[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shockwave_assault.png]]
A series of games for the short-lived [[Platform/ThreeDOInteractiveMultiplayer 3DO]]. ''Shockwave: Invasion Earth 2019'' tells the story of an [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin alien invasion of Earth in the year 2019.]] The player assumes the role of a [[NewMeat rookie pilot]] aboard the UNSF Omaha, a space-based carrier putting up the only remotely effective defense against the invaders.

''Shockwave: Operation Jumpgate'' is an expansion pack to the first game. With the alien invaders staging for a new invasion of Earth on the other planets of the solar system, the Omaha embarks away from Earth to stop the new invasion before it starts, encountering the eponymous jumpgate near Pluto.

''Shockwave 2: Beyond the Gate'' picks up after a roughly two decade TimeSkip with a new crew inadvertently becoming the first humans to explore the space [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin beyond the jumpgate.]]

All three games featured [[LiveActionCutscene live-action FMV cutscenes]]. While the production was low budget and the cast didn't have the star power of ''VideoGame/WingCommander'', the live-action scenes were far higher in quality than in many other games.

The first game and the expansion were eventually ported over to the Platform/PlayStation and [[Platform/SegaSaturn Saturn]], sold in a single box titled ''Shockwave Assault.'' A planned port of ''Shockwave 2'' to these systems was cancelled, as it was originally released at the end of the 3DO's short lifespan and as such, sold poorly, but it was eventually ported to the [[Platform/MacOS Mac]].

[[SimilarlyNamedWorks Has no relation]] to the 2017 [[Film/{{Shockwave}} action film]] from Hong Kong.

!! This game provides examples of:
* AbortedArc: Halfway through ''Operation Jumpgate,'' the Omaha discovers alien prison transports carrying non-human prisoners, establishing that the invaders are not the only aliens in existence. While ''Shockwave 2'' explores other alien races further, the prisoners from ''Operation Jumpgate'' are completely forgotten. From the dynamic between the races in ''Shockwave 2,'' they are [[spoiler: likely Sensci.]]
* AncientArtifact: The humans who discover the Nom'Shar believe it to be this. It turns out it is neither ancient nor an artifact.
* AllThereInTheManual: Most of the information on the alien races.
* AliensAreBastards: Most of them. Even the Sensci, who are overall the only good guys in the end, have a few assholes.
* AndTheAdventureContinues: ''Shockwave 2'' ends with the crew of the Cortez [[spoiler: departing with the Sensci and their colony ship.]]
* BigDamnHeroes: One mission of ''Invasion Earth'' has the Omaha notice that a United States aircraft carrier is trying to hold the line against the invaders at Pearl Harbor. The carrier's fighters are outmatched by the aliens, but they hold out long enough for the Omaha's F-177s to arrive.
* BizarreAlienBiology: The Pericata have a bone in their reproductive organs that can easily be made into a sound amplifier for human use.
* CharacterDevelopment: Commander Stewart is practically a different character in ''Shockwave 2,'' but it's clearly due to the circumstances she's had to deal with during the TimeSkip.
* ClassifiedInformation: From the news anchor's broadcasts, it can be inferred that the general public didn't know the Omaha existed before the invasion.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}:
** Bob clearly isn't right in the head anymore after spending decades marooned on an alien world. [[spoiler: It becomes obvious very quickly that he's far from harmless.]]
** Dr. Yamada, where the knowledge under BizarreAlienBiology comes from. Like Bob, spending years alone and remaining hidden from hostile aliens while he dissects one every now and then ForScience do not help his mental state. Turns out to be [[spoiler: on the level; he joins the Cortez' crew and stays loyal.]]
* ContinuitySnarl:
** During ''Operation Jumpgate,'' the Omaha makes a solid push through the aliens' staging areas before they can launch another invasion of Earth and pushes them back through the jumpgate in the end. The short recap during the intro for ''Shockwave 2'' makes it sound like ''Operation Jumpgate'' was just as desperate a fight and near-loss as ''Invasion Earth.''
** At the end of ''Operation Jumpgate,'' we see a ship accidentally fall through said jumpgate, and then the gate appears to shut down. In ''Shockwave 2,'' the jumpgates appear to be in an always-on state, but require a destination code before they can be traversed.
* CoolShip:
** In the first two games, the Omaha.
** In ''Shockwave 2,'' the Cortez.
* ContinuityNod:
** One of the four alien species in ''Shockwave 2'' are the at-first-unknown species that attacked Earth in 2019.
** The fate of the Omaha after ''Operation Jumpgate'' is revealed in the first mission of ''Shockwave 2.'' [[spoiler: It was so damaged by the jumpgate's automated defense system that it was no longer space worthy, and is now a forgotten, abandoned wreck on a planet in the system the gate pulled it into.]]
** After Dr. Yamada comes aboard the Cortez, most of the crew can be seen wearing his sound amplifiers.
* DeadpanSnarker:
** ICE starts doing this, generally if you screw up.
-->'''ICE:''' Civilian damage is not your objective.
** Counselor Bob does this at even more inappropriate times.
-->'''Bob:''' ''[If Flynn accidentally shoots at the prison on Sarconia]'' Just thought you'd like to know? You're killing us.
* DeathFromAbove:
** The invasion of Earth begins with orbital bombardment, initially mistaken for a sudden meteor shower.
** This is the handwave for the first two games forcing the player down a linear flight-path; the Omaha is hitting enemy targets from orbit while you make surgical strikes.
* EasyLogistics: Averted twice during ''Invasion Earth.''
** The news anchor who keeps broadcasting through the invasion mentions that he and the other newsroom employees who have barricading themselves in the studio have very little food and water.
** An entire mission centers around the Omaha retrieving supplies from the wreck of a shuttle shot down in the middle of a supply run. The supplies are needed for maintaining the life support systems and the crew will soon suffocate without them.
* FantasticSlur: "Slew" doesn't mean "a lot" to the Sensci.
* FeaturelessProtagonist: Wildcard, the protagonist of ''Invasion Earth'' and ''Operation Jumpgate.'' While the other pilots on the Omaha are seen, Wildcard is neither present in cutscenes, nor does he have a picture in the database, on account of having just been posted to the ship.
* FreezeFrameBonus: In the first game's intro, Wildcard's real name can be seen listed as "ADAIR, J." when his dossier comes up on the screen.
* FunnyBackgroundEvent: The intro for ''Operation Jumpgate'' shows Earth rebuilding after the alien invasion. In one shot, we can see some of the alien war machines re-purposed as amusement park rides.
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: [[spoiler: Alexindra]]
* HiveMind: The Pericata. Large amounts of them are controlled by enormous, literal brains. Destroying one will stop the local Pericata in their tracks. [[spoiler: This is how the initial invasion of Earth is stopped.]]
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: The Cridox have barely, if any, military assets of their own but they project force by [[spoiler: brainwashing a Pericata hive brain to direct a swarm of Pericata to do their bidding. When the brain is destroyed, the Pericata immediately turn on the Cridox and eat most of them.]]
* HumanAliens:
** Subverted; Alexindra appears human with an unnatural eye color, but she's actually a [[spoiler: Sensci.]]
** The Cridox are never seen underneath their robes so they may be this or HumanoidAliens.
* HumanoidAliens: The Pericata are about as close to [[StarfishAliens non-human looking]] as you can get while still being this.
* HumanResources: The invaders seem to be after this, as they go out of their way to capture large amounts of humans alive. Their primary goal is to [[spoiler: dig up several sites where they left their eggs on Earth long ago, while a researcher on the Omaha speculates that the prisoners are intended to be nutrition for the eggs specifically.]]
* IWantMyJetPack: The first game has a space carrier for space fighters hanging around Earth's orbit in 2019.
* {{Irony}}:
** [[spoiler: Commander Stewart tries to destroy the jumpgate, against orders, believing that there is no time to study it before the aliens come through for invasion number three. The attempt causes the Omaha to be stranded in an alien star system and incapable of space flight, stranding herself and her crew in hostile territory. The aliens never invade again, and it's twenty years before a single alien ship is seen in the Sol system.]]
** Alexindra and her Bruntshen friend are the aliens who steal the Nom'Shar in the intro to ''Shockwave 2.'' This means that they know the jumpgate code for Sol, but the crew of the Cortez don't know they were the thieves and thus, don't think to press them for this information, although it's unlikely Alexindra would have ever given it to them.
* MacGuffin: The Nom'Shar, aka "the artifact," aka "the thingy." Finding it drives much of the action in ''Shockwave 2.'' It's a crucial component in [[spoiler: the Sensci's [[FasterThanLightTravel FTL drive.]]]]
* {{Melodrama}}: For some reason, the actress playing Commander Stewart turns ''Operation Jumpgate'' into this. She's the only on-screen character in the expansion and ''every'' line she has is delivered way over the top in this manner. She acts much more normally through ''Invasion Earth'' beforehand and ''Shockwave 2'' afterward.
* MilitaryMaverick: [[spoiler: Commander Stewart nosedives into this at the end of ''Operation Jumpgate;'' see {{Irony}} above.]]
* NonStandardGameOver: Failing the last mission of ''Invasion Earth'' results in a cutscene showing Wildcard being shot down, the Omaha being destroyed, and the news caster broadcasting a desperate plea for help with no one left to answer.
* NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup:
** Justified; the [[AllThereInTheManual backstory]] for ''Shockwave 2'' notes that the United Nations has fallen on really hard times, so they can't ''afford'' to [[spoiler: replace the Omaha.]]
** Justified; the transmitter that disabled the planetary shield on Sarconia is one of a kind because it was jury-rigged with limited resources, right before the creators were taken prisoner along with the device.
** There is only one [[spoiler: control facility for the jumpgates, without which they are useless metal hanging in space.]]
** There is also only one Nom'Shar, though its initial origins are never explained in the first place.
* {{Omniglot}}: Bob managed to learn five different Sensci languages while imprisoned with a group of them. He doesn't feel good about this.
-->'''Bob''': ''[After yelling a translation at a crowd]'' [[FantasticSlur Slews.]] Five dialects between 'em and I translate everything.
* PlotHole: ''Shockwave 2'' is more open-ended and allows you to choose which mission to take next in the system you're in. In some systems, this can create plot holes because the writing sometimes assumes you'll do missions in a specific order and there are no variables for doing them out of that order.
** ButThouMust: The very first system actually has a mechanic in place to enforce the intended order; attempting the mission to Sarconia first will result in a near-immediate game over, as the Cortez lacks the technology to bypass the planetary shield. The player must first land on Meskeni to discover [[spoiler: the wreck of the Omaha, the fate of the crew, and their logs showing that they figured out how to bypass the shield,]] then retrieve the technology from Hoelinwaa.
* PortalNetwork: The jumpgates. [[spoiler: They are rendered inoperable at the end of ''Shockwave 2.'']]
* RayGun: All the races use energy weapons by ''Shockwave 2.'' The crew of the Cortez have modern-looking guns that simply fire energy beams. The Pericata have billyclub-like sidearms that fire from glowing green orbs on either end, bearing a striking resemblance in both form and function to the magic weapon wielded by the villain in [[Film/TheBeastmaster Beastmaster 2.]]
* TheReveal:
** Downplayed; Earth never discovers the identity of the invading aliens through ''Invasion Earth'' and ''Operation Jumpgate.'' This information was apparently learned during the TimeSkip, as during the first mission briefing for ''Shockwave 2,'' ICE mentions that the invaders were [[spoiler: the Pericata.]] It's also mentioned briefly [[AllThereInTheManual in the instruction book.]]
** The Nom'Shar is sought after because [[spoiler: it can be used to create a ship with an actual FTL drive, bypassing the jumpgate network.]]
* SequelEscalation: ''Invasion Earth'' is a desperate defense of Earth against a superior force ending in a narrow victory; the Omaha does not go further than the moon. ''Operation Jumpgate'' sees the Omaha traversing the solar system to go on the offensive and fight the aliens back through the jumpgate before they finish preparing for a second invasion. ''Shockwave 2'' opens [[spoiler: twenty years after the Omaha has been lost through the jumpgate, and has the crew of the Cortez exploring other solar systems, searching for the jumpgate code that will send them home.]]
* SequelHook: ''Invasion Earth'' ends with a fair amount of closure, but ''Operation Jumpgate'' ends on a blatant cliffhanger. This was a problem for Platform/PlayStation and [[Platform/SegaSaturn Saturn]] players who didn't have access to ''Shockwave 2.''
* StarfishAliens: The Bruntshen. Apparently their homeworld was actually Earth-like, so how they evolved with four legs and a face that would make [[Franchise/MortalKombat Baraka]] proud is anyone's guess.
* TimeSkip: The series starts in 2019. ''Operation Jumpgate'' takes place in 2026. ''Shockwave 2'' jumps to 2046.
* WeldTheLock: Inverted; the Pericata are shown cutting a locked door open with their laser weapons.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
** Bob and Alexindra after they [[spoiler: fail to take the Sensci's hyperdrive ship. With the jumpgates turned off, they're presumably stranded where they are left.]]
** Alexindra's Bruntshen pal is also never seen again after [[spoiler: they escape the Cortez.]]
** The fates of [[spoiler: the Omaha's pilots, including the original player character,]] by the time of ''Shockwave 2'' are not known, though they presumably did not survive.
* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: At the end of ''Operation Jumpgate,'' the Omaha has successfully pushed the invading aliens out of the Sol System and back through the jumpgate, and all seems well. [[spoiler: At this point, Commander Stewart, believing the aliens will inevitably return so long as the gate exists, decides to disobey her orders and destroy it. The Omaha gets a single shot off before the jumpgate's automated defenses retaliate, blasting it to hell and back, causing it to fall through the gate itself to parts unknown.]] The {{Cliffhanger}} is picked up on in Shockwave 2.
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