It Came From the Desert

It Came From the Desert is a game created by Cinemaware originally released for the Commodore Amiga 500 in 1989. It was later released for PC and Atari ST. Perhaps the best version came a few years later for the Turbo Grafx 16.

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 finest creations.

As the town's resident geologist, your goal is to discover the source of all the strange occurances happening in Lizard Breath. Gameplay centers around choosing what you 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 theatre. Since time ticks away quickly at one minute per second of real time, quick decision is key to success.

Once your investigation begins, you soon realize there are large, mutant ants roaming around the outskirts of town. These ants are dangerous, and to survive you must fight them with a handgun, an apparently infinite amount of grenades, and bug spray used in airborne attack.

This game put the gamer in a movie years before it became popular in the Resident Evil series, it also featured "stealth" gameplay and a first person shooter part that appeared in this game years before Doom. Top all this off with a great soundtrack and you have a true gaming classic.

It was followed by a sequel Antheads in 1990.