Please login to submit a screenshot

A SPACE ODDITY ...

So now we know. The reason nobody can hear you scream in space is ... they're all frozen stiff. Or rather they are 'cryogenically immersed', for Alien 8 comes with the same sort of instructions as Ultimate's other recent games. Enigmatic is an understatement. Obscure, opaque, mysterious or just plain unintelligible would be closer. Certainly, lots of long words and not many facts to join them together.
Much easier to pick up the gist of the plot by playing. All you need to know is that you are a robot, sorry, cybot, programmed to look after all the needs of the frozen astronauts, off on a jolly jaunt to colonise distant worlds. Unfortunately, the ship has been invaded by aliens and the life support systems have been damaged. You now have to reactivate these systems before the astronauts turn into real stiffs.
Reactivation is achieved by collecting 'thermolec valves' (different shaped objects) and plugging them into the cryogenic sockets (holes to plug in different shaped objects). With 24 chambers to be reactivated and only 5 initial replacement packs (lives), it's not a task that'll be completed first time out. You're going to have to get used to the screams of a lot of defrosting spacemen as they re-enter the atmosphere. Luckily, on the Speccy nobody'll hear them.
Any resemblance to any other Ultimate program is purely uncoincidental. And sure, you're going to think you've been conned by a clone when you first load it up. But once you're into the game you'll see that it's much more complex than its predecessor and perfects all the techniques that Knight Lore prepared us for.
So, now check out our map and start planning your movements with the microwave on legs.

Alien 8 (Ultimate) (BBC Model B)

And This One Is Super Too!

Reviewed By Peter Clifton In The Micro User 3.08

In Alien-8, the latest release from Ultimate, you play the part of a small droid who wanders through a starship.

You must try to save the cryonauts by maintaining the cryogenic chambers before collision with the new colonisation planet occurs. All the time, of course, you're under attack from alien life forms.

The game takes place on a large 128-room, 3D maze set out in the form of a spaceship - according to the map I managed to produce, anyway. It contains various aliens such as clockwork mice, Dalek-type creatures and some nifty remote-controlled robots for removing obstacles - my favourite feature.

You start in one of the four randomly-selected areas of the ship. One location is central, the other three are in the ship's corners.

Exploration of the maze is tricky, with most rooms requir ing skilful timing and manipulation of movement keys before they can be traversed, or objects within them taken or restored to their rightful place.

Many traps are set and the first few hours of play are spent learning where these are.

The collected objects are then placed on flashing objects of the same shape to activate the cryogenic chambers to save the crew members.

It is most advisable to make a map to give an overall perspec tive of where you are going and to show which rooms are pointless to visit, so saving valuable time.

Graphically the game is superb and nicely drawn in 3D. The animation is smooth but can get very slow at times.

Sound is adequate but unimpressive and the movement keys are fairly well situated but, unfortunately, not redefinable. There is no provision for joysticks.

Inevitable comparisons will be drawn with Knightlore - Ultimate's other release - as superficially the two look the same.

I found this game a lot more interesting and playable, though slightly slower.

Whether you have Knightlore or not, Alien 8 is a must for the collection. It is light years ahead of most BBC Micro games software.

Producer: Ultimate
Memory required: 48K
Retail Price: £9.95
Language: machine code

Alien 8 was perhaps the most long-awaited game from Ultimate from the time of its first appearance as an advert. Due to the time scale it just missed review in last month’s issue, so by now probably most fans will know all about the game and this review will be redundant. But perhaps not. Has Alien 8 caused another controversy? It looks just like Knight Lore a lot of people exclaimed, feeling obscurely ripped off. Now read, after the event (!), what the CRASH team thought about Alien 8.

But first, a brief word about the game. Indubitably, the graphics style is identical to that developed for Knight Lore, with the solid looking 3D graphics. Again, objects can be manipulated in a variety of ways to make life easier for Alien 8, a cute little robot who thinks in 8 directions but moves in four. As Alien 8 (making his first appearance in this month’s Adventures of Jetman), you are aboard a starship which is slowing for its long-waited rendez-vous. The ship is full of rooms some containing cryogenically frozen beings. The object is to restore life to this chilly people before the time limit for arrival runs out. Life of course would be mechanically simple, were it not for the varied aliens penetrating the ship’s defences. On top of that you must locate replacement packs for the robot, and work out what helps you to do what and when.

The rooms are necessarily more space ship-like than those in the dungeons of Knight Lore, but again blocks and pedestals are piled up in puzzling configurations, often hiding unpleasant spikes and pyramids. Some blocks move under their own power, others may be moved, and many dissolve on their being touched. As the light years tick away to zero, the pace becomes hectic...


Alien 8 encounters a ‘Moulek’ or ‘Douse’ or something


Alien 8 gets the treatment ready for another game
CRITICISM
‘It’s here and they’ve done it again. Alien 8 is, in its basic design, rather similar to Knight Lore. On more observation I felt it would be Knight Lore in space, but after playing for a bit this was proved very wrong. It was much more than this. In fact A8 is A1. The game is really challenging and has plenty of features and tests. Lateral thinking as well as arcade reflexes are required. The hero, Alien 8 the robot, has a personality due to his style of movement and actions. This space craft seems to be mouse ridden; perhaps Sabre Wulf could have some casual employment here; it contains clockwork mice and things I’ve christened ‘mouleks’ — half mouse, half Dalek. A useful piece of equipment to find is a compass stand which, when stood upon, controls the multi-directional robots — great for mine clearing. The support valves come in useful as a jumping platform now and again (it didn’t seem to impair their ability to function when inserted in the socket). Overall Alien 8 is excellent and a worthy smash. I’m pleased to see the greater combination of thought and reflexes that this adds to the computer game. Congratulations Ultimate, again. For those who may moan that this is too similar to Knight Lore, well let them moan as they probably couldn’t do better. There will many more who do appreciate it. I do for one!’

‘Alien 8 looks like and plays like Knight Lore but the game is a bit of an advancement over the former game. The graphics are excellent and the sound is good too. Despite the similarity of idea, I think of the two I prefer Alien 8 as it seems a bit more playable. The game features quite a few nice touches such as the robot thing you can control when your character is standing on the cursor pods. An excellent game.’

‘Many people will regard this game as having only a slight difference to Knight Lore. I cannot agree. For a start the graphics are more imaginative and pleasing. There seems to be more structure to the game, it is not so easy to just wander about, and you actually have to do things, collecting objects in order to gain access to other parts of the space ship as well as avoiding meanie