It Came from the Desert

Infobox VG
title = It Came from the Desert


developer = Cinemaware
publisher = Cinemaware
designer = David Riordan, Programmer: Randy Platt Writer: Kenneth Melville Producer: Pat Cook
engine =
released = 1989
genre = Action-adventure game
modes = Single player
ratings =
platforms = Amiga, DOS, Sega Genesis/Megadrive, Turbo Grafx 16
media =
requirements =
input = Keyboard, joystick and mouse "It Came from the Desert" is a 1989 computer game by Cinemaware. It was originally released for the Amiga, but later ported to other systems, as well as released in distinctly different forms to consoles.

Like most of Cinemaware's titles, "It Came From the Desert" takes its inspiration from Hollywood. This game is undoubtedly inspired by dozens of 1950s "B" movies, especially the 1954 mutant-ant classic "Them!", "It Came From the Desert" is one of Cinemaware's most innovative creations. The original "It Came From the Desert" was nominated for SPA Game of the Year in 1990.

The game is a fairly non-linear combination of dialogue boxes and several types of action scenes, typical of contemporary Cinemaware releases. The game is set in 1951. When the rural American town of Lizard Breath witnesses a meteor fall, town geologist and player character Greg Bradley has to discover the source of some strange occurences. Being a young man of science in a 1950s movie setting also gives Bradley the ability to operate aircraft, heavy machinery and several types of firearms, and to suffer no injury worse than a flesh wound unless he's committing a heroic sacrifice.

Gameplay

Gameplay centers on the player choosing what they want to do by selecting an option on the multiple choice screens that pop up. There are several buildings in town, as well as farms, mines, an airport, and even a drive-in theater. Since time ticks away quickly at one minute per second of real time, quick decision is key to success.

Once the investigation begins, the player soon realizes there are large, mutant ants roaming around the outskirts of town. These ants are dangerous, and to survive the player must fight them using a handgun, grenades, dynamite, and pilot a crop duster to spray the ants with insecticide.

The most important part of the game is to prove to the townspeople that the giant ants are real and convince the mayor to call upon the national guard to fight the ants. Only in using every resource available in town, from workers to the tanks and fighter jets of the national guard, will the player be able to take the fight to the giant ants.

A number of minigames were activated in certain scenarios, such as playing chicken, a knife fight, shooting the antennae off ants, and a top-down perspective on the player used in hospital escape missions and moving around the town on foot or in the air to attack or escape from ants.

As mentioned above, time is in short supply. Players must find and eradicate the queen ant and her lair in 15 days before the ants make an all-out attack to Lizard Breath. In June 15, it's possible to fend off the first ant attack, which will give players a last chance, so they can counter-attack and destroy the lair in a few hours. Should players fail again, however, it's impossible to stop the second attack. Lizard Breath will be lost unless the lair is destroyed before night falls on June the 15th.

Ports

"It Came From the Desert" was ported to several other popular systems of the era. In early 1991 Cinemaware released a version for DOS. The latter was a last attempt of Level 9 Computing to stay in business, still the firm closed in June of that year. These versions were, apart from minor palette differences, identical to the original.

Other versions

Then there were two console versions distinctly different from the versions released for computer platforms, in terms of gameplay and presentation.

ega Genesis

The unreleased Sega Genesis/Megadrive version was going to be released in 1990. It is an overhead shooter with the main protagonist running around on foot, and able to walk in all directions, rather than being constrained such as in games like "Commando". Among the differences in play mechanics, the Sega version allowed the player to create powerups that were fashioned by collecting machinery pieces and joining them together in different combinations.

Note that the Sega version was never actually offered for sale; it was distributed as a ROM image (see console emulator) from the Cinemaware website after the turn of the 21st century. Despite the similarity of camera perspective, the Sega version did not appear to reuse any of the graphical elements created for use in the computer-based versions.

TurboGrafx CD

The TurboGrafx CD version was released in 1992. It was a CD-ROM based game that made use of full motion video with recorded sequences of live actors. There were also action sequences that used drawn graphical elements (not captured, as seen in games such as "Mean Streets" by Access Software). The side-scrolling action sequence was comprised of the player battling ants in tunnels. The TurboGrafx CD version did reuse the graphical elements from the computer version for the overhead battle sequences, but not for any of the character conversation segments.

Unfortunately, this version was marred by poor quality of the video playback of the system, and the limitations of the game console hardware that resulted in side scrolling arcade sequences that were tacky in terms of gameplay. The acting in the video sequences was of B-movie quality by intention, keeping in-line with the source material that served as an inspiration for the game.

"Antheads: It Came from the Desert II"

"It Came From the Desert" was followed by an expansion pack called "Antheads: It Came from the Desert II" in 1990. "Antheads" was made available in the United States through mail order directly from Cinemaware, and on store shelves in Europe.

"Antheads" was not a standalone game; it required ownership of the original chapter in order to play. It won game of the year honors from "Computer & Video Games" magazine.

References in other works

*An extensive spinoff appeared in "" as four secret missions named "It came from Red Alert," where the player combats giant ants.

*"It Came From the Desert" was parodied in a "Space Quest IV" reference: the player can find the box of the game "It came for Dessert" in a store, where the woman holds a cake, and a fat man replaces the ant.

External links

* [http://www.cinemaware.com/clsgame_itcame.asp Official website]
*moby game|id=/it-came-from-the-desert|name="It Came From the Desert"