Line #19 VideoGame/MissionCritical


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mission_critical.jpg]]
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3	''Mission Critical'' is a 1995 first-person AdventureGame with [[RealTimeStrategy RTS]] elements from Creator/LegendEntertainment. GameplayRoulette was implemented fairly well here with the strategy elements being almost optional (the player can adjust the [[DifficultyLevels Difficulty Level]] from EasierThanEasy to HarderThanHard on-the-fly). The game features FullMotionVideo when interacting with people or during {{cutscene}}s and is prominent for casting Creator/MichaelDorn of the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' fame, as well as Creator/PatriciaCharbonneau, best known from ''Film/DesertHearts'' (both being shown very little, as the game is not focused on interacting with people). The gameplay style is reminiscent of ''VideoGame/{{Myst}}'', as it is in first person and the player has to search locations, uncovering the past. Unlike ''Myst'', however, several critical puzzles are [[TimedMission timed]]. Unfortunately, the timer is not shown, so the player is often left guessing. For example, the first puzzle involves preventing the meltdown of the ship's nuclear reactor. Also, if the player takes too long solving the puzzles necessary to start the strategy portion of the game, the game will end in a NonstandardGameOver. The game also features an optional RTS portion, which involves the player directing the ship and its {{Attack Drone}}s to destroy the enemy forces, made up of the same type of units.
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5	The game's {{backstory}} is fairly detailed, although finding out about it is not necessary to complete the game. You can read a summary of it and the game as a whole [[Recap/MissionCritical here]].
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7	!! The game contains examples of:
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9	* AIIsACrapshoot: {{Subverted\|Trope}}, none of the [=AIs=] in the game or the backstory are evil. The ones that caused the UN to ban them were merely curious and the [=ELFs=] were defending themselves.
10	* TheAlliance: The Alliance of Free States.
11	* AlmightyJanitor: The player is a supply officer who is forced into this situation.
12	** This is likely due to Captain Dayna being forced to leave a low-ranking crewmember behind as opposed to a senior officer, as the UN captain would get suspicious.
13	** It's also mentioned in the backstory that you were specifically requested by Captain Dayna just before the mission left - you were reassigned so quickly that [[FeaturelessProtagonist your name wasn't even entered into the printed crew manifest]]. He suspected a traitor as well, and presumably, you and Tran were the only two he could implicitly trust.
14	* AttackDrone: The primary offensive and defensive space combat weapons of both the UN and the Alliance.
15	* {{Autodoc}}: There's one in the ''Lexington'''s medical bay. It becomes useful later.
16	* BadFuture: The result of the UN winning the war.
17	* TheCaptain: Stephen R. Dayna.
18	* UsefulNotes/ColdWar: The ceasefire during the war was called the New Cold War.
19	* DisproportionateRetribution: In the backstory, one of the [=AIs=] builds mobile platforms to explore the world. The authorities freak out and send in the army, forcing the AI to start making armed robots. Before the situation can get any worse, the authorities destroy University of Chicago (where the AI was created) with an [[KillSat orbital cannon]].
20	* DoomsdayDevice: The Tal-Seto collapser.
21	* DysonSphere: [[spoiler: One exists in the future the player helps create courtesy of the now-godly [=ELFs=].]]
22	* EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: Class X-3 on the ApocalypseHow sliding scale: [[spoiler: The Tal-Seto collapser destroys everything within several dozen lightyears of any star system attached to the Tal-Seto jump network, which corresponds to a pretty significant chunk of the galaxy. Once activated, it cannot be stopped.]]
23	* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: After re-establishing contact with Alliance Command, you are ordered to return to Alliance HQ. However, if you choose to obey that order, you are treated to a NonStandardGameOver. The only way to continue the game is to disobey an order from an Admiral.
24	* FullMotionVideo: All humans are played by actors.
25	* FunWithAcronyms: ELF stands for Electronic [=LifeForm=].
26	* HyperspaceLanes: The Tal-Seto network. Originally assumed to cover the whole galaxy, but later fully mapped, revealing only a fraction of the galaxy to be part of it. The [=ELFs=] theorize that multiple such networks exist in the galaxy, but have no way of verifying without traveling to a system outside the network by sublight.
27	* ImportedAlienPhlebotinum: The alien technology that will decide who wins the war.
28	* KillSat: At least one particle beam cannon is mentioned to be in Earth's orbit.
29	* MeaningfulName:
30	** Lexington - the Battle of Lexington was one of the first engagements during the American Revolutionary War, signaling the start of the fight for freedom from tyranny.
31	** Jericho - the city where the Hebrews ended up after being freed from Egyptian slavery.
32	** Dharma - Hindu for "righteous duty". The UN feels they have to stop the Alliance before their ways result in the end of humanity.
33	** Erebus - [[Myth/GreekMythology Greek]] god of darkness. The location of Alliance Command.
34	** Prometheus - titan in Greek mythology that brought humans the gift of fire, sparking progress. In the game, the Prometheus colony was the site of the creation of the [=ELFs=].
35	* MentalTimeTravel: Physical matter cannot be sent through time. However, it is possible to send pure data, which includes a thinking mind. [[spoiler:At the end of the game the protagonist's mind is sent back to his body before the beginning of the game, to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong.]]
36	* MiniGame: Preventing the reactor meltdown, fighting UN ships, solving the [=ELFs'=] puzzle.
37	* NanoMachines: Hype. The player can also find the diary of a crewmember whose parents were [[GreyGoo killed by an accidental exposure to experimental nanites]], which liquefied their internal organs. The crewmember and his brother saw the whole thing.
38	* NumberTwo: Jennifer Tran.
39	* {{Precursors}}: The unnamed and unseen aliens who built the ruins.
40	* RobotWar: [[spoiler: Started by the humans, no less, who also "win" because of their willingness to destroy the galaxy to stop the [=ELFs=]]]. All together now: HumansAreBastards.
41	* SensorSuspense: While it's not technically mandatory if the player [[GuideDangIt already knows the path]], it is strongly recommended that players find and bring a Geiger counter with them before traversing the radiation-flooded reactor spaces to reach Engineering for the first time in order to avoid [[NonstandardGameOver a slow and painful death by radiation poisoning]]. Unfortunately, this only tells them (via [[HellIsThatNoise loud screeching]]) if one or both of the access tunnels above or below them are hot. It won't tell the player ''which'', making careful tracking of each of the four sectors on each level necessary from top to bottom.
42	* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: [[spoiler:The [=ELFs=] task the player to change the outcome of the war]].
43	* SpoilerOpening: [[spoiler: The initial mystery of the game, specifically the crew's total absence bar the player, the ship's heavy damage, and why the player was left behind, are explained in the introductory video. Thankfully, this video is skippable.]]
44	* UnexpectedGameplayChange: After connecting to the tactical station, the player is forced to fight UN ships in a RealTimeStrategy style.
45	* UnitedNationsIsASuperpower: Somehow, the Usefulnotes/UnitedNations becomes a legitimate government with its own military. Its member states are hardly ever mentioned.
46	* YourDaysAreNumbered: Rewiring a person's brain via nanomachines in order to use the Hype/Telecon system will also lead to rapid deterioration of the brain and cause death within weeks.

Context VideoGame / MissionCritical