Computer Gamer


The Comet Game
By Firebird
Spectrum 48K

 
Published in Computer Gamer #16

The Comet Game

Despite the fact that he is in a state of suspended animation, the pilot of your spaceship still appears to require vast amounts of coffee to keep him going. Supplying him with his needs is only one of your tasks as the spaceship's onboard computer. And why? All because some scatterbrained scientist back on Earth is convinced that there is life in that vast lump of ice popularly known as Halley's Comet.

Of course, no-one really takes him seriously, but just on the off chance that he might be correct, you and your comatose pilot are off to go and blast any of the deadly germ bags that just may be lurking there.

Your first task is to reach the comet, and in order to achieve this, you must deal with any emergencies that crop up en route. This involves playing twenty mini games selected at random from five problems that can occur. Defending the ship from incoming missiles takes you into a simplified missile command game.

If the computer (you) breaks down, you have to turn a series of LEDs on to match a pre-determined pattern. Aligning our antenna correctly involves rotating it and listening for the highest frequency whilst saving the life support system from germ infestatin requires you to blast the germs as the bounce round a large rectangular room. The final emergency that you have to handle is keeping your pilot topped up with coffee which is done by manipulating icons representing filling the jug, grinding the coffee and injecting it into your man, etc. Most of the tasks have to be accomplished in a strict time limit. Failure to complete a task means game over time - no such thing as three lives here. Should you survive twenty of these tasks, it's you against the germ bags in a shoot-'em-up.

The game's graphics are nothing startling. A series of icons at the top of the screen tell you which emergency is coming next. The icons at the bottom of the screen have no relevance in the game. The Comet Game would have been an average budget game. At £7.95, I think that it is grossly over-priced.