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Down the endless corridors of the ship silence gathered, The Masters hadn't expected anything out of the ordinary from the long-dead planet they orbited. It was a standard expedition, collecting, analysing and classifying the life of a galaxy that had long ceased to be a threat to the Masters technology. Perhaps the thousands of years had bred complacency, and the complacent were always most at risk from the desperate. The Creature was desperate.

It had been scooped, linked and put into stasis until the return home. But after a million years of survival on the dying planet that gave it birth the creature was aware of many things. It realised that the ship, with all its incomprehensible technology, was the only chance for the species. It had ways of fighting stasis as it had fought death over aeons of hopelessness, and the Masters hadn't noticed.

Why should they? Just another creature for the xenobanks.

The machines that watched the ship noticed the creature escape. Then they saw it destroy the sensors that followed it. The engineers that serviced the sensors noticed the creature, indeed they could hardly miss it. It certainly had no intention of missing them; a million years of enfeebling struggle makes an alien peckish.

It was searching for the incubators. By dropping eggs in the warmth and nourishment so provided, the creature hoped to win at last. But there were other creatures from other worlds, escaping as the creature broke stasis. Some were hostile, angry at capture and hungry for revenge on anything that moved through the silent ship.

Others might be friendly, but the Creature had no way of telling, short of firing its acid at them. And even friendly beings react rather badly to gobbets of corrosion flying past...

The ship had 142 areas, divided among four sectors, and the creature roamed them all searching for places of safety. Passage was varied. Sometimes the corridors were broad and tall, sometimes the air vents and sometimes the service tracks provide the necessary access.

The Masters were getting worried. It had been a very long time since such basic low cunning and animal skill had been pitted against their infallible, machines, and they had forgotten so much. The creature was fast, it was agile and it was learning from every encounter. It also showed no sign of slowing down as it tore through the maze-like ship.

However, some sensors suggested that this incredible entity was losing energy fast. But as long as it could grab luckless engineers and hook into the ship system the way it was, there would be no reason for it to stop before it reached its goal.

The Masters consulted. What was its goal? Obviously it needed to take over the ship, to guarantee the survival of its strange brood, but would it break every system first? Could the Masters escape if they failed to pacify this rampaging animal?

The creature didn't know. It didn't care. It knew just that it had to win. It had to survive. You have to survive. You have to be the survivor.

The swept-back cranium, the acid expectoration, the intense dislike of anybody not yet dead... it looks like the Alien is back. And the old scour-the-ship plot's still in evidence. And so's the hoary old Spectrum conversion racket.

Still, if you haven't got a wander the maze with lots of creatures game you might enjoy this, but if you have you probably won't. I think I'm going to play something else now.

For an U. S. Gold title this really lacked hype. None of the usual "We've got a mega fab, brill game. It'll be out any day now". Perhaps U. S. Gold realised that this is not of the same standing as Renegade and Gryzor. Both good games, if of dubious morals. The scrolling stars were pretty.

While the plot has plenty of scope it is unexciting to play. Your monster is graphically poor and everything is far too chunky.

There have been many games like this, few less inspiring. The best thing is the packaging artwork; the worst is playing the game. I'm sorry, I found this one to be a non-starter.