Sabre Team - Krisalis RRP œ25.99
             (Strategy game for ST, Amiga and PC)

            Reviewed by Steve McLaren on the Amiga

Wow! Was I knocked out when I started to play this game. It is a
strategy war game. Let's get down to what you get in the box. You
get two disks, one for the intro and the other is the Mission
disk. Also included is a blueprint of the British Embassy which is
essential to the mission and also a very easy instruction manual -
not too daunting or too thick, one quick glance and you'll be on
your way into the game. Also you get a list of weapons, this is to
get through the copy protection screen. You will be shown a gun
and you have to match it up with one from the card. If you get it
wrong, when you insert the mission disk the screen will go red and
you will have to start off again.

So, into the game. You get an initialisation screen from which you
pick out your team of macho men to form the SAS. There are eight
people to choose from but careful observation will get you the
four top men. So after you get your team you then go to the
weapons screen to kit out your team with either a sub-machine gun
or an assault rifle. You do have a big choice. Then you can also
have stun grenades and CS gas grenades. Also it's best to get
medical kits as well. You will have to get the right ammo too for
your gun. I quite liked this part of the game, it made it feel
more in control.

Once you have done this, you are ready to play the first mission
out of five. You will have to deploy your men in strategic
positions outside the POW camp. Your mission is to rescue the
four hostages and get your men out unharmed. Now you are given
action points to move or fire your weapon at the enemy so you have
to be careful how many action points you use. If you have more
than 18 action points when the enemy has their turn and they spot
you first, you are given an opportunity to move. If you have
enough action points you can kill the enemy but if you haven't you
can say 'bye-bye, Sweet Cheeks.'

Once you have killed the enemy it is best to see what they are
carrying. They might have some spare ammo for your gun or even
have a better weapon than you. It does come in handy having a
spare gun, I know. Also you can exchange ammo or guns between your
men.

Shooting at the enemy is quite realistic. Once you are in firing
range of the enemy you click the cross hair over the enemy, then
you must click onto how many rounds you wish to shoot. That all
depends on what gun you have. Then fire away to shoot the enemy.
But it is not good when the enemy shoots you, it makes you feel
more determined to reload and get the b*s*a*d.

And there again, if you shoot more of the enemy, they call up
reinforcements. That is a bugger; just when you have got it easy,
there are more on the way.

When you have had your turn moving your men around, it is time for
the enemy to move around. This is a bit slow but if you hold down
the left mouse button it will tend to speed things up a bit but
you can think of your next moves as well, while watching what the
enemy is up to.

The other four missions are just as good as the first. The first
two are about rescuing hostages, mission three is about taking out
four machines before they release their missiles, mission four is
about a liner hijack in which you have to take out the terrorists
and odd occasions one of the crew will get in the way just when
you want to bump off the terrorist. Mission five is the same as
mission three, to take out four machines. I found the weakest one
was Liner Hijack but it is still worth playing.

The graphics are excellent. In this type of game, each mission
has its own soundtrack. They are rather good but can be turned
off in an instant so you just have the FX sounds.

You have three modes of play, Easy, Medium and Hard. I played it
in medium mode and it took just over a week to complete all five
missions - and I was playing more than eight hours at a time. I
was hooked on this game! It is well worth the asking price from
Special Reserve - œ15.99 instead of œ25.99. It would look good in
anyone's collection and they are doing another mission disk some
time this year. I give this game the thumbs up and would recommend
it to anyone who wants a change from adventuring.

Gameplay  10/10
Soundtrack 7/10
FX sounds  7/10
Overall 90%