Missed Classic: It Came From the Desert - WON! and Final Rating

Written by TBD

Doctor Greg Bradley Journal Entry #3: Thankfully, the last four days were just a dream. The town's last stand won't take place on June 15, 1951, as it's now June 11, and I've just helped a town defend itself against the giant ants. It was hard work, and some great people lost their lives, but we finally did it. With help from the townsfolk, I found the ant's nest, entered it, and planted some dynamite. The ants won't be bothering anyone anymore. Now I'm going back home to write about the experience so people will know of the bravery of Lizard Breath's citizens.

The Endgame

When we last left, I'd lost and the ants were well on their way to dominating the Earth. Backtracking a bit, a lot of things happened differently in future playthroughs. Notably, I WAS able to convince the mayor that the ants were real. I must have missed a piece of evidence in that playthrough. Interestingly, I was able to convince him on Day 5 by the end. Knowing where to find the evidence from previous successes and mistakes makes the game a lot easier.

The mayor suddenly remembered an important meeting out of town

Most importantly, I was able to enter the ant's nest. The evidence was consistently pointing to the M-1 mine and the nearby Southwest Volcano. My preferred method of transport was via plane from Hilber's Field. After landing and getting out of the plane (without crashing, which is a an effort in itself as all those shrubs and medium sized rocks will crash the plane if I hit them.), I run to the south of the mine where I found this rock arrow.

Geez had told me he'd leave a marker where he found some evidence. The nest is actually a screen or so to the southeast, but thanks for the help anyway, Geez.

 And a little further to the southeast, I finally found what I was looking for - the ant's nest...

Missed Classic: It Came From The Desert - How to Lose a Town in Ten Days

Written by TBD

Doctor Greg Bradley Journal entry #2: Things are not going well. I've collected evidence about the giant ants but the mayor's ignored it all. Dusty's angry at me, and the entire town's about to be destroyed. If only I'd made some smarter decisions perhaps we wouldn't be in the mess we're in now. The whole town's getting together for a last stand on Main Street. I don't like our chances, but we have to try...

June 1, 1951:

When we last met our intrepid geologist, he'd just been forced to undergo treatment in hospital after being defeated by ants at J.D.'s Farm. Backtracking a little by reloading, I succeed in defeating the ants at J.D.'s Farm and got a tissue sample off a dead ant for my trouble. (let's just pretend the incident with the hospital never happened, shall we.)

I took the evidence to Doctor H.G. Wells (groan), who told me the results would be ready tomorrow.

I visited a few more places, notably the Neptune Society, where the local crackpots meet to discuss their crackpot theories.

This guy's name is Billy Bob Morse. I'm unsure at this point if he has twelve followers or just owns twelve folding chairs.

Missed Classic 11: It Came From The Desert - Introduction

Written by TBD

Time for a different Missed Classic. This one wasn't missed because it came out too early or didn't quite fit as a PC graphic adventure game. It had the option to be played as part of the blog but failed as nobody was willing to spend their CAPs to take this from Disregarded to Accepted.

And for that, I'm glad. It Came From The Desert is very clearly not an adventure game. It also isn't a game specific to any genre. It contains many action sequences and some strategy sequences all wrapped up in a somewhat adventure game-style exploration and investigation.

Disclaimer: No ants cried uncle during the making of this game

It Came From the Desert originally came out in 1989 on the Amiga. It was well received and, while 1986s Defender of the Crown is Cinemaware's most famous and popular game, It Came From the Desert is their most ambitious. It plays, like the company name suggests, like an interactive movie, specifically a 1950s monster movie (likely mostly influenced by THEM!)