The Lost Legacy Of Xim features a private eye - Rick Shaw - who has been commissioned to find a priceless stolen relic. Although there were ancient records of a jewel-encrusted eagle statuette from the time of the tyrannical dictator Xim, it had disappeared from sight for many hundreds of years.

In 1964 it was discovered in Mexico by a group of Canadian researchers. More recently, Sir Robert Harker, a collector of ancient artifacts, had acquired this magnificent piece at an auction. With all the resulting coverage in the national press, it was not surprising that there was an attempt to steal the eagle. It was successful.

It is believed that the crooks have their base in a small coastal town and Sir Robert puts his private plane at your disposal. Once aboard, you learn to your cost that the pilot also has a criminal interest in the eagle.

The game starts with you bound hand and foot lying on the floor of the plane. This could be a little frustrating as Xim's parser is slightly unconventional at times. In this instance it needs an input of examme self to learn about your present predicament.

You must now find a way to cut through your bonds. You have only a limited time to escape from the plane before it crashes, because the pilot has killed the co-pilot and baled out.

Time passes for every move you make. If you give no commands, time passes anyway. There is no pause command, but any keyboard entry without pressing Return or Enter will stop the clock while you think what to do next.

The long and colourful location descriptions must be read carefully because it is not always obvious what might or might not be useful to you.

Xim is not an easy game to play, partially because you will have to first find out what input commands it will understand. It also gives the impression of being made difficult for difficulty's sake, rather than posing purely logical problems. The puzzles are logical, but do stretch your belief at times.

There are a couple of places where time is important. There is also a very strong likelihood of you dying from thirst or hunger before you can find food or drink. It is almost certain that you will have to start from the beginning once you know the order in which you must proceed.

The Lost Legacy Of Xim is not one of the friendliest adventures, and may well have you cursing under your breath. Win through to the end, however, and you will be very satisfied - even if it is only at the relief that it is all over.