History VideoGame / Redline

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/redline_9.png]]

-> "''Alright, that was those "ThoseTwoGuys Who Live Behind The Gas Station" with ''Redline This'', sure to be a number 1 hit here at Stadium City, since... no one else has any instruments! Ha ha, yeah.''"
-->-- '''The DJ''' of KRIP Radio Station.

''Redline'', known as ''Redline: Gang Warfare 2066'' [[MarketBasedTitle in Europe,]] is a Post-Apocalyptic FirstPersonShooter developed by Beyond Games (a tiny developer which made only Atari games prior to this and only ''VideoGame/HotWheelsVelocityX'' afterwards) and released by Creator/{{Accolade}} for the PC in 1999, the last game they published before being acquired by Infogrames.

It's AfterTheEnd. The moon's orbit has degraded to a point where it has affected the Earth's [[CrapsackWorld environment catastrophically,]] along with inexplicably turning the skies blood-red. The world is divided between [[RichPeople the wealthy Insiders]], who live in [[CityInABottle environmentally-sealed dome cities,]] and the destitute, [[ScavengerWorld scavenging]] Outsiders. Some Outsiders have formed [[TheApunkalypse marauding gangs]] who kill, terrorize and steal from the less aggressive types using [[WeaponizedCar Weaponized Cars]]. The largest and most deadly of these are the [[MeaningfulName Red Sixers]], called as such because of a disease called "Red 6" created by [[TheCorruption Negative Orgone Energy]], which heightens their aggressiveness and strength but [[ImAHumanitarian also gives them a taste for human flesh.]] [[RedRightHand It also makes them turn very, very red.]]

The Player takes the role of an [[{{AFGNCAAP}} unnamed, nondescript]] denizen of Stadium City, one of many Outsider settlements. The city has just come under attack by the Red Sixers. Citizens are in a panic, scrambling to escape the ravenous gang. The player must use their car to fight off the Sixers and escape from the city alive. Things get more complicated after that.

The game featured online multiplayer featuring a combination of on-foot FirstPersonShooter gameplay and auto-combat in Third Person with a variety of armed vehicles. It was originally hosted on [=MPlayer.com=] and Heat.net, before being hosted by Gamespy Arcade.

[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant This should not be]] [[SimilarlyNamedWorks confused with]] the 2010 anime movie ''Anime/RedLine''.
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!!''Redline'' provides examples of:

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: The Red Sixers, a gang of [[TheApunkalypse marauding,]] [[{{Mutants}} mutated]] [[ImAHumanitarian cannibals.]]
* AppliedPhlebotinum: Orgone energy, a potent power source, a near-monopoly over which gives the Insiders great power. Due to it being something akin to LifeEnergy, it's also stated as the only reason that the Lepers are even still alive, [[IncrediblyLamePun much less in one piece]]. It can also be [[TheCorruption corrupted]].
* ArtificialStupidity: The AI in this game was not exactly top of the line — civilians and your Company allies tend to get slaughtered. Fortunately for you, the enemies, though more numerous, are just as dumb.
* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: [[spoiler:Liddy gets killed near the end of the game, throwing The Company into disarray. Since the player character is [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority their best remaining fighter]] at that point, he gets named the Company's new boss, and even inherits Liddy's HoverTank.]]
* BaldBlackLeaderGuy: Well, he isn't bald, but Liddy of The Company fits the rest of the trope. He's a bit of a {{Jerkass}}, though. He drives a heavily armed HoverTank.
* BadassBoast: At the intro to the final level "Showdown", Liddy says there won't be enough room in Hell for all the Sixers they are gonna send there today.
* BadassBystander: Some civilians are seen trying to fight off the Red Sixers, but due to ArtificialStupidity, they usually end up getting mowed down right after the ones that didn't.
* BossBanter: The Red Sixers' boss.
--> "Welcome to the party, chump!"
* BlackAndGrayMorality: While the gang you work for (The Company) can hardly be considered good, being basically a futuristic version of TheMafia, they're a lot better than the enemy gangs, who are either [[ImAHumanitarian mutant cannibals]], zombie-like people who are falling apart and kill other people for body parts, or doomsday cultists following a ScamReligion.
* BottomlessMagazines: No weapon need be reloaded, you need only pick up boxes of more ammo.
* CarFu: Rather limited ammunition for vehicle weapons makes this the preferred way of taking out infantry.
* ChekhovsGunman: Rant, the boss at the end of the first level, retreats after you do enough damage and seemingly just disappears. [[spoiler:He comes back at the game's final level to serve as the FinalBoss.]]
* ChurchMilitant: The Templars gang.
* CoolCar: Your character begins the game in his own garage, a personalized muscle car close at hand. It likely gets destroyed fairly quickly, but there are many more cool cars to use.
* TheCorruption: Orgone energy can go bad, resulting in the "Red 6" disease.
* CriticalExistenceFailure: Characters on foot drop dead or even [[ChunkySalsaRule gib into pieces]] without any prior sign of damage, but vehicles [[AvertedTrope avert this]] by having sectional armor — even if your front or side armor is shredded, you might be able to beat a hasty retreat with intact rear armor. If your armor goes and your chassis starts taking damage, your vehicle will emit smoke and flames as it nears destruction — your signal to get out and find a new one or [[OneHitKill risk going boom with it.]]
* {{Cyborg}}: The Leper Gang use cybernetics to compensate for lost limbs.
* DoNotAdjustYourSet: One of the first things the Red Sixers do when they hit Stadium City is sack the KRIP radio station. The Sixers Boss then announces that they are in control. He adds that if anyone has a problem with that, [[SchmuckBait they should come to the radio station and take it up with him]]. [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration Funnily enough, that is exactly what you do.]]
* EmergencyWeapon: Your [[MorphWeapon morph gun]] has a mode which uses a [[ChainsawGood rotary saw blade]]. In multiplayer, [[RuleOfFun this can be used to]] ''[[RuleOfFun fly.]]''
* EnergyWeapon: [[MookMobile The basic buggy]] used by the Red Sixers uses a fast-firing red laser cannon as its main weapon.
* HeroicMime
* LawEnforcementInc: The Company are a gang of self-styled mercenaries and ex-military types who have protection contracts with various Outsider settlements. Stadium City hadn't been able to make payment as of late, hence their being open to a Red Sixer assault.
* MadeOfExplodium: Orgone accumulators and transformers, as the energy itself appears to be quite volatile.
--> '''Liddy:''' Watch yourself 'round the accumulators. When they blow, they tend to make a mess.
* MagicCountdown: In the level "Boom", you have a TimeBomb attached to your car and have to reach a garage so they can cut you out (as the doors are sealed shut so you can't just get out) before the timer runs out. Even if you pass the "end goal" point of the level with only 1 second left on the timer, you will still get out in time, even though there are about 30 seconds between the start of the end of level cutscene and the car exploding (after you've gotten free, of course).
* NoodleImplements: If you die in the "Freakway" level, Liddy will say "Damn, kid died before I could tell him my tapeworm joke". If you survive, he never does tell you the tapeworm joke, although he may have been alluding to [[https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/3mfdve/a_man_had_a_tapeworm_and_went_to_the_doctor/ this.]]
* OutrunTheFireball: Happens several times, beginning in the ''second level.'' You destroy an Orgone transformer belonging to the Leper gang, and have to escape the pit where it is located before it blows.
* RedShirtArmy: The Company, though not plot-wise. They are this in-game due to ArtificialStupidity.
* ShownTheirWork: [[MagicPoweredPseudoscience Orgone energy and "Accumulator" devices]] were a real (so to speak) field of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orgone 1930s-era pseudoscience]] .
* SlidingScaleOfVillainThreat: Starting out with the Red Sixers, then the Leper Gang, then the Templars, then [[spoiler:ancient Aliens entombed under Area 51]], then wrapping all the way around back to the Red Sixers again for the finale.
* SniperRifle: Your basic assault rifle [[MorphWeapon can sprout a scope]] to become one. Its high power versus infantry is offset by its relatively rare ammo pickups.
* StuffBlowingUp: Often.
* SwissArmyGun: This game makes use of StandardFPSGuns; however, they are uniquely housed in a single, transforming rifle which changes out its barrels depending on the type of ammunition being used: bullets, shotgun shells, rockets, grenades, or a ''[[ChainsawGood rotary saw blade]]''. All you need to do is pick up the prerequisite ammo to use that gun's function, much like Accolade's prior ''{{Eradicator}}''.
* ATasteOfPower: When you get the Company Tank back at the end of level 3, you find it is by far the most powerful vehicle in the game, and even has a {{BFG}}, which shoots giant blue energy blobs which not only can OneHitKO almost anything, but can blast through the huge steel doors in the way to allow you to get out. Unfortunately, you only get it for about a minute or two (or more, if you want to kill everyone you (probably) missed on the way out) and never get to drive it again.
* TemptingFate: It's almost always a bad idea to get out of your car if there are enemy vehicles around, since it's very easy to [[CarFu get splattered]] by them.
* {{Tsundere}}: Liddy seems to be a non-romantic (or [[HoYay maybe not]]) example: while he tries not to show it, he ''does'' care about the protagonist. At one point when you die he says "damn, I was starting to like that guy… [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial in a distant, hands off sort of way"]].
* UniqueEnemy: The [[spoiler:aliens, and their weird turrets]] only appear in the basement of Area 51. There's also a [[spoiler:weird alien gun that shoots green stuff]] that is only found there.
* TheVirus: "Red 6", which turns the skin of its victims bright red, increases their size, strength, and aggressiveness, and makes them [[ImAHumanitarian cannibalistic]]. It even makes some people, like the Red Sixers' leader, sprout SpikesOfVillainy.
* WakeUpCallBoss: The first time you fight the [[spoiler:Red Sixers boss]] at the conclusion of the opening level, you may find him unexpectedly tough. Use rockets to maximize your chances of success.
* WeaponizedCar: About half the game is played from behind the wheel of these, known in-game as "Battle Rigs." It's mostly cars with the occasional motorcycle (and, funnily enough, a Weaponized ''[[ImprobableWeaponUser Forklift]]''), but the cars range from the somewhat plain-looking Company minivan to the bizarre buggies used by the Lepers and Templars.
* WhyAmITicking: In one level, the Red Sixers sabotage your car with a time bomb and lock you inside. Your only hope is to [[OutrunTheFireball race down a hazardous road]] to a Company base where one of them can defuse it.
* WretchedHive: Stadium City has hints of this, but it gets ransacked by the Red Sixers before we can see much.
* VoiceWithAnInternetConnection: Liddy, for the most part. Other minor Company characters chime in here and there.
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[[quoteright:119:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Redline_-_Coverart_7201.png]]

* AppliedPhlebotinum: Orgone energy, a potent power source, a near-monopoly over which gives the Insiders great power. Due to it being something akin to LifeEnergy, it's also stated as the only reason that the Lepers are even still alive, [[IncrediblyLamePun much less in one piece.]] It can also be [[TheCorruption corrupted.]]
* ArtificialStupidity: The AI in this game was not exactly top of the line- civilians and your Company allies tend to get slaughtered. Fortunately for you, the enemies, though more numerous, are just as dumb.
* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: [[spoiler: Liddy gets killed near the end of the game, throwing The Company into disarray. Since the player character is [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority their best remaining fighter]] at that point, he gets named the Company's new boss, and even inherits Liddy's HoverTank.]]
* BaldBlackLeaderGuy: Well, he isn't bald, but Liddy of The Company fits the rest of the trope. He's a bit of a Jerkass, though. He drives a heavily armed HoverTank.

* BadassBystander: Some civilians are seen trying to fight off the Red Sixers, but due to ArtificialStupidity they usually end up getting mowed down right after the ones that didn't.

* BlackAndGrayMorality: While the gang you work for, (The Company) can hardly be considered good, being basically a futuristic version of TheMafia, they're a lot better than the enemy gangs, who are either [[ImAHumanitarian mutant cannibals]], zombie-like people who are falling apart and kill other people for body parts, or doomsday cultists following a ScamReligion.

* ChekhovsGunman: Rant, the boss at the end of the first level, retreats after you do enough damage and seemingly just disappears. [[spoiler: He comes back at the game's final level to serve as the FinalBoss.]]

* CriticalExistenceFailure: Characters on foot drop dead or even [[ChunkySalsaRule gib into pieces]] without any prior sign of damage, but vehicles [[AvertedTrope avert this]] By having sectional armor- even if your front or side armor is shredded, you might be able to beat a hasty retreat with intact rear armor. If your armor goes and your chassis starts taking damage, your vehicle will emit smoke and flames as it nears destruction- your signal to get out and find a new one or [[OneHitKill risk going boom with it.]]

* DoNotAdjustYourSet: One of the first things the Red Sixers do when they hit Stadium City is sack the KRIP radio station. The Sixers Boss then announces that they are in control. He adds that if anyone has a problem with that, [[SchmuckBait they should come to the radio station and take it up with him.]] [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration Funnily enough, that is exactly what you do.]]
* EmergencyWeapon: Your [[MorphWeapon morph gun]] has a mode which uses a [[ChainsawGood rotary saw blade.]] In multiplayer, [[RuleOfFun this can be used to]] ''[[RuleOfFun fly.]]''

* MagicCountdown: In the level "Boom", you have a TimeBomb attached to your car and have to reach a garage so they can cut you out (as the doors are sealed shut so you can't just get out) before the timer runs out. Even if you pass the "end goal" point of the level with only 1 second left on the timer you will still get out in time, even though there are about 30 seconds between the start of the end of level cutscene and the car exploding (after you've gotten free, of course.)

* ShownTheirWork: [[MagicPoweredPseudoscience Orgone energy and "Accumulator" devices]] were a real (so to speak) field of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orgone 1930s-era pseudoscience.]]
* SlidingScaleOfVillainThreat: Starting out with the Red Sixers, then the Leper Gang, then the Templars, then [[spoiler: ancient Aliens entombed under Area 51]], then wrapping all the way around back to the Red Sixers again for the finale.

* SwissArmyGun: This game makes use of StandardFPSGuns, however they are uniquely housed in a single, transforming rifle which changes out its barrels depending on the type of ammunition being used: bullets, shotgun shells, rockets, grenades, or a ''[[ChainsawGood rotary saw blade.]]'' All you need to do is pick up the prerequisite ammo to use that gun's function, much like Accolade's prior ''{{Eradicator}}''.

* {{Tsundere}}: Liddy seems to be a non-romantic (or [[HoYay maybe not]]) example: while he tries not to show it he ''does'' care about the protagonist, at one point when you die he says "damn, I was starting to like that guy... [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial in a distant, hands off sort of way"]].
* UniqueEnemy: The [[spoiler: aliens, and their weird turrets]] only appear in the basement of Area 51. There's also a [[spoiler: weird alien gun that shoots green stuff]]. that is only found there.
* TheVirus: "Red 6", which turns the skin of it's victims bright red, increases their size, strength and aggressiveness, makes them [[ImAHumanitarian cannibalistic]]. It even makes some people, like the Red Sixers' leader, sprout SpikesOfVillainy.
* WakeUpCallBoss: The first time you fight the [[spoiler: Red Sixers boss]] at the conclusion of the opening level, you may find him unexpectedly tough. Use rockets to maximize your chances of success.

* FrickinLaserBeams: [[MookMobile The basic buggy]] used by the Red Sixers uses a fast-firing red laser cannon as its main weapon.

* MagicTimer: In the level "Boom", you have a TimeBomb attached to your car and have to reach a garage so they can cut you out (as the doors are sealed shut so you can't just get out) before the timer runs out. Even if you pass the "end goal" point of the level with only 1 second left on the timer you will still get out in time, even though there are about 30 seconds between the start of the end of level cutscene and the car exploding (after you've gotten free, of course.)

* {{Tsundere}}: Libby seems to be a non-romantic (or [[HoYay maybe not]]) example: while he tries not to show it he ''does'' care about the protagonist, at one point when you die he says "damn, I was starting to like that guy... [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial in a distant, hands off sort of way"]].

* ChekhovsGunman: Rant, the boss at the end of the first level, retreats after you do enough damage and seemingly just disappears. [[spoiler: he comes back at the game's final level to serve as the FinalBoss.]]

The game featured online multiplayer featuring a combination of on-foot FirstPersonShooter gameplay and auto-combat in Third Person with a variety of armed vehicles. It was originally hosted on [=MPlayer.com=] and Heat.net, but now is hosted by Gamespy Arcade to this day.

[[IThoughtItMeant This should not be]] [[SimilarlyNamedWorks confused with]] the 2010 anime movie ''Anime/RedLine''.

* TheVirus: "Red 6", which turns the skin of it's victims bright red, increases their size, strength and aggressiveness, makes them [[ImAHumanitarian cannibalistic]]. It even makes some people, like the Red Sixers' leader, sprout SpikesOfVillainy.

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: The Red Sixers, a gang of [[TheApunkalypse marauding,]] [[{{Mutants}} mutated]] [[ImAHumanitarian cannibals.]]

''Redline'', known as ''Redline: Gang Warfare 2066'' [[MarketBasedTitle in Europe,]] is a Post-Apocalyptic FirstPersonShooter developed by Beyond Games (a tiny developer which made only Atari games prior to this and only ''Hot Wheels: Velocity X'' afterwards) and released by Creator/{{Accolade}} for the PC in 1999, the last game they published before being acquired by Infogrames.

-> "''Alright, that was those "ThoseTwoGuys Who Live Behind The Gas Station" with ''[[TitleDrop Redline]] This'', sure to be a number 1 hit here at Stadium City, [[CrapsackWorld since... no one else has any instruments!]] Ha ha, yeah.''"

-> "''Alright, that was those "ThoseTwoGuys Who Live Behind The Gas Station" with ''[[TitleDrop Redline]] This'', sure to be a hit here at Stadium City, [[CrapsackWorld because no one else has any instruments!]] Ha ha, yeah.''"

* BadassBystander: Some civilians are seen trying to fight off the Red Sixers, but due to ArtificialStupidity they [[DyingLikeAnimals usually end up getting mowed down right after the ones that didn't.]]

* GundamJack: Multiplayer has a weapon that allows you to forcibly eject whoever's piloting your target vehicle and use it yourself. Singleplayer isn't supposed to have it, but you can cheat and get it anyway. If you get into enemy cars, you find that TheAIIsACheatingBastard and has almost unlimited ammunition.

* TheAIIsACheatingBastard: see GundamJack above.

''Redline'', known as ''Redline: Gang Warfare 2066'' [[MarketBasedTitle in Europe,]] is a Post-Apocalyptic FirstPersonShooter developed by Beyond Games (a tiny developer which made only Atari games prior to this and only ''Hot Wheels: Velocity X'' afterwards) and released by Accolade for the PC in 1999, the last game they published before being acquired by Infogrames.