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Packaged by I Ching, bursting with folklore and demanding deft combat skills, Windwalker takes you to the heart of the Orient.

Emperor Chao Ti rules peacefully over Khantun and his subjects are happy - exactly the sort of blissful situation ripe for evil to pounce. In this case the evil is one of the emperor's warlords who, together with the court alchemist, overthrow Chao Ti and imprison both he and his wife. He makes slaves of the womenfolk and conscripts able-bodied men to work the jade mines. The alchemist conjures up evil spirits to take possession of Khantun's once-holy shrines and the dark clouds of evil and misery spread across the land.

Moebius the Windwalker observesthe plight of Khantun and dispatches one of his disciples to enter the realm, dispel the darkness and, while he's about it, achieve enlightenment.

Before your quest you're offered the choice of having a combat training session or venturing forth and freeing Khantun. As combat plays a major part in Windwalker it makes sense to practise before actually taking on the warlord and his cronies.

Combat screens (both in practice mode and when it's for real) display the two fighters from a third person perspective. Both combatants are amply scaled and nicely detailed, though they're slow and jerky when they move. Controlled by mouse or keys you fight in one of two modes: concentration (each move you make is followed by a single move from your opponent) or intuition (your opponent goes all out to defeat you and it's up to you to fight back). You work your way through ever-tougher opponents (learning by using action replays of your fights) until you consider yourself good enough to free Khantum of the warlord's tyranny.

Once on your way the display changes to show an oriental landscape with you and all other characters depicted as busts. Landscape features such as rocks, trees and buildings are well-detailed and realistically scroll forward from the horizon. Move your character step by step using the mouse or keyboard. Buildings can be entered and explored and travel by sea is possible by walking onto a boat.

You free Khantun by conversing with other characters, fighting adversaries, praying for help and collecting objects such as elixirs and mystical scrolls to help your quest.

Throughout your quest, you should try to remain honourable (and thus gain enlightenment) by not stealing or running away from fair fights - losing honour may make people reluctant to talk to you.

There's a lot to do in Windwalker and attention to detail, especially oriental folk lore and traditions, is impressive. Unfortunately, gameplay is very slow. Conversing with other characters is tedious and any realism induced by the scrolling landscapes is ruined by having heads jerk around the screen. Research into the Orient for Windwalker's background has evidently been extensive and thorough. It is a shame it didn't result in a better game.