History VideoGame / GadgetPastAsFuture

The game is set within a DieselPunk nation called "TheEmpire," ruled by dictator Paulo Orlovsky, that feels and looks similar to that of Creator/GeorgeOrwell's ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour''.

* AerithAndBob: Relatively ordinary names like Constantine Wallace and Charles Reif are in the same game as characters named Theodore Slowslop and Horselover Frost, the latter possibly being a ShoutOut to a character created by Creator/PhilipKDick called [[Literature/{{Valis}} Horselover Fat]].

* AllThereInTheManual: The creative team behind the game also published a book of CG art expanding on the world and characters; much of the information given -- transcripts of recorded conversations, reports on Sensorama experiments, ''the face and name of the protagonist'' -- cannot be found anywhere else. It also reveals that the scientists are lying through their teeth to the government, and vice versa.

* ''The Third Force: A Novel of Gadget'': A novel by Marc Laidlaw (of ''VideoGame/HalfLife'' fame) which tells its own standalone (and much more straightforward) story but uses both the games and art book as inspiration.

--> '''Louis Hausmann''': Still feverish. From the beginning on, never moved a step. Nothing at all is beginning. So who's Slowslop? No way of knowing now. The Sensorama show is about to start. Bells should ring pretty soon. Blinding lights spin 'round. An image flickers into view and out. No matter how the scenery changes, no matter the characters' mutterings, if the fuse blows and the power fails, in that instant it all melts in darkness. A face leers out from behind the Sensorama, a cyclopean hand clutches my skull. Tries twisting off my head. From eyeball to planet and beyond to the secret unknown, at this very moment it begins: The endless unknown voyage.

--> '''Louis Hausmann''': Still feverish. From the beginning on, never moved a step. Nothing at all is beginning. So who's Slowslop? No way of knowing now. The Sensorama show is about to start. Bells should ring pretty soon. Blinding lights spin 'round. An image flickers into view and out. No matter how the scenery changes, no matter the characters' mutterings, if the fuse blows and the power fails, in that instant it all melts in darkness. A face leers out from behind the Sensorama, cyclopedia in hand. It clutches my skull. Tries twisting off my head. From eyeball to planet and beyond to the secret unknown, at this very moment it begins: The endless unknown voyage.

* NewEraSpeech: Your final Sensorama-induced vision shows Orlovsky giving one, gloating about the Empire's many machines and his drive to perfect the Sensorama, complete with his face shown in a HitlerCam.

* TheStarscream: For nearly every version of Slowslop across the series, [[spoiler: even for versions where he doesn't act as TheMole with the scientists like ''The Third Force'']], it is heavily implied if not outright stated that he was originally keeping part of the mined fuel ore for himself so that he could eventually start another Revolution and overthrow Orlovsky, but the incoming comet forces him to abandon those plans.

* CoincidentalBroadcast: The plot gets kicked off by a radio newscast in your hotel room discussing the comet. An updated broadcast elsewhere describes what the comet's impact will cause.

* AmbiguousTimePeriod / DieselPunk: Next to nothing is revealed about the setting of the game (it's called: "The Empire", and it's ruled by a dictator named "Paulo Orlovsky" - that's about it), but it seems to be a sort of pseudo-East Germany with 1920s - 50s aesthetics and RaygunGothic technology.

* ''Gadget Trips: Mindscapes'': A (plotless) animated film which is essentially just a feature-length cutscene of random imagery from the game.

* MoralityPet: In contrast to Orlovsky's perverted desire to wed Elena, Slowslop's affection for her seems more noble, and born out of genuinely seeing her as a remarkable human being. He regretted letting Orlovsky attempt to propose to Elena years ago, and ever since then he has endeavored to keep her out of danger and Orlovsky's reach. However, one chapter from Slowslop's POV near the end subverts this by having him think about his true reason for wanting her to escape Earth, which is that he [[spoiler: is planning on eating Elena and the other scientist's minds as sustenance for the voyage from Earth. On the other hand, it's unknown what this consumption process would do to the victims, whether it involves them dying, becoming an EmptyShell, or becoming a part of Slowslop himself, because he does care for Elena in own twisted way, and willingly subjects himself to the Sensorama after he's accused of murdering Orlovsky in order to buy her more time to escape.]] Elena, for her part, regards Slowslop with dread, seeing him as nothing more than Orlovsky's right-hand man, though she seems to at least respect him by the end.

* FeaturelessProtagonist: Nothing whatsoever is revealed about the player character, other than that they're a secret agent working for Slowslop. (Although this is probably just what they've been brainwashed into believing by the sensorama). The tie-in material, though, offers his name as: "Louis Hausmann", and his blue eyes as seen throughout the movie ''Mindscapes'' are displayed on the title screen, which is the closest he comes to physically appearing in the game.

* AerithAndBob: Relatively ordinary names like Constantine Wallace and Charles Reif are in the same game as characters named Theodore Slowslop and Horselover Frost, the later possibly being a ShoutOut to a character created by Creator/PhilipKDick called [[Literature/{{Valis}} Horselover Fat]].

* GainaxEnding: The game ends with you flying the Ark into this giant mechanical structure topped with a glass dome. Inside is what looks like a giant Sensorama. Slowslop, who previously was having you investigate the scientists but now seems to be working ''with'' them, tells you to give him your suitcase; then the giant sensorama activates, there's a hallucination and Slowslop disappears. Then you come to and find the machine destroyed, you go through some doors and see Slowslop and Horselover for the last time, who both look at you before disappearing into a cloud of fog, then you end up back in the hotel room you began the game in; albeit with the aforementioned swampland outside the window. There's another regular-sized Sensorama which you use and see what Orlovsky planned for the empire, then the boy appears again, disappears, then you see some swirling lights outside the window; you fly out of it over the swamplands; a face rises out of a pool of water, and then the game ends. Not kidding.

* GainaxEnding: The game ends with you flying the Ark into this giant mechanical structure topped with a glass dome. Inside is what looks like a giant Sensorama. Slowslop, who previously was having you investigate the scientists but now seems to be working ''with'' them, tells you to give him your suitcase; then the giant sensorama activates, there's a hallucination and Slowslop disappears. Then you come to and find the machine destroyed, you go through some doors and end up back in the hotel room you began the game in; albeit with the aforementioned swampland outside the window. There's another regular-sized Sensorama which you use and see what Orlovsky planned for the empire, then the boy appears again, disappears, then you see some swirling lights outside the window; you fly out of it over the swamplands; a face rises out of a pool of water, and then the game ends. Not kidding.

* ''The Third Force: A Novel of Gadget'': A novel by Marc Laidlaw (of ''VideoGame/HalfLife'' fame).

* MoralityPet: In contrast to Orlovsky's perverted desire to wed Elena, Slowslop's affection for her seems more noble, and born out of genuinely seeing her as a remarkable human being. He regretted letting Orlovsky attempt to propose to Elena years ago, and ever since then he has endeavored to keep her out of danger and Orlovsky's reach. However, one chapter from Slowslop's POV near the end subverts this by having him think about his true reason for wanting her to escape Earth, which is that he [[spoiler: is planning on eating Elena and the other scientist's minds as sustenance for the voyage from Earth. On the other hand, it's unknown what this consumption process would do to the victims, whether it involves them dying or becoming a part of Slowslop himself, because he does care for Elena in own twisted way, and willingly subjects himself to the Sensorama after he's accused of murdering Orlovsky in order to buy her more time to escape.]] Elena, for her part, regards Slowslop with dread, seeing him as nothing more than Orlovsky's right-hand man, though she seems to at least respect him by the end.