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3%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
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6[[quoteright:316:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/broken_helix_cover_67.jpg]]
7-->''The name's Jake. Welcome to my world.''
8
9''Broken Helix'' is a 1997 Platform/PlayStation third person shooter game by Creator/{{Konami}}'s short-lived Chicago studio.
10
11The year is 2026. Fitz, a renegade scientist, has taken over {{Area 51}} and threatens to blow it up unless his demands, 2 million dollars, a private jet, and a televised interview are met.
12
13The government responds by sending a [[SemperFi U.S. marine]] platoon to infiltrate the facility. Escorting them is another marine, demolitions expert Pvt. Jake Burton (the PlayerCharacter, voiced by Creator/BruceCampbell), who is ordered by an unknown man via telephone to defuse the bombs located in the facility.
14
15And the game begins from there.
16
17The game's main claim to fame is that all of it happens in real time (something referred to as "4D" in promotional material); enemies and [=NPCs=] in the game world are always "active" and the clock for time-based events ticks down even when it's not obvious to the player.
18----
19!!This game provides examples of:
20
21* ActionGirl: There are female marines, all of which are [[{{Expy}} expies]] of [[Film/{{Aliens}} Vasquez]].
22%%* AirventPassageway
23%%* AliensAreBastards: Averted... [[spoiler:but NOT in [[ApocalypseHow the first]] [[EarthShatteringKaboom plot line]].]]
24%%* AnyoneCanDie: And '''''how!'''''
25%%* ApocalypseHow: See EarthShatteringKaboom entry.
26%%* {{Area 51}}: Well, duh.
27%%* ArmiesAreEvil: [[spoiler:The marines painfully play this trope straight.]]
28%%* {{BFG}}: The female marines carry one.
29%%* BaldOfEvil: [[spoiler:Jenkins.]]
30%%* BeardOfEvil: [[spoiler:Tonka.]]
31%%* BlackComedy: All of the game's [[BondOneLiner one-liners]]. Some of the dialogue, too.
32%%* BodyHorror
33%%* BondOneLiner
34* BreakingTheFourthWall: Burton at one point in the game.
35-->"Oh c'mon, you call this a game design?!"
36* ChekhovsGun: At the start of the game, Burton has a photo of his father. [[spoiler:Burton can only be granted access to Reese's lab if he shows him (Reese) the photo.]]
37** [[spoiler:The diamond given to you by one of the hybrids, which is later used to turn you into a hybrid.]]
38* ChekhovsGunman: [[spoiler:Jenkins in the first and second plot lines. He's one of the scientists Burton sees after entering Level 8]].
39* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Fitz's scientists where green jackets, while neutral scientists wear white and [[spoiler:Reese's scientists wear blue]].
40%%* CreepyMonotone: Black Dawn.
41%%* DamageSpongeBoss: Every single boss in this game.
42%%* DeadpanSnarker: Tonka.
43* DieHardOnAnX: This game is ''Die Hard'' on Area 51.
44%%* DrillSergeantNasty: The sergeant.
45* EarthShatteringKaboom: Occurs if [[spoiler: Reese dies and the queen is still alive, at least in the first plot line. The aliens escape from Earth and she (the queen) orders its destruction.]]
46* EscortMission: Present in all of the plot lines.
47* {{Expy}}: The sergeant is clearly a [[Film/FullMetalJacket Gunnery Sergeant Hartman]]-wannabe. The marines (except Burton, Black Dawn, and Jenkins) are spoofs/imitations of the colonial marines from ''Film/{{Aliens}}''.
48%%* FriendlyFireProof: Averted ''horribly''.
49* EverythingsDeaderWithZombies: The hybrids are essentially zombies. Except, they don't infect each other with a virus, and they can talk like a normal human, albeit with a distorted voice.
50%%* FieryCoverup: [[spoiler:The marines' real mission]].
51* FireBreathingWeapon: The flamethrower [[spoiler:Reese]] gives you to clear out the laboratory's vents. And it uses [[ArtisticLicensePhysics energy cells instead of gas canisters]].
52* GovernmentConspiracy: The government is covering up the existence of aliens at Area 51. Also, [[spoiler:they're trying to make human-alien hybrids]].
53%%* GunsAkimbo: Black Dawn and [[spoiler:Jenkins in the second plot line.]]
54%%* HalfHumanHybrid
55* HeKnowsTooMuch: The reason why [[spoiler:Burton gets hunted down by the marines (in the first three plots) and killed in the fourth ending.]]
56* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: A marine lieutenant can be heard negotiating with Fitz at the beginning of the game, but he's never seen because he's outside the facility.
57* HighlyVisiblePassword: The password for the computer containing the [[TitleDrop Broken Helix]] files are not asterisked out. See also ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish.
58%%* HiveCasteSystem
59* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: Played with. [[spoiler:The government is more than willing to kill the aliens just for the sake of maintaining national security. Reese's scientists on the other hand attempts to protect the aliens to give them a new life and to develop a cure for the mutants. The government however, is [[AliensAreBastards right]]; if Burton fails to protect Reese (if he chooses to help him), the aliens will flee from Earth with their queen. Then she [[EarthShatteringKaboom orders]] [[ApocalypseHow the nearby alien ships to destroy it]].]]
60%%* InvoluntaryShapeshifting: The hybrids, and [[spoiler:Burton if he joins the aliens.]]
61* LargeHam: Fitz and Burton. Even more so when they're angry. And obviously, the sergeant.
62* LudicrousGibs: Averted; while killing an enemy with ANY weapon (and that includes ''stomping'') will cause him/her/it to explode to pieces, they leave no blood pools.
63%%* TheManyDeathsOfYou
64* MeleeATrois: The game features three-way fights between marines, renegade scientists (Fitz's [[spoiler:or Reese's]]), and aliens. [[spoiler: Burton can join either of them.]]
65* TheMole: [[spoiler:Jenkins, who is a marine double agent.]]
66* MoreDakka: Of the rapid-firing plasma variety.
67* MultipleEndings:
68** If Burton defuses the bombs, [[spoiler:Black Dawn and his platoon will be given orders to eliminate him.]] From there, he can either:
69** Plot Line 1: [[spoiler:find the files for Project Broken Helix, give them to Fitz, and meet up with Reese. Then he must [[ItsTheOnlyWayToBeSure blow up the facility]], kill both the marines and the alien queen, and finally evacuate the facility as the alien mothership departs. Burton and his wife [[GoldenEnding retire to a tropical island while Reese disappeared, never to be seen again]].]]
70** Plot Line 2: [[spoiler:help the aliens ([[InvoluntaryShapeshifting becoming]] a hybrid in the process), rescue an alien warrior, and escape with them to their homeworld.]]
71** Plot Line 3: [[spoiler:escort a reporter to interview Fitz, then protect Fitz and evacuate the facility, only to be [[DownerEnding killed by a nearby fighter plane]].]]
72** Plot Line 4: However, if Burton chooses to lead the marines and NOT defuse the bombs, [[spoiler:he and Tonka capture Fitz, meet Jenkins, and kill both Reese and the aliens. Burton ends up back-stabbed and [[DownerEnding blown up]] in a helicopter.]]
73* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: See EverythingsDeaderWithZombies.
74%%* NoOSHACompliance: Plenty of 'em.
75%%* NonStandardGameOver
76* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: Played straight. The password for the Broken Helix file computer is "Contact". See also HighlyVisiblePassword.
77* PlasmaCannon: All of the game's weapons, sans grenades, flamethrowers, and stun beams.
78* PlotArmor: Averted, and somehow played straight with Black Dawn; the game justified[=/=]handwaved this when Burton is told that he (Black Dawn)'s wearing an experimental armor that protects him from all forms of attacks, [[spoiler:except the alien weapon.]]
79%%* PornStache: Fitz.
80%%* PowerArmor
81%%* SaveToken
82* SchmuckBait: [[spoiler:Be careful using those two elevators that are wired with explosives. Fortunately, in the first three plot lines, Fitz disables the charges, allowing you to proceed further.]]
83* SemperFi: Subverted. [[spoiler:The marines are the villains.]] Still, they're very powerful and hard to beat.
84* ShoutOut: [[ShoutOut/BrokenHelix Has its own page]].
85%%* SociopathicSoldier: [[spoiler:Black Dawn and Tonka]].
86* SuicideAttack: Some of Fitz's scientists, accompanied by yelling and cussing.
87-->"Oh, this is gonna get messy!"
88* TimedMission: Once the game starts, Burton has 20 minutes to find and defuse the bombs. [[spoiler:Other instances include escaping the facility with Jenkins as it begins to self-destruct]].
89* TitleDrop: The title refers to Project Broken Helix, a [[spoiler:biological experiment to create [[HalfHumanHybrid alien/human hybrid]] [[SuperSoldier Super Soldiers]].]]
90* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: The game came out in 1997 and is set in 2026.
91* VasquezAlwaysDies: Can occur if one of the female marines were killed.
92* VideoGameCrueltyPunishment: Attacking one of Fitz[=/=][[spoiler:Reese]]'s scientists in their command centers will result with him and other scientists nearby retaliating. The same goes to the marines and the aliens.
93%%* VideogameFlamethrowersSuck: Averted.
94%%* VillainProtagonist: [[spoiler:Burton, if he chooses to lead the marines.]]
95%%* VoiceWithAnInternetConnection
96%%* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:Jenkins]].
97* WesternTerrorists: Fitz and his scientists are more-or-less terrorists in all but name.
98* WireDilemma: Averted; Burton is a demolitions expert.
99* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The marine lieutenant mentioned in HeWhoMustNotBeSeen section above is never heard or mentioned again after Burton defuses the bombs.
100* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: Fitz.
101-->"[[FunetikAksent A-WAN]] [[LargeHam DEHM]] [[{{Narm}} NAO]]!!!!!"
102* YouAllLookFamiliar: Any unnamed[=/=]unimportant marine.
103%%* ZombieGait: Again, the hybrids.
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