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It's time to bring out those old adventure favourites of assorted metal rings, men in coffins and devil statues in Michael Edwards' The Immortal Strain; his latest 8 rooms of adventure.

As for your purpose in collecting such objects, well according to Dragon User news desk a few months back it's in an attempt to become immortal (that explains the title). I revert to this old news item as there are no initial instructions anywhere. This may well be a secret mission, but they could at least inform the poor person who has to do it!

Actually lack of instructions doesn't prove a problem because as with any adventure you set off to wander around and pick up any useful looking objects. Also there's a very handily discarded note in a church telling you about various items to help you succeed in your test.

Your task begins in a peniade where there's a feeling of magic, according to the re-designed white text on black background. I would not disagree with this description as when you drop specific objects within its boundary your score mysteriously rises. There is a score feature, by the way, so you can check on your progress throughout the game.

One of your initial problems is a not very nice fellow called Zargron, whose mysterious name aptly fits the atmosphere generated in the program, This nasty chap keeps following you about, and then for no other reason than he's a bit ot a madman (or mad thing, whichever is applicable) gives you immortality rather earlier than you would expect. Except that sitting on a fluffy white cloud playing a harp is not exactly what you were after.

A location called 'the old green' soon provides a method of despatching Zargron. Having done to him as he would undoubtably have done to you, the old cad then resurrects himself for a few seconds to try and get his hands on a nearby amulet, Not exactly cricket - but then again you're not quite at the MCC, as shown by the fact that he leaves a map written in Swahili.

Wandering in peace around beaches, cliffs, forests and a church for good measure should reveal to you rings of different tinctures, one found by the old graveyard and coffin scenario, when the text actually satin ises itself.

The chance to go up and down as wetl as traditional compass directions is also used. By exploring downwards you could find yourself amid a sea of fire with a hand stretching out of the inferno.

Also by diverting down you can get on a beach where further along the shore is a motorboat willing to transport you to three other areas (and to the main shore, although as you're initially there it seems a bit of a waste of petrol). In theory the boat should take you to these locations but it only seems to want to go to the small islet and back to the main shore. Southern and northern waters you are told have nothing of interest. If there's nothing worth acquiring there why have a motor boat going to them? Sounds about as truthful as a sentence from a second hand car salesman methinks!

Conclusion time is approaching and therefore I'll have to try and sum the game up. It doesn't seem over difficult as the problems are logically solved, but what do you throw the grenade at and why does the computer reply 'sorry' when I try to get into the tent? (No doubt I shall solve these problems about two minutes after I've posted this review.) The game through the disused church and graveyards has an ominously eerie atmosphere about it and is as well-written as any text adventure by a big software house for the Dragon.

Big software houses brings me neatly onto my parting shot. Just because this game wasn't advertised in pages of glossy blurb it doesn't mean its not worth buying. Small firms like Broomsoft deserve all the support they can get - they're not after vast profits but just providing the public with adventures, and good ones at that!