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This is the first game I've seen on the new budget label from US Gold and it's certainly worth £1.99. I was a bit shocked when I loaded it up, however. No way is this game American - it was written using GAC and must therefore be the first example I've seen of a major software house using a utility like that for a budget label. I'm surprised people don't do it more often.

Spy Trek isn't too bad a game. The graphics are fine and make good use of GAC's powerful drawing features. The vocabulary isn't enormous but the authors have sensibly highlighted important phrases in object descriptions by using capital letters. So as a basic rule, if it's in capitals you can do something with it.

The puzzles range from the ludicrously easy to the infuriatingly difficult as you attempt to rescue some plans from their European hiding place. All pretty conventional spy stuff here and few surprises, though one or two of the locations are quite original and there is a light-hearted vein of humour throughout the program.

My only grouse is that, in using GAC, the authors didn't pay enough attention to overcoming that annoying feature whereby valuable text is sometimes scrolled off the screen before you can read it. I also failed to note any mention of GAC on the package. I also can't help feeling that the label "Americana" is a bit misleading - this game seems as English as they come. Anyway, at £1.99 who cares about nationality? This game isn't going to rock the earth, nor is it going to keep you up for night after night, but it should give most of you a good trek for your hard-earned nickels.