Reviews

Coming out a few months after Knight Lore this was yet another case of Ultimate re-using an innovative game engine.

Still, as well as the obvious graphical makeover, the game does have enough of its own character not to be totally lost in its predecessor's shadow. Instead of collecting items to bring to a particular position, there are a whole host of different sockets that need to be filled in with a particular type of plug. This makes small sections of the game easier to complete, but the whole thing is a much bigger challenge. There are a number of other nice gameplay touches that add to the fun, such as remote controlled robots that can be used to clear away mines.

The bottom line is that, whilst it is very much "Knight Lore In Space", it's still enough of a game in its own right to be worth a look.

I tendentially hate this one. I think it's far less playable than Knight Lore.

In 2012 Sir Bradley Wiggins won the Tour de France for Britain, was knighted, an Olympic Gold hero and named Sports Personality of the Year. Everyone knows his name, his fashion sense and listens to his pearls of wisdom. He will be remembered. He is Sabre Man. He is Knight Lore.
In 2013 Chris Froome repeated the feat. It was worthwhile but nothing new. He was worthy, just as good as Wiggins, core fans even said he was better. But (as a one time winner currently) he is not a national hero. He is Alien 8.
Ultimate can hardly be blamed for writing a graphical makeover of their boundary breaking game, offering fans more of something so popular. But the impact was so much less.
I don't like playing Alien 8. I lean towards 3/5 for it but will be more generous after playing some bland stuff lately. This is an above average for a Spectrum game, but not a slice of history.

The second Ultimate's filmation game is as good as the first one, Knight Lore.

With the usual quality graphics, movement and sounds in an appropiate atmosphere. This time we control a robot inside a space ship that carries a cryogenically preserved race on a long journey. The robot are in charge of maintaining all cryogenic systems on board. An alien penetration makes the robot act quickly and its mission is to find thermolec valves spread along the ship, each one must be put into the correct socket, all in a limited time.

The same search of objects as in Knight Lore, but this time not to be thrown to only one place (Melkior's Cauldron) but in different sockets along the ship.

A new cool feature is the remote-control robots that help you reach some valves otherwise it's impossible to reach them.

Basically is Knight Lore with different graphics but the same playability. If you loved the first, you'll love Alien 8.

After a couple of years seeing these interesting reviews and ratings, I decided to write my review of the game to which I pay tribute with my nick.

Trying to give my version of a title unfairly forgotten or at least not valued enough.

Alien 8 will always be in Knight Lore's shadow but only because it appeared later. Quake 2 also appeared after Quake and is considered better, in the same way that the former is worse than Quake 3. Another issue is the merit of developing the technology, however Alien 8 introduced quite a few novelties and details of great originality. Reactivating the chambers in a room is quite an experience ... As well as operating the demining robot by remote control ... Each Game Over involves a complex and sophisticated reprogramming process. Even the map has the shape of the spaceship!
Of course there appeared and will continue to appear better games in graphics, music, sound, effects, plot, etc, but the balance and excellence achieved at all levels as early as 1985 makes it timeless. Never a software, without being the first of its kind, was so superior to its peers.

Personally, Alien 8 will always be linked to how a good Saturday morning should be.

That's all, I may criticize some other game but:
a) In no case will my grade exceed that of Alien 8
b) They will always be historical games that I will judge as worthy of at least the second highest grade.
Such a way of expressing that everything I review other than Alien 8 will be awarded 4 out of 5!

1985 Ultimate Play The Game (UK)
by Chris & Tim Stamper

Alien 8 is obviously a great game, no question about it. But it wouldn't be fair to treat it the same way as the previous Knight Lore, or the later Nightshade and Gunfright, because it added very little to what was already done and it would devalue the pioneering of the mentioned games. It's indeed a good game with an interesting plot. This time the objects (valves) must be put in different sockets throughout the ship-shaped maze, 25 if I'm not mistaken, instead of going strait to the same room, like it happened with Knight Lore. There are some other interesting features, not particularly innovative, but very original and damn good, like the remote controlled bots, for instance.

So I totally understand this game having a special place in anyone's heart who first played it back in the good old days, its that good, but technically it's Knight Lore in new clothes.

4,5 points.

Android 1, Android 2, Alien 8... what a cool mix!
Indeed two of the best game companies are represented!!. Perfect for these troubled times .

Good entertainment for the confinement that awaits us. And again, with an emphasis on exploration.

The Ultimate game is arguably the best, with a vast, huge map. A detailed map that push the machine to the limits.
And what can we say about the playability/addiction factor.
Perfectly polished.

A Superb gem of a game, no doubt.

There is a small technical detail that I would like to share with you.
A technical detail that tells us how good the graphic section is: It turns out that in the remake made with Allegro (2008), our robot, even though it is very well represented, does not fully capture the essence and spirit of the graphic in the original version. That is, with all the limitations of the Spectrum 48K, the graphic of our character is better.
Such is the graphic quality and detail put into each individual character and element. Even the scenery.

Of course, the rest of the characteristics of the game are HiQuality

Wow! How could I have forgotten One of the best for so long?
Thanks for bringing it.
And thanks for remembering also pyracurse and great escape, I will review them ... great and unforgettable games
Alien8 is also one of the best memories.
I remember we spent hours trying to compete to see how many cryoChambers we were able to put reactivated.
But it's so looong that we never reached light-year= 0... an impressive map indeed!
Fantastic genius they had in Ultimate to change the skin to Knight Lore, decades before that concept became fashionable in the first Person Shooters. And i n fact much more than that!!

Ultimate made history. They were always one of the best ones creating games. And they always received a lot of criticism, sometimes good and sometimes bad. Consider it this way: if you are so criticized you cannot leave anyone indifferent. In the specific case of Alien 8, it was probably their last great game (although their worst games could be the best of most of the companies that competed for a slice of the pie). Keep in mind that Nightshade and the later ones did not have so much "magic". Specifically, Filmation II (or whatever it was called) was a great innovation but it was not properly exploited .

So we have that Nightshade and Gunfgright somehow missed the opportunity to be their last really big creation (even tough the two were excellent games).
Alien 8 on the other hand can be considered one of their true top games, quality-wise and playability.

You have convinced me to try the benefits of this little gem.
When playing sneakily in the office, deep analysis are reserved for the gaming itself. So Let's go Alien 8!



Five hours later I can give a verdict

Alien 8 - 5/5
Productivity in the office - 0/5

With Alien 8 I really did not miss anything that a good game should offer

Incredible the number of high quality games and so different from the current market (and even from each other if we count them as batches of similar games) that Ultimate managed to publish in just a few years.

This is probably their most polished and elaborated game.