ONCE upon an eon the descendants of Noah decided to build a tower. This was to be a tower to reach so high that they could communicate with their creator. Well they didn't quite manage that but they did attract the attention of some passing aliens ho took pity on the poor humans and gave them three robots to help finish the job.

Now the time has come for the robots to phone home, but they can only do this from the top of the tower. The jealous humans have laid traps to prevent the robotic "spiders" reaching their objective.

The spiders each have different abilities. The first is the Zapper which can, naturally enough, zap things. This is useful for clearing the way of weapons systems and the occasional zapable obstruction. Next in the team is the Pusher. His powers of repulsion (sounds like Jeff) can push most obstacles out of the way, including the other robots.

Lastly comes the grabber, whose sole aim is to pick up things, mostly Klondikes - the energy pods that the robots need to survive.

The three spiders must work as a team to overcome all the problems and puzzles the treacherous humans have set before them. Other robots in the service of the humans inhabit and inhibit the tower.

Laser cannons and repulsion ray, proximity mines, reflectors, wipers and exchangers are just some of the hostile hardware to be overcome on the quest for the summit.

Control of the spiders is straightforward. Click on the relevant icon to move forwards, left or right. The fire icon will activate the current spider's weapon. Gadgets down the right hand side allow switching between spiders.

Up to eight orders can be programmed in advance and then executed, even if a different spider is in use at the time. In fact all three spiders can run programs simultaneously, eliminating all that hassle of switching between them.

The graphics are nothing stunning, being just you're average 3D surreal cubist landscape stuff, although some of the lighting effects were very nice. It's not a fast action arcade style thing so there isn't much scope for wonderful effects.

Puzzlewise it is quite exceptional. Perhaps akin to the kind of constructional nightmare presented by building a ship-in-a-bottle in space by remote control.

A complete tower construction set is included so when you get bored torturing your hamsters or whatever you can turn your talents to creating a replica of Dante's Inferno for your mates to battle their way through. Definitely one for those who consider themselves cunning.

Anyone familiar with the Bible and the book of Genesia will recofnise the title of this game. According to the book, the descendents of Noah, wishing to be closer to God, built a huge tower intended to reach up to heaven. This actually struck God as being a bit cheeky, so he cursed the workes with many different languages just to confuse them and foil their plans - up until then everyone had spoken the same language.

Here is where the game comes in. Durig the construction of the tower - this is The Word according to the manual writers - a passing spaceship from the planet Zantor decided to give the masses a hand and lend them three spider-like robots. Unfortunately, things turned sour and the humans ended up hating the robots and doing their damnedest to destroy them. After killing all the rebel humans the robots now just wish to get to the top of tower and return to their homeland. If they do not manage it, the Zantorians will wreak havoc upon Earth.

You are going to help the robots. Unfortunately, the evil hjmans have dvised many traps and pitfalls to hinder the robots.

This is a solid 3D strategy and puzzle game. The tower is broken down into 125 minitowers each of which has its own specific objective - for example to destroy two objects and collect three Klondikes, which are power packs for the robots.

The towers are grouped into blocks of nine and once you have completed seven in a group you can progress to the next block. The objective for each tower is outlined in at the beginning and you are then told which of the three robots are available. The three robots are Zapper: so called because it is the robot that can destroy certain objects; Pusher, because it can push things; and Grabber, well, you can probably guess!

There are two main methods of controlling the robots. The first involves jumping straight into one and controlling it by clicking on movement arrows with the mouse pointer. The other way - which comes in especially handy for the towers in which you have got a time limit to beat - involves programming the robot with up to eight instructions - such as turn, right, fire move forward four squares - and then letting the robot get on with it. All three robots can be programmed to this way so they can accomplish tasks simultaneously.

You know what you have to do, and what you have to do it with - all you need to know is what sort of things you are going to come up against.

For starters, the tower is made up of (usually) more than one chequered level. Moving from one level to another requires a robot to move onto a lift square and activate it. Then there are the baddies, robots that can zap your robots, and proximity mines and the like that just get in the way.

Every tower can (honest!) be completed but it often involves moving blocks and other objects around. Many of the towers have only one solution.

GRAPHICS AND SOUND

The sound effects and music are fine, but they are nowhere near as good as the graphics. TOB does not really cry out for good graphics, because the puzzling nature of the game does not rely on them, so it is even nicer to see they have been very well done.

LASTING INTEREST

The number of towers is going to keep you playing for ages (fortunately you can save your position), and once you have completed the whole game you can set about designing your own levels - yup, it has got its own tower designer. Bags and bags of lasting interest.

JUDGEMENT

A superb game. Everyone who has been lamenting the lack of superior software on their state-of-the-art machine can take heart - this is the sort of stuff that makes owning such a machine a joy. Cerebral stuff that is not completely lacking in the action department either. If you liked The Sentinel, this is a must.

Not a licence from the Old Testament. Instead a puzzler. Not your standard blocks and ladders, this time you get a high tech spider and lifts. There is no fancy plot, Tower of Babel just requires puzzle-solving in a rather peculiar way, using three robot spiders: a Pusher (for pushing objects), a Zapper (for shooting objects), and a Grabber (for collecting things). These can be viewed from first person perspective, or from behind. In turn the whole tower can be viewed from a distance, essential to get an idea of what you are going to run into.

The puzzles vary from the easy (use one spider and kill one creature) to the downright tough (three spiders collect three objects, destroy three others, with a time limit). Apart from collectibles and destructibles, laser cannons cause a lot of problems, as do teleporters, which are not just there to make life difficult, but are integral to solving the puzzles.

Each spider is controlled in the same way, either one move at a time or in a programmed series which is used in the later stages. The moves are simple left/right forward, up and down for lifts. The real skill is using the spiders in conjunction with each other. You have to make sure yours is in the right place to activate a particular part of the puzzle. Having the other two capitalise on this situation is not easy.

The trickiest thing about the game is getting used to the way its various elements are connected. Being in the right place at the right time is a help, but you need to take a general overview of the game. This means constantly retracing your tracks to work out who does what where.

It is not just a case of collecting things. Guns need to be deactivated and aliens need to be shot. Unfortunately, sometimes the situation warrants the sacrifice of a spider.

There are stacks of options to make playing the game easier, from adjusting your view of the spiders to chancing the graduated tint on the skyline. Most radical of all is the designer. If you become bored with the normal towers you can alter them or re-build them from scratch. You have full control over the colour palette, every single object and four floors with which to build.

Tower of Babel takes puzzle games one stage further. It is variety which makes it so attractive. Each section contains some very tricky problems, and when they finally appear you have to move fast to nip them in the bud.

Tower of Babel has stunning graphics. The 3D works very well and it is fast, although it sometimes makes playing a little bit confusing, especially after your umpteenth jaunt on a teleporter.

This is an excellent game, not just for puzzle enthusiasts but for everybody who fancies a few weeks of mind-bending puzzles.

The Shinarians built a tower, the purpose of which was not to get a good view of The Pleasure Beach but to communicate with God. Unfortunately, God must have been busy, he never returned the calls. However, the ziggurat was so tall it attracted attention from beyond the clouds: a Zantorian cruiser just happened to be passing and, unable to ignore the enormous construction, came down for a better look.

Deciding the Shinarians needed a spot of hi-tech help they left behind three spider-like robots - a Zapper, a Pusher and a Grabber - to assist with the tower's construction.

However, as time marched on and the tower grew taller, the three robots became homesick (ahhh) and decided it was time to leave. To do so they would have to scale the very pinnacle of the tower in order to communicate with the Zantorians.

Meanwhile, the Shinarians had become possessive of the robots and were determined that they should not leave. They built obstacles and set traps in the tower in an effort to stop the robots reaching the pinnacle. The robots sussed the situation and destroyed the Shinarians... but they still have to get to the top of the tower if they want to get home.

Viewed through their eyes, you guide the three robots, either individually or simultaneously, as they strive to negotiate tower sections in a bid to reach the summit. Each section requires the completion of a particular task for success, varying from destroying a single object to possibly collecting 10 klondikes (robot power-pods) and destroying 20 objects within 100 seconds.

Opposing Pushers and Zappers, Proximity Mines and Time Bombs exist throughout the tower to make your life difficult. Blocks can be Pushed around and used for protection or to deflect Zappers' lasers. Landlizards, Hoppers, Watchers and Worms all wander around getting in the way. Lifts abound throughout sections, strategic use of which is usually necessary to solving problems.

Four cameras - north, south, east and west of the tower - with the capability to move left/right and zoom in/out are used to assess sections, watch events, looks for hidden dangers and plan strategies. A most interesting aspect of Tower Of Babel is the inclusion of an in-built game designer through which you can create your own towers to try and fox your friends.

Tower Of Babel gets tougher as you progress, there is no luck involved in success, the game is pure logic. An absorbing, sometimes frustrating but nevertheless brilliant strategy game. And not a hanging garden in sight.