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As moons swirl wildly in the infinite void of space,
and light slowly creeps through the misty shutters of
your space probe, everything becomes clear. You have
been abandoned on an artificial world with five experienced
astronauts. Unfortunately, they have been spread throughout
five broad zones: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Epsilon.
On
investigation, the inhabitants appear friendly enough.
But then you stumble across some vital information which
reveals plans for an imminent attack upon Earth. In
a desperate attempt to break free and report the information,
you need to make contact with your allies in the other
zones and eventually escape via the portal in Epsilon.
To
enable you to move around this strange artificial world,
you are in possession of the spacecraft IBIS. With this
highly manoeuvrable ship you can shoot around the planet's
surface and locate the codes which will enable you to
leave Alpha and progress onto Beta, and so on. Spread
throughout the world are several hangars housing letters
which build up to give you the password.
The
letters are hidden away in huge computers -- the Big
Ones -- and to log onto these you need a Kard. These
Kards are in the possession of scientists and, as you
can imagine, they are not exactly ready and willing
to hand them over. So, you need to stun the scientists
long enough to allow you to pinch their Kard and infiltrate
the computer systems.
Being
abandoned on an inhospitable planet is obviously not
a good start -- your only friend is money in the form
of credits. You start with n measly 20 credits, with
which you can buy a Bonanza Survival Pack containing
all sorts of oddments that should keep you alive . .
. hopefully! These Bonanza Packs can be bought from
one of the many Computashops which also reside in the
hangars. Luckily the Scientists' Kards also give you
access to their bank accounts, so you need not go short.
Exploration
is not the whole of the game, no, the main section of
the game is more concerned with flying around the surface
of the zones, blasting aliens into the middle of next
week! Flying skills are also all important since landing
outside a hangar can be quite tricky when faced with
a landing area which is little larger than the size
of the ship.
Aliens
impede your progress as they unleash their weaponry
in an attempt to damage the IBIS, and they must be destroyed
with your laser gun or avoided. Black Holes reside on
the planet surface and are represented by murky black
squares. When flown through in the correct direction
they will give you a sudden burst of speed; passing
through in the opposite direction causes your speed
to decrease. Hyperspace Ports are also very useful since
they cause the IBIS to be randomly transported elsewhere
on the same level.
Once
you have all the pieces of the code word, you must then
locate the Central Computer, shown by a block with a
large letter C on it -- but beware, some of them are
only dummies. Once a real Central Computer is located
you can then leave the ship, make your way to the hangar
alongside the central computer and, with the help of
a drugged scientist, access the terminal and type in
the relevant code.
Once
the computer has processed and accepted the code you
can fly onto the Beta zone. Again, you will have to
find the code word, but this time the layout of the
artificial world is more complicated -- almost a maze.
Once
you have discovered the relevant code word for a level,
you can enter it at any time without having to interrogate
a scientist again, thus saving valuable time and energy.
Energy can also be preserved by inducing shields, but
these eat up your fuel at an alarming rate.
Scores
are built up by shooting turrets and aliens -- which
may be on the surface, flying, or 'underground'. Some
scenery cannot be flown over, and extensive damage is
caused should you attempt to do so.
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