Over ten years ago, an action/puzzle game called Sentinel was released for various platforms, including the Amiga and the Commodore 64. Now, Psygnosis has released the sequel, Sentinel Returns, for the PlayStation.

Be prepared to be totally confused when you start playing Sentinel Returns. After a fairly cheesy FMV intro, which has very little to do with the actual game, you hit the start button, and you see what resembles a fetus being injected with a needle. If you find this disturbing, don't worry- this also has very little to do with the game.

When you finally start playing, you cannot seem to move. All you can do is look around and see what appear to be spikes sticking out of the checkerboard-like ground. Believe it or not, the spikes are actually supposed to be trees. At all times, you are in control of a robot host, and you move by creating and transferring control to a new host, all you use the directional pad for is positioning the cursor.

The idea of Sentinel Returns is to work your way from the lowest point of a level's 3D landscape to the highest point and destroy the level's Sentinel, while avoiding the Sentinel's energy-draining gaze. You work your way up to the top by creating "robot hosts" and by absorbing old robots and trees to collect more energy.

In addition to creating new robots, you also use your energy to create trees and blocks. By creating trees, you can block the Sentinel's gaze, and since you can only create new objects at an elevation equal to or less than your current robot host, an important strategy is to build blocks and then build robots on top.

The challenge of this game comes from avoiding the gaze of the Sentinel and its Sentries. The early levels have only a Sentinel, which is always at the landscapes highest point. The Sentinel rotates , scanning the landscape with a 28 degree field of view (Think of it as a lighthouse). If you get caught within its gaze, it will stop rotating and start draining your energy, and when you have no energy left, the game is over. As soon as the obnoxious energy draining sound starts, you must find a good spot to create a new host, and quickly transport to the new host. In addition to the Sentinel, at higher levels, there are one or more Sentries, which are smaller versions of the Sentinel that do the same thing.

To complete a level, you work your way to the top of the landscape and absorb the Sentinel to destroy it. Scattered throughout every level are trees. You advance one to four levels depending on how many of the level's trees you absorb. If all you do if work your way to the top, you only advance one level, but if you get fancy and absorb extra trees, you can advance up to 4 levels.

Obviously, the graphics in this game leave something to be desired, the ground looks like a checkerboard, the trees are merely spikes, and the robots are just a collection of cubes and spheres. Although this may turn many people off to the game right away, remember: this is a puzzle game, and there have been successful puzzle games using far fewer simple geometric shapes.

John Carpenter, of horror film fame, is responsible for the game’s music, which, along with the thunder and lightning on some levels, really gives the game a creepy feeling. Unfortunately, the sound effects do the music no justice, as some of the sounds are downright annoying. Since just the sound of the Sentinel draining your energy is enough to make you want to move, I guess they are effective, though.

The game’s control really takes some getting used to. Movement takes a while to learn, and you have to know which button to use without wasting time thinking about it. The major drawback to control is how slow the cursor moves with the directional pad. Sentinel Returns is mouse compatible, but you still need to use the buttons on the control pad to create and absorb objects and to transport. (Personally, I don’t think I’m coordinated enough to use both.)

Since there are over 650 levels, if you like Sentinel Returns, it could really keep you occupied for awhile. Unfortunately, you probably will not feel up to doing all 650 plus levels- I was bored to tears after fifty-some levels.

Puzzle games need not have great stories or state-of-the-art graphics, but they should have an intangible quality that just make you want to keep playing. Games like Tetris and Pipe Dream leave you seeing blocks and pipes when you go to bed at night, and games like Lemmings keep you pondering that level for which there seems to be no solution.

Nothing makes me want to continue playing Sentinel Returns, however. Although the game was mildly amusing after I got the hang of it, the gameplay became very repetitive after twenty-some levels. Many players will be turned off immediately by the primitive graphics, the difficulty of simply moving, and the non-intuitive control. Those who do take the time to learn Sentinel Returns may be interested for awhile but will probably not want to complete 650 levels.

If you are a really big fan of either puzzle games in general or the original Sentinel, who may want to give Sentinel Returns a try. Otherwise, with the rich variety of quality PlayStation games out there, Sentinel Returns is a game you can do without.