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The name's Preston. I work at the Ministry. I keep an eye on the most deadly people in the country: The Other Side - and I'm not talking about Atari. I'm the newly appointed head of security and I have to face the most challenging assignment of my career. A group of Russian agents are planning to smuggle a nuclear device into Britain, breaking the Fourth Protocol.

They intend to set it off in such a manner as to make America seem responsible for the "accident". My task is to detect the agents and foil the plot.

The Fourth Protocol is a famous book by Fredrick Forsythe. Okay, so you and I have never read it, but lots of people who don't spend all their time playing computer games and reading stupid magazines have. Otherwise it wouldn't be a bestseller would it? Anyway, now you can play it as a computer game. It's in three parts and you must complete the first before going on to the second and third.

The object of the first part is to retrieve some vital Nato documents. As Preston, head of security, you have the facilities of a computerised command centre at your disposal.

There are various methods of communication such as memos from other department heads, phone calls and information from agents in the field and reports from other departments. The action, in this first part of the game, revolves around a series of icons displaying the options you can take. Three computer terminals show situation reports, memos and so on.

When there is a message waiting, an icon is displayed on the screen of the terminal. Moving a pointing finger icon to the relevant option and pressing Enter will give you a further menu with more icons.

For example, the memo option will print the memo on the screen and display a further menu. This shows you a filing cabinet to store the memo, a dustbin to throw it away, an eye to read it and a picture of a computer to return to the command centre. Certain memos require immediate action and off you go to more sub menus.

One of the most important actions is assigning surveillance teams to various suspects that emerge in the course of your investigations. This is done through a camera icon. 'Watchers' make regular reports of 'chummies' activities, allowing you to make various decisions on the way - arrest, pass on false information, deport and so on. Constant vigilance in the command centre is necessary, as it is very easy to miss a phone call or important message and lose a vital lead. Codes, phone numbers, limited resources, staff morale and success rates add to the complexity and realism of the game.

All control is from the cursor keys and Enter, with the cursor stepping to each icon in turn. There is no joystick option but there is a pause, save and load game facility.

Visually, Fourth Protocol is less than interesting, but if you are willing to forego a little colour and are into a little light thinking, Trivial Pursuit is a real treat.

The pace that the info comes in at is the factor that gives this game its addictive quality. You have to assign watchers, examine info that has just come in, work out coded passwords. note telephone numbers and still make snap decisions about the various suspects. There are red herrings and routine security head duties to carry out, generating the right sort of civil servant atmosphere.

And all the time, in the back of your mind there's this little voice saying "you missed something".

How do you write an adventure game without asking the player to type in pages of text? Well, how do you write an operating system which doesn't need loads of text? Simple. Apple did it with the Macintosh and Digital Research produced GEM for the Amstrad PC. If they can do it for something as boring as a disc operating system then surely this front end can be tagged onto an adventure game.

The Fourth Protocol has been around on the Spectrum for quite a while, but it's new to Amstrad users. Some of the features make the game feel very real. You need to make an appointment to see your boss, hire taxis and use the London underground.

Loading in three parts is a pain and the game is so difficult that not very many people will see the final section. Look out for the film on soon.

Yet another move the pointer around and select icons game. This is quite a good one though, which succeeds in generating a degree of authentic spy atmosphere.

I got a bit fed up with reviewing the security arrangements in Building 17, especially as this gave me less time to sort out those Commies and the boss got a bit shirty.

There are plenty of things to do in the game, but no option to plant secrets on someone then arrest him. You can't call the two-colour graphics the most exciting in the world but the game is nonetheless quite playable. Move over Smiley!