The Covenant

Your SpectrumYour Spectrum Rick's Rave Of The Month

Dougie Bern 8/10

Rick Robson 8/10

Ross Holman 6/10

JOYSTICK JURY It's all change again this month as we say goodbye to the irrepressible Roger Willis - you haven't heard the last of him though, you can be sure of that - and welcome Dougie Bern in his place. He joins the other two joystick jurors, Rick Robson and Ross Holman as they pass judgement on all the latest games. It's all change on the scoring system too! Out go the hits and misses and the score out of five. So that the joystick jurors can draw more subtle distinctions between games, they're now giving the scores out of ten. If there's anything else you think they should be telling you, let em know.! THE COVENANT PSS £6.95 Rick: One for all you raiders of the lost Arcade. An adventure with a platform element, this game combines something of a Dr. Who scenario with an intergalactic Roots saga. A game most certainly for the skilful, not the wilful, as just one false blast (well only a few anyway) on your retro will doom your ancestral race, to oblivion. As a cosmic culture-vulture your mission impossible is to retrieve the 64 pieces of your people's covenant. You won't find 'Darwin was here' scratched on any of the multitudinous caverns in this game, as it's actually the groovy ghoulies who threaten your existence. They're miraculously transmuted into your own descendants once you've captured them all - it's a wonderful thing evolution. But what am I doing, I can't go on telling you the plot! Let me tell you about the revival of the bubble car instead. You must manoeuvre your spherical craft, In a roundabout way through rocky caverns and around ledges. Don't worry about bursting the bubble, you can quite safely smash it into walls. But be warned, it's no smooth ride in your floating globe. You'll need a pretty nifty touch to control the craft as the friction factor's high, so don't expect to slip around gracefully like the ball in a Steve Davis trick shot. And don't waste energy searching for a recharging spot either. If you've got Superman-type-saviour-of-the-world instincts, then you should have plenty of fun with The Covenant, and it really does put the joy back into joystick!

My. haven't we done well. (No! Ed) This large area shows just what you've collected so far - and that can be summed up m one word - zilch. You get the Picture? What have we got here - a key! You can use it to open one of the treasure chests where you'll find a piece o' the coveted covenent. Your lives are illustrated by the three hearts. When they pump purple, you're in good shape but like this, blue, cold and lifeless, it's clear you've had one heart attack too many.

The bubble car's making a comeback! You have two choices when it comes to transport - in the pod here or Shank s pony, but you'll have less protection then. The catch is that you can't pick anything up or recharge your energy when you're inside your womb with a view. The plants are harmless and just for decoration. The objects you'll find, however, can boost your power cells or provide weapons - or they can do the exact opposite. The motto is, take care! LOOK for level ground if you want to disembark from your globe or you could be in big trouble at touchdown. Don't let 'em get you in a corner. The meanies move in a crescent shaped patch and you'll have to take avoiding action if you don't want your power drained.

Read it at Your Spectrum Unofficial Archive

Sinclair Programs

Rating 55%

Colette McDermott 55%

PRICE: £6.95 Scattered around a vast, subterranean complex are 64 pieces of parchment. As last survivor of your race your task is to collect these parts of The Covenant, last remnant of your people's culture, and to collect the animals which surround them. First task involves only four screens, each inhabited by two creatures. The aim is to stun and collect all the creatures, collect the key and the parchment on order to open the way to further rooms. Movement is agonisingly slow as your space craft floats gently around, and your spaceman hops from rock to rock. Neither is easy to control, neither is responsive to quick changes of direction. Drift the wrong way and you are doomed. Doomed because you have very little energy in the first place, and very little contact with a non-stunned creature will drain it all. Infuriating because you only have one life, so dying means going right back to the beginning of the game. Produced for the 48K Spectrum by PSS, [redacted].

Sinclair User

Overall 2/5

John Gilbert 2/5

Publisher: PSS Price: £6.95 Memory: 48K Joystick: Kempston. Sinclair, Cursor Any connection between The Covenant, biblical events and good games is totally coincidental. You must guide your space ship around the caverns, getting out to pick up objects and pieces of covenant which, once fitted together, will save the world from destruction. There is, however, the little problem of the Thingies. They have a sting in their tails which will terminate you instantly. To destroy the Thingies you must 22 leave your craft, pick up some anaesthetic and hit one of the two creatures. It will then be disabled for a few seconds. Then jump back into the spacecraft and bounce on it to pick it up. Such complex action makes lengthy play impossible. The Thingies are intelligent and attack as soon as you leave your craft, draining your energy. Getting to the energiser is difficult and once there the Thingies continue their attack. In the second section you must pass pipes which drip molten lava. There are more Thingies to kill, more covenant to pick up and more sections through which to pass. Arcade wizards would find it difficult to complete 256 caverns, go through 67 passages and contend with ever-present aliens using just one life.

Read it at Sinclair User Magazine Online

Crash

Use of Computer 73%

Graphics 84%

Playability 75%

Getting Started 68%

Addictive Qualities 83%

Value For Money 82%

Overall 83%

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Producer: PSS Memory Required: 48K Retail Price: £6.95 Language: Machine code Author: Paul Hutchinson The name Covenant refers to a long lost parchment which carries the entire cultural record of a long dead people, a race whose once proud members have now mutated and been scattered, along with fragments of the Covenant among the 256 caverns of a subterranean horrorscape contained within a planet. You are the last survivor of the race, and as such it is your duty to find the 64 pieces of parchment and restore the knowledge that it bears. You must also gather the poor miserable mutant creatures from within the caverns, so that when you have the complete parchment the planet surface can be repopulated. Alone you may be, but unaided you're not. Your equipment includes a globe (for getting about in) and a stun gun. Now it may seem odd that the wretched creatures you are trying so hard to rescue need to be stunned, but it's safe to assume that at this stage they have no idea what you are up to so they tend to regard you as an enemy. The globe itself isn't a bundle of fun to manoeuvre its movement is designed to mimic that of submerged bodies, ie awkward. Whenever you or your globe come into contact with a creature energy will be drained, so the first task in any cavern is to stun the creatures within and take them on board by manoeuvring your craft over them. The whole cave system is divided up into blocks of four rooms. Each area has a key, a piece of the Covenant and some anaesthetic. Get the anaesthetic for the stun gun so you can capture the critters, which you must do, because you can only move into the next area when they've all been rounded up. You only have one life so you must be careful not to get too close to the creatures, especially when you are not in the globe the rate at which you lose energy increases. Fortunately you can recharge by standing on a power point. At any stage of the game you can inspect the status screen by pressing the space bar. This screen shows how much of the parchment you have collected, your energy level and how many objects (keys etc) and creatures you have gathered. A record of the time and score is also displayed. COMMENTS Control keys: definable Joystick: any Keyboard play: good Use of colour: very good Graphics: great Sound: a little distressing at times Skill levels: one Lives: one but can be re-charge energy Screens: 256