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Continuing in the magical vein we come to Warlord a text and graphic game from Interceptor Micros.

The scene is the Celtic upland of Britain in the early Roman period of its history. The imperial legions of the Emperor Vespasian have cut and burned their way up through the land, destroying hillforts and settlements in their progress.

As the red-crested cohorts reach what is now the Scottish border their advance is stopped by a powerful tribe led by a tough and resourceful warlord - that's you.

Even the gods join in to try and influence the struggle until finally the two sides agree on a form of single combat. By divine means, the warlord and a selected centurion are transported to a Celtic otherworld. The first to travel through time and space back to the 'real' world will be the victor. Strange puzzles and creatures will confront you and the gods themselves may intervene at times.

There are about a hundred locations for your £5.50 although most have very brief descriptions. There are excellent location graphics, some of which show that the author or graphics designer had done some research into the history of the period. I was particularly impressed by the picture of the chieftain's hut in the hillfort. The pictures are few and far between, though, and the large number of one-line descriptions tend to reduce the atmosphere.

Examining things will bring little result except for important objects. I expected to be able to do more in locations than I was allowed to.

Nevertheless the game has a good feel of its period and the interpreter will allow more than the usual verb/noun combinations - 'throw meat to bear' is allowed, for instance. The vocabulary is rather bereft at times despite that, and it was very odd to find that the program would not understand 'tie' when you have a piece of rope in your hands - I expect a bit more verbal versatility than that.

Warlord, then, is pretty much in the middle ground of adventuring. More detail would have improved on a reasonably interesting plot and setting.