BEHOLD! The Tomb of the Unknown King reaches up, yes, towering up even on to the heavens. The tomb stands silhouetted against the setting sun, flanked only by palm trees bent in homage.
You can almost hear the wavering strains of Wish You Were Here drifting across the mighty, turgid Nile, swollen with the tears of the damned.

I, Horus, son of Osiris the King of Life, bid you welcome and trust you can aid me in my quest. Many thousands of souls are crying out in torment, awaiting release from their underground prison. The evil god Set, embodiment of darkness and general bad egg, hath scattered the dead King's body unto the far corners of the huge tomb.

I am bound to gather them unto themselves and make them whole once more. When I have achieved this task, Osiris will grant me great strength and that dog-breath Set will be banished to eternity, forever.

Having a godly aspect, I can assume the form of a hawk to fly between the chambers of the tomb in search of the dismembered parts. But curse that snake-loving Set! He hath cast a spell upon the hieroglyphs that bedeck the walls of the chambers. They swarm around in the form of many small animated sprites, sapping my life force and inconveniencing me something terrible.

Thank mother Isis for the many amulets scattered around the tomb, frequent as the morning dew. The magic contained in these charms will help me greatly, providing great strength and mysterious companions. The many rainbow-coloured keys will grant access to locked chambers by way of the lifts, driven by a mysterious and ancient power source.

The enormity of my task overwhelms me. Even an immortal one as myself is temporarily stunned as the size of my mission is revealed. How many more chambers have been encased in this giant sandstone sarcophagus? How many eons will it take to fully explore this dark, stone underworld?

But now my memory plays tricks on me. Is this a previous reincarnation? Have I been Roland in the Caves in an earlier life? No, the memory passes and fades into oblivion as the haunting music engulfs me...

Long, long ago, before the time of mortal men, gods walked the Earth. One such god, Osiris, reigned as a benevolent king amongst the sweltering sand of Egypt. Under Osiris' reign everyone was happy and the land flourished. However, some were jealous, and Set, Osiris' halfbrother, was most overcome by this evil. In a fit of rage Set killed Osiris and spread bits of his severed body across the countryside.

At this time Osiris had an unborn son, Horus. When Horus reached maturity his mother told him of Osiris' fate and he vowed to piece his father back together. This done, Osiris' soul could leave for the heavens.

However, the hieroglyphics in Osiris' tomb had what you might call an editorial error. The only solution was for Osiris to breath life into the tomb so that Horus might correct his mistake. Unfortunately Set was also brought back to life and has once again split Osiris' body. You, as Horus, must repeat history; reunite with your father'd body, kill Set and correct the hieroglyphic typing error.

As you move around the tomb there are various amulets that will aid in your quest, some of which will allow you to call upon other characters.

Being set in a Egyptian tomb you would expect the graphics to be fairly Egyptian-tombish and you'd be right. The only problem is that most tombs look very similar, and this means that the scrolling backdrops soon become boring and give no indication of where you are. The character and enemies also lack variety with the exception of Horus who is well drawn and nicely animated.

An annoying Egyptian-type tune plays throughout the game. It can be turned off but this means you have to endure some pretty weak sound effects.

Eye of Horus is a typical maze game and a map is almost essential if any progress it to be made. All but the cream of maze games become very samey very quickly; but add to this the repetitive graphics and gameplay and you have a game all the appeal of a damp lettuce leaf.

In times longs past there was a paradise on Eath, an utopia populated by the gods and ruled over by Osiris. But not everyone was happy, indeed Osiris's brother, Set, was consumed with jealousy. One dark day Set persuaded Osiris to lie in a chest, then nailed it shut before throwing it into the river Nile.

Eventually the chest was discovered by Isis, Osiris's wife, who in comforting her dying husband became pregnant! While Osiris ascended to heaven, Isis gave birth to Horus, a hawk-headed god who can transform into a hawk for battle.

Horus's latest adventure takes place in a pyramid. Set has torn the body of the Unknown King entombed there into seven pieces. Horus must find the pieces and take them to their proper resting place - this will give him the power to take on Set.

To do his fighting for him Set has brought to life many of the hieroglyphics in the pyramid to attack Horus if he gets too near them. Horus can walk about in human form, and can only use the lifts on this way, but for battle the hawk is best.

Some of the lifts are locked, requiring one of eight different coloured keys to open them. There are also nineteen amulets to find. These range from the Amulet of the Soul (a hawk which follows Horus, spitting bullets), to the Amulet of the Collar of God which temprarily frees a man's soul from his body (invincibility in normal shoot-'em-up terms!), and even an auto-map. Some of the amulets must be used at the right place and time to complete the game successfully.

While exploring the pyramid Horus must be careful not to bump into Set. The evil god can take the form of a deadly dragon, and the whole screen shakes when Horus gets near him.