1st August 1985
The Covenant
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
Other Reviews Of The Covenant For The Spectrum 48K
The Covenant (PSS)
A review by P.S. (Home Computing Weekly)
The Covenant (PSS)
A review by John Gilbert (Sinclair User)
The Covenant (PSS)
A review
Screenshots
