game, sure, but Silmarils have brought a whole new aspect to the genre.

Graphically, Storm Master is sumptuous. The programmers have plumped for a "Lewis Carroll meets Jules Vernes" feel and they carry it off well. In fact, the final screen is about as close to a renaissance painting as you get on your ST.

The screen you see the most of is the main map screen. This has a cartoon feel to it. It scrolls around to reveal the entire playing area, though unlike other god-games, you can't see what your population is actually up to - you simply see where there are cities, crops, airfields or the Storm Master. On the static screens, the aircraft look like Viking warships with wheels and wings, while the soldiers give you the impression that they have wandered off the set of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The action sections work well together, with all sorts of odd looking flying machines looming down out of the sky to take a pot shot at you.

The vast majority of sound effects are sampled. In fact, in the ceremony section of the game, in which you're trying to whistle up a wind, there are about fifteen different sound effects, ranging from the sound of animals being hacked up to a chorus of heavenly chaps and chapesses.

For a game which doesn't look initially like it really has much to offer, Storm Master is a stonker. This isn't the most detailed simulation that you're going to come across, but it's extremely easy to get into and could certainly hold your attention for a few months. However, if there had to be just one simple reason why you should buy this game, it's got to be because of the ceremony in which you have to conduct the faithful in raising a massive wind.

Storm Master has some tough competition since the market has recently been flooded by god-games. However, compared to some of the dross software houses have wheeled out over the past few months, this is a smashing game. It's moody and richly coloured - oh yes, and it's French, although that's not necessarily a point in its favour.

1. It's equally cheeky, smart and weird, if you hunger for more Whirlybirds, you'll love this game.
2. Graphically and aurally it's groovy. Loads of time has been spent on getting things just right.
3. Plenty of interesting storylines to pursue, four skill levels, a drop of humour, but still a tad lacking in the longevity stakes.