When the Alphoid battleship attacked Deep Space Station Coriolis and Alphoid life forms injected the air supplies with their own cyanide-based atmosphere, only one crew member managed to don his space suit in time. Unable to reach the armoury, he must face the Alphoid warriors barehanded to defend not only his own life but also the vital computer records which the Space Station contains.

In this game you control the crewman, manoeuvring him around the Space Station as he tries to destroy Alphoids before being destroyed himself - either by the enemy or due to lack of oxygen.

Acornsoft Free Fall is compatible with either keyboard or joysticks.

You have to control the crewman so that he survives as long as possible and destroys as many Alphoids as he can. The Alphoids die when they are punched, kicked, rammed or when a bomb explodes near them or they are caught in the fire breathed by the Lobstoids and Waspoids. You have some control over the bombs since you can catch them by manoeuvring the crewman so that one hand passes near a bomb while holding the 'B' key down. You can then carry the bomb around, and when you throw it, it will automatically prime itself. It is safe to hold bombs while they are primed but not to catch them while they are in this state.

The crewman can be killed by fire, explosions or due to lack of air. The air supply is continually recycled but air is used up rapidly when he is bitten or stung.

Some of the Alphoids disable the controls when they attack so that you have no control over the crewman's movements for a while. If he is caught on the edge of an explosion this can stun him and so have a similiar effect. He may also become stunned if he strikes a wall hard enough head first.

The Space Station is displayed as a large octagon. Although the station is rotating, it is held fixed on the screen, which means that the objects within move in curves rather than straight lines. On the left of the screen the rotation rate of the station is displayed and a monitor displays a trace of the crewman's heartbeatm recorded from his suit's biomonitors. On the right of the screen his remaining air supply is displayed.

The crewman can be manoeuvred around the Space Station by means of the air jets attached to his suit. The rear air jet accelerates him forward, the left and right air jets rotate him when used separately and provide a small reverse thrust when operated simultaneously.

The crewman's limbs may be moved so as to push off from walls or to punch and kick the aliens. In addition he can hold on to things like walls to keep himself steady.

F - Left Arm, J - Right Arm, V - Left Leg, N - Right Leg, B - Grab Bomb
D - Left Air Jet, K - Right Air Jet, SPACE - Rear Air Jet
Q/S - Sound Off/On, COPY/DELETE - Pause On/Off, ESCAPE - Restart Game

There are four types of Alphoid attackers:

Craboids simply free fall; they have no means of propulsion or grip. However, they have a venomous bite which will penetrate a space suit and inject a nerve toxin into the blood. This causes the crewman to thrash wildly and use up air rapidly. While the effect lasts the controls will not work and the heart rate will double.

Lobstoids look similar to Craboids but they have pincers. They bite like Craboids and can also breathe fire which will diminish your air supply and kill any alien it engulfs.

Batoids have no natural weapons but can fly which enables them to catch, carry and throw bombs.

Waspoids are the most deadly species. They have a sting which is worse than the bite of a Craboid, they can breathe fire like a Lobstoid and they can fly as well as a Batoid.

The Alphoids are able to beam in bombs which come in two types:

The explosive bombs free fall and are harmless to start with while they are solid white. However, after a certain time they prime themselves and begin to flash and bleep and will explode when they come into contact with a solid object. The nearer a figure is to such an explosion, the more likely it is to be killed or stunned.

The gas bombs are black rather than white. They also free fall and prime themselves after a certain length of time. When they are primed they release small bubbles of gas and, on contact with any object, the bomb will explode, releasing a gum which will block the air jets of the crewman's suit if he is close by.

The Space Station rotation rate is set as follows:

An extra life is awarded when you reach 100 points and every 200 points after that. No more than three lives may be accumulated at a time.