Line #74 VideoGame/BlakeStone


1	The year is 1993. ''VideoGame/{{Wolfenstein 3D}}'' is a huge hit, a landmark in the continuing evolution of computer technology. ''Wolfenstein'''s creator has been working on a sequel rumored to blow away the original as much as the original blew away previous attempts at 3D games. However, the release date keeps getting pushed back, and users ("gamers" wasn't yet a ubiquitous term back then) were getting anxious. What to do in the meantime?
2
3	Enter ''Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold''! JAM Productions used licensed ''Wolfenstein 3D'' technology to develop a brand-new game, which was published December 3, 1993 by BBS favorite [[Creator/ThreeDRealms Apogee Software]]. Like ''Wolfenstein'', ''Aliens of Gold'' featured 6 episodes of 11 levels each (9 normal levels and 2 secret levels). The first episode was available as {{shareware}}. The registered version of ''Aliens of Gold'' shipped with a comic book, called a "Blake Stone Adventure"; to date it is the only title in the company's product line to include such a bonus.
4
5	The game had a few innovations for the genre like being able to talk to people instead of just shoot them, an automap system, one-way doors, slightly greater world interaction in the form of switches to deactivate barriers and using tokens at vending machines to restore health, the ability to revisit earlier levels, etc. It was entertaining for a while, but was only intended to fill the gap until ''Videogame/{{Doom}}'' came out -- which happened a week later. Oops. Nonetheless, ''Aliens of Gold'' got a single-longer-episode sequel, ''Planet Strike'', released on October 28, 1994. Both games are available on Platform/{{Steam}}, bundled together with ''VideoGame/RiseOfTheTriad'' (the original, not the 2013 remake).
6
7	[[foldercontrol]]
8
9	[[folder:''Aliens of Gold'' synopsis]]
10	[[quoteright:171:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Blake_Stone_Aliens_of_Gold_6433.jpg]]
11	The year is 2140. Robert Wills Stone III -- a.k.a. Blake Stone -- is an agent of the British Intelligence, recruited after a highly successful career in the British Royal Navy. His first major case is to investigate and eliminate the threat of Dr. Pyrus Goldfire, a brilliant scientist in the field of genetics and biology, known for his outright disrespect of professional ethics. Backed by his own organization, STAR, Dr. Goldfire plans to [[TakeOverTheWorld conquer Earth and enslave humanity]] using an army of specially trained human conscripts, modified alien species, and a host of genetically-engineered mutants. Agent Stone is sent on a mission to knock out six crucial STAR installations and destroy Goldfire's army before it can assault the Earth.
12	[[/folder]]
13
14	[[folder:''Planet Strike'' synopsis]]
15	[[quoteright:275:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/planetstrike_3267.jpg]]
16	Following Dr. Goldfire's escape at the end of ''Aliens of Gold'', British Intelligence initiates a large-scale search to capture him. For nearly a decade they find no trace of the arch-villain. Finally, in 2149, Goldfire is spotted in an abandoned training facility near the former STAR Institute. He is building an army stronger than anything witnessed before, in a second attempt to enslave humanity. Agent Stone is once again sent to stop the villain, with a direct order to find and terminate Dr. Goldfire so that he can never threaten civilization again.
17	[[/folder]]
18
19	----
20	!!Tropes applying to the series in general:
21
22	* {{BFG}}: The Plasma Discharge Unit. Like a grenade launcher with the fire rate of an assault rifle.
23	* BigBad[=/=]MadScientist: Dr. Pyrus Goldfire.
24	* BottomlessMagazines: The Auto-Charge Pistol has infinite ammo, but requires a second or two to recharge between shots.
25	** UniversalAmmunition: All the other weapons in the game run off of energy packs, which can be found in the levels or dropped by enemies.
26	* CaptainObvious: Other than occasionally giving you items and providing a couple bits of helpful advice (such as the existence of hidden rooms and that pistols and the Plasma Discharge Unit don't work on turrets,) informants aren't actually that helpful and mostly just tell you things you probably figured out hours ago.
27	* DirectContinuousLevels: In the sense that all the levels are accessed from the same elevator.
28	* EmergencyWeapon: You start off with the Auto Charge Pistol. It's relatively weak (it still does more damage per-shot compared to the faster regular pistol and can OneHitKill weaker enemies) and can only fire one shot at a time, but it automatically recharges (giving effectively infinite ammo) and has stealth capability (firing it does not alert other enemies).
29	* EverythingTryingToKillYou: Almost everything; some of the lab techs are informants that give you advice, ammunition, and food tokens. They won't try to shoot you, and killing them penalizes your mission rating.
30	* EvilLaugh: Dr. Goldfire. ''"Hahahahaha, you'll never succeed!"''
31	* {{Expy}}: Blake is basically ''Franchise/JamesBond'' [[RecycledInSpace in space]]. Goldfyre has elements of Blofeld and [[Film/{{Goldfinger}} Auric Goldfinger]].
32	* FirstPersonShooter: Like ''Wolfenstein 3D'' before it.
33	* HealThyself: The first aid bags. They heal 30%, which is the most you can get in one go.
34	* HighlyConspicuousUniform: Imagine the officers on [[Franchise/StarWars the Death Star]]. Now imagine their uniforms in magenta and lime green.
35	* {{Hitscan}}: Everything but the Plasma Discharge Unit.
36	* HollywoodSilencer: The Auto-Charge Pistol is silent, allowing for sneaky kills that don't alert other enemies.
37	* HundredPercentCompletion: Each level awards [[ScoringPoints bonus points]] for killing all the enemies, collecting all the items, and keeping all the informants alive. On that last note, informants are indistinguishable from lab techs that are loyal to Goldfire until you talk to them, and in heated firefights they tend to run around at random. Very easy to make this side goal {{Permanently Missable\|Content}}.
38	* HyperactiveMetabolism: All of Blake’s healing items, apart from the first aid bag, are various food items: a bowl of water for 5%, a candy bar for 8%, a sandwich for 10%, a loose piece of raw meat for 15%, and an uncooked steak for 20%. In addition, the food units can dispense an item that heals between 7 and 10%.
39	* HyperspaceArsenal: Agent Stone can carry a number of increasingly larger guns.
40	* InexplicableTreasureChests: Sometimes a weapon or points item will be inside a cardboard box, with THIS END UP printed on it. That you will need to shoot to open.
41	* InnocentBystander: The informant Bio-Techs.
42	* LevelMapDisplay: Shows miscellaneous information about the level, as well as exposed and hidden areas. In ''Planet Strike'', the map works in real time and has multiple zooms, the closest of which shows non-player actors but also drains battery energy.
43	* MonsterCloset: Some primitive examples in the form of one-way doors that are triggered by stepping on a certain section of the floor.
44	* MookMaker: Don't hang around in rooms with electric sockets on the walls. The Plasma Aliens will just keep coming out and will not stop until you are dead.
45	* NoSnackForYou: The Food Units require Food Tokens. And even if you have plenty of tokens, the machines will run out if you use them enough.
46	* NotQuiteDead: The troopers in green will occasionally play dead, then get up and start shooting at you again. Basically if they yell "I'm down!" and explicitly ''don't'' fall over in a shower of blood, then they're faking it.
47	* OneManArmy: Blake Stone, natch.
48	* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Robert Wills Stone III. [[AllThereInTheManual Entered the British Royal Navy as Robert Wills Stone III. Entered the British Intelligence afterwards as 'Blake' so the records couldn't be matched up]].
49	* RandomEncounters: Goldfire himself will frequently and randomly appear in levels to attack you, only to teleport out if you attack him enough.
50	* RecycledInSpace: ''VideoGame/{{Wolfenstein 3D}}'' IN SPACE! Literally, but also recycling the engine.
51	* SecretRoom: While this is standard for FPS games, especially in this era, these games take it to an absurd degree. Secret rooms are routinely nested three or more rooms deep into each other, and searching through them will usually yield an absurd amount of pickups, as well as having most or all of the available guns by the first floor of an episode in Aliens of Gold, or the first level in Planet Strike. In some cases, maps will have more secret areas than regular ones.
52	%%* SpaceBase: Numerous.
53	* ASpaceMarineIsYou: Well, Blake is in British Intelligence, so more like A Space Franchise/JamesBond Is You.
54	* StandardFPSGuns: Unlimited-ammo silenced pistol, more powerful limited-ammo unsilenced pistol, automatic weapon, [[MoreDakka bigger automatic weapon]], grenade launcher. ''Planet Strike'' adds a rocket launcher.
55	* SubliminalSeduction: There's an enemy that seems to be a failed experiment subject which will spout some gibberish phrase when alerted that sounds something like "We Ig Vah!" If reversed, it's just a guy saying "I'll get you!" in a gruff, raspy voice.
56	* TakeOverTheWorld: The end goal of Dr. Goldfire's insidious plot.
57	* UniversalAmmo: Similar to ''Wolfenstein 3D'', all weapons share a common ammo pool, except for the Auto Charge Pistol which has infinite ammo but needs to recharge between shots.
58	* VideoGameCrueltyPunishment: If you shoot a peaceful informant in view of other informants, this can cause them to turn hostile.
59	* VoiceWithAnInternetConnection: An early pure-text example in the form of REBA, who frequently shows information on enemies, objectives, weapons, etc.
60	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: A short comic in the manual shows Blake being informed about Goldfire's plans by his sister just before she faces UncertainDoom. The sister is never mentioned in the actual games.
61
62	----
63	!!Tropes specific to ''Aliens of Gold'':
64
65	* ArtisticLicenseEconomics: Goldfire finds a way to replicate gold and use it to fund his plans, even though the more gold he generates, the more it devalues. Presumably it would take a long while for this to have a noticeable effect if trade is conducted on a galactic scale, but the backstory doesn't elaborate on this.
66	* BossWarningSiren: A warning klaxon or similar signal normally sounds just before the Final Boss Battle in each of the six missions.
67	* EasterEgg: Episode 4, Level 4 spells out the JAM Productions logo on the map. And the title of the level? [[FunWithAcronyms Lunar Operations Gold Opening.]]
68	* TheEndOrIsIt: After beating the final level, Goldfire can be heard laughing as his base explodes, hinting that he's not done just yet.
69	* OnceAnEpisode: Aside from his random encounters throughout the game, Goldfire also attacks you on the boss floor of each episode and takes quite a bit more damage before teleporting out. Defeating him in this encounter is necessary to get the key to the episode's actual boss.
70	* PunBasedTitle: The name comes from both [[AllThereInTheManual the villain figuring out a way to synthesize pure gold, which he's using to fund his nefarious plans,]] and from his name: Dr. Goldfire.
71	* SecretLevel: Each episode has two of them, one only reachable by a hidden teleporter on one of the floors, the other reachable by getting the Red keycard on the 9th floor (where the episode's boss is fought) and riding the elevator up to the 10th floor.
72	* {{Shareware}}: Includes the first episode.
73
74	----
75	!!Tropes specific to ''Planet Strike'':
76
77	* {{BFG}}: The Anti-Plasma Cannon. Takes twice as much ammo per shot as the Plasma Discharge Unit, but blows up just about any non-boss object in one shot. Including doors. [[AwesomeButImpractical And informants. And ammo packs.]]
78	* DegradedBoss: All ''six'' of the original bosses of ''Aliens of Gold'' appear as regular (though weakened) enemies.
79	* DestroyableItems: Ammo crates can be accidentally destroyed, which makes them [[StuffBlowingUp explode]]. If you're near them when that happens, [[EverythingIsTryingToKillYou you might get hurt]].
80	* LadyNotAppearingInThisGame: The woman in the black dress appears absolutely nowhere in the game.
81	* OneWingedAngel: The FinalBoss ([[spoiler:Dr. Goldfire himself]]) mutates into a demonic green creature after Blake has pumped enough energy blasts into his first form. He then attacks with a BulletHell barrage of energy blasts unlike anything you've seen to this point in EITHER game, and unlike the game's other bosses, is fought in a wide open, rectangular room with no cover.
82	** [[EasyLevelTrick There's just one slight problem with the boss's plan:]] [[spoiler:''[[BossArenaIdiocy The door isn't locked]]'' and you can just run outside to where there IS cover that you can hide behind to much more safely trade shots.]]
83	* OpenSaysMe: Doors can be destroyed by shooting them with the Anti-Plasma Cannon.
84	* PaletteSwap: The main alien guards are basically slightly redrawn versions of the human guards from Aliens of Gold [[SubliminalSeduction with their spoken lines reversed to sound like an alien language in passing.]]

Context VideoGame / BlakeStone