Line #1 VideoGame/GroundZeroTexas


1	[[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ground_zero_texas.jpg]]
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3	''Ground Zero Texas'' is a 1993 InteractiveMovie developed by Creator/DigitalPictures and published by Creator/SonyImagesoft for the Platform/SegaCD. It was later given a remastered edition by Screaming Villains in 2021 for the Platform/PlayStation4 and Platform/{{Steam}}.
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5	The game takes place in the fictional El Cadron, TX, a small border town. You play as a member of a special forces unit who have detected aliens called Reticulans within (see what they did there).
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7	The Reticulans can disguise themselves as humans and have been kidnapping and replacing most of the residents. Your job is to monitor certain areas with a special stunning particle beam cameras and shoot them when they try to disable them as the rest of the forces investigates and tries to stop the invasion. Hastening matters is the fact the task force is a last ditch effort and if they fail, the whole area will be nuked (hence the title).
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9	On an interesting note, when making the game, Digital Pictures used a real Hollywood crew for it, though they had to go through the Directors Guild, Screen Actors Guild and Writers Guild to do so. A first for a video game. Sadly, the hardware for the system lowered the quality that this is hardly noticeable in the game.
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11	!!''Ground Zero Texas'' contains examples of the following tropes:
12	* AlienAbduction: El Cadron has been suffering this for a while, with the Reticulans taking the abductees' place. Your task heads get captured if you fail to save them, and you later free them while raiding the aliens' stronghold... assuming you can figure out the combination to get inside.
13	* AlienInvasion: The Reticulans are infiltrating human society; after you raid their weapons stash, they make it an all-out assault.
14	* CounterfeitCash: There's a minor subplot regarding a counterfeiting operation being investigated by federal agents and a Texas Ranger, presumably just to flesh out the setting, because it never actually goes anywhere.
15	* DamselInDistress: Occasionally if you miss shooting a Reticulan, they will kidnap a nearby citizen and drag them out of sight. You'll then have to watch for that same person later, because they'll also try and shoot the camera.
16	* EscortMission: Technically. Reese doesn't actually fight the Reticulans himself in the second act; he's wearing a helmet outfitted with a camera and stun gun which you utilize from your safe position.
17	* FirstPersonShooter: The main gist of the game though most of it is done via the cameras which you switch in and out of. At one point, your commander enters into the Reticulans' ship and you have to blast them as they try to attack him.
18	* GottaCatchThemAll: The codes which are the password to the Reticulans' ship. To do this, you need to pay attention to certain scenes as the task members deal with some of the disguised Reticulans.
19	* HaveANiceDeath: Mess up too many times at certain points and you will either be kicked off the force or the town gets nuked.
20	* InteractiveMovie: Being a Digital Pictures production, it was all shot on video.
21	* InterfaceScrew: If your [=BattleCams=] lose too much power, their video feed downgrades to greyscale and drops the targeting system identifying aliens; losing a bit more power pixelates the feed.
22	* ItsUpToYou: Despite the fact you're mostly just monitoring from a safe location. Pretty much everything is up to you. This reaches ridiculous levels when your commander has to go into the alien stronghold with nothing but a helmet camera and gun mounts on it which you have to blast the Reticulans with. It's understandable that these guns are the only thing that can knock them down (least till you get one of the aliens' weapons from the hideout) but there's no reason he couldn't carry one of the guns himself. Heck by endgame, you're just taking on the aliens whole army solo.
23	* JustifiedExtraLives: Losing all of the [=BattleCams=]' power in the cantina, Main Street and plaza square makes your field operatives repair them at the start of the next act. Defied outside your hotel, since the aliens then storm your location and take you out personally, causing a game over; although the HD version includes a deleted scene of [=DiSalvo=] repairing her camera, so it was at least considered for a while.
24	* KaizoTrap: If you ignore the distress light after the demonstration of the [=BattleCam=], or if you don't pick a location when the task head asks for a signal confirmation from you.
25	* MadLibsDialogue: "And what's this? A pendant with writing... (Number). (Shape)."
26	* MagicalSecurityCam: The [=BattleCams=] capture some surprisingly dramatic footage for being what amount to stationary guns. In one scene on Main Street, the POV even starts behind a wire fence that was never even hinted to exist in its field of vision.
27	* MissionControl: Agent Reese is your task head, and each location in town has an field operative watching over it -- Breen in the cantina, Matthews on Main Street, Pike in the plaza square, and [=DiSalvo=] outside your hotel.
28	* MookChivalry: You're never shot at by more than one Reticulan, and they'll '''always''' reveal themselves by shooting at your camera, regardless of what's going on.
29	* TheMothership: Seen in the introduction, then taken out by [=DiSalvo=] in the end when she wires an alien laser cannon to her headset to let you take control of it.
30	* NighInvulnerability: The Reticulans are said to be immune to regular bullets. The best the task team can come up with is particle cannons which can only stun the aliens. It isn't until you storm one of their hideouts, that you gain one of their weapons. Course by that point, they sic robotic mooks on you which you deal with for the rest of the game.
31	* TheParalyzer: At first, your [=BattleCam=]'s technology isn't effective on the Reticulans and only knocks them out; this justifies why the same people keep showing up in the shoot-outs. You start killing them once you grab their own technology.
32	* ShootingGallery: When you're not watching special footage advancing the story, you're gunning down aliens that pop into and out of view while a recurring measure of music plays in the soundtrack.
33	%%* SpotTheImposter: Though fairly easy when they try to pull a blaster on you.
34	* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: The people of El Cadron never react to the [=BattleCams=]. Apparently they have been on-site long enough to just become part of the scenery.
35	* ViolationOfCommonSense: To get the best chance of acing every possible scene without any overlap, you need to ''immediately'' pick a target destination right after the title screen rolls. Averted in the HD version.
36	* WhatTheHellPlayer: Sprouted by one of the task force if you hit a civilian.
37	--> '''Reece:''' I DON'T WANT THE LIKES OF YOU WATCHING MY BACK! THE CHOPPER'S WAITING, ''' ''YOU'RE DONE!!'' '''
38	* AWinnerIsYou: After all that, the ending is a short video of you being congratulated by the commander and the team and... roll credits.

Context VideoGame / GroundZeroTexas