Alien 8

Copyright : Ultimate | Reviewed by : Ritchardo

The follow-up to the immensely successful and critically acclaimed Knight Lore, Alien8 copied the successful template of its predecessor and transferred the action from a medieval setting to the final frontier of space.

Sabreman too has been replaced in favour of a robot, the titular Alien8 (and there was you thinking it was just a clever pun too!) and its mission to find the 24 valves that will awaken the crew of the ship before it is destroyed.

The second Ultimate release on the CPC is also their second use of the filmation technique and was received just as warmly as its predecessor.

Graphics

Undeniably similar to Knight Lore in appearance, Alien8 re-visits all of the elements that made the first game a success and re-uses each and everyone of those techniques. Quite understandable when you consider that Knight Lore was still light years ahead of its time when this was released just a few short months later. It?s hard to criticise anyone for not wanting to change a winning formula and that is certainly the case here.

Much colder in appearance, Alien8?s use of colour is more pertinent to the situation than KL?s and reflects well the theme of loneliness that is explored in the game - lots of light blues and yellows. The main character is again well designed as are the other inhabitants of the spaceship.

Once again, Alien8 is a little too detailed for its own good in terms of the slowdowns that can badly effect the game but that?s the only downside to what is a very polished looking game.

Sound

Broken record time again people. Alien8 is virtually a carbon copy of Knight Lore?s sound template. Different tunes and sound effects but the same plus points and negatives.

I?m inclined to be a little harsher on Alien8?s sound effects and their failings than I was on Knight Lore as it is the one area that had significant room for improvement but nothing has been done on it.

For the purposes of clarity: The tune is good but too short and should probably have been looped. The sound effects are varied and effective although can become irritating after time.

Gameplay

This is the one area were a significant change has been made to the KL formula and it?s arguably the area that needed least. Having said that, the alterations are both clever and effective.

As with before, your character wanders around through a maze of rooms each of which containing hazards or puzzles for you to try and decipher, all the while keeping an eye on the ever-ticking timer. Where the game deviates is in the layout of the ship. Unlike Knight Lore where you could explore the whole map and everything had to be brought back to one specific location, the 24 valves have to be taken to different locations and puzzles have to be negotiated that will open up other areas for your exploration. This means there are now different ways to complete the game (or at least do part of it in a different order)

The puzzles are of a high standard and the game is both tough and challenging, guaranteeing that even accomplished game players will take a long time to make any real progress. Even when you do get to grips with the game proper, the time limit soon becomes a really tough taskmaster.

The differences are certainly enough to justify release of the game and it stands up in its own right as a very good arcade adventure. I found Alien8 a little harder to get into than its predecessor and this along with the fact that despite its differences, the originality factor is no longer applicable means that although strongly recommending this game, I would choose Knight Lore before it and rank it as being the better game.

If you?ve got some spare time on your hands and want a game that?ll challenge you then give Alien8 a go and stick with it: if you?re just wanting a quick game then I?d try something else.