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At long last the game that was always coming soon but not quite here has arrived.

Things are looking grim in the once tranquil tree world of Dendra for the level of pests and vermin has risen to epidemic proportions and it's your job as the verminator to stop it rising even further. Armed with an assortment of different weapons you must wander the great oak tree pounding those pests wherever you find them.

Jake the verminator begins his mission armed only with a mallet and a bank loan of 1,000 credits.

Both banks and shops are well signposted throughout the tree which is fortunate as the tree is quite vast (over 250 screens) and it's very easy to get lost. It's also fortunate because money and more specifically the making of it is an essential part of the game.

Once inside the shop, you find several shelves packed with equipment which can be selected by moving a rotating coin that represents your money over an object and pressing the joystick button. Equipment ranges from a simple brick at 200 credits to falcons at 4000. As price in general represents performance your measly 1,000 creds will only stretch to a catapult and the trusty brick.

Though pasting the pests is your trade, contact with the critters doesn't do you must good either and your depleting life force is shown in the form of a heart that cracks from bottom to top as you become weaker.

Just to add to your problems, ghostlike muggers also float around the tree, often in gangs of two or three. Not only do they take great pleasure in beating you about the head with a stick, they also steal your money for good measure. Watch out for brown-cloaked muggers as a few encounters with these will soon leave you impoverished. This in mind a visit to the bank is always a good option, what you are not carrying, they can't steal!

Money can also be won in the casino near the top of the tree where you have a choice of playing dice (get a double to win), fruit machines or blackjack but if gambling isn't your scene and you are truly desperate for cash you can always go to the mob.

Being lent money in 1000 cred installments may sound like a good thing, but if you are late in repayment you'll find yourself being chased around the tree by the mob's boys and you can never be sure the dodgy goods will work properly.

A verminator's life is not all hard work and at the end of each week it's time to rest, recuperate and read your mail. This includes notes on the latest pest plagues and any extra credits or debits your bank account has incurred, but weekends never last long so you are soon back to the grindstone.

Pest control has never been so much fun and with a huge play area and plenty of weapon upgrades, Verminator will keep you critter-crunching well into the night. Verminator's vast playability will cause bags under the eyes of many an avid gamer.