Line #16 VideoGame/DesertStrike


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/desert_strike.png]]
2	''Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf'' is a 1992 VehicularCombat game from Creator/ElectronicArts loosely based on the first UsefulNotes/GulfWar.
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4	The player controls an Apache gunship and undertakes several missions for the US government as they attempt to thwart the actions of the mad dictator, General Kilbaba.
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6	Played from an {{isometric p\|rojection}}erspective, the game is more tactical than an out and out shooting game.
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8	Coming so soon after the end of the war it depicts the game was initially thought to be in bad taste. Ultimately the quality of the game won out and it was a huge seller, spawning a [[VideoGame/StrikeSeries number of sequels]]. ''Soviet'' in particular alludes to ''Desert'' in one mission suggesting the events of that game were {{retcon}}ned as a STRIKE mission, which could mean that STRIKE had a part to play in the other two games.
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10	!!Contains examples of the following tropes:
11	%%* AcePilot
12	* BadBoss: [[BigBad General Kilbaba]] is explicitly described as merciless towards all who stand in his way -- including his own men, apparently, judging by his penchant of physically assaulting his current deputy Muammaar whenever he displeases him and [[YouHaveFailedMe whatever he did to his previous deputy]].
13	* CavalryBetrayal: The American soldiers and pilots, who are stranded behind the enemy lines and waiting for the player to rescue them, aren't exactly immune to friendly bullets.
14	* CriticalExistenceFailure: Your chopper can be shot full of holes from all manner of rocket and AA gunfire, down to 5 remaining hitpoints and still keep fighting just as well as it does at 100% health, but one stray bullet from a soldier's rifle, and...
15	* EasyLogistics: What luck that our helicopter can instantly replenish ammo, fuel and even armor just by winching up supplies that just happen to be scattered all over the battlefield!
16	* FastRoping: Sporadically, the player's co-pilot will use this method in order to perform a certain task on the ground (e.g. entering a building and freeing an important prisoner).
17	* HammerspaceHideaway: The real Apache helicopter doesn't have passenger seats, so this must be where (up to 6 of) those rescued hostages and co-pilots sit. On the other hand...
18	* HyperspaceArsenal: Averted, the Apache's weapons load-out is 100% accurate. (Yes, it can actually carry 38 Hydra rockets, 8 Hellfire missiles and 1200 20mm Chaingun rounds at once.)
19	* InertiaIsACruelMistress: It certainly makes hovering over various pickups trickier.
20	* InsurmountableWaistHeightFence: Your chopper can't change altitude, so you have to fly around two story buildings or mountains.
21	* ItsUpToYou: The whole story, a mix of UsefulNotes/TheGulfWar and a generic action plot that ends with saving the world from [[ANuclearError World War III]] rests on one pilot and co-pilot and the co-pilot has to be saved in the final mission.
22	* JustPlaneWrong: The final mission of ''Desert Strike'' features a C-5 Galaxy cargo plane as a "nuclear bomber".
23	* MadeOfExplodium: Every vehicle and building will come apart in a nice shower of fragments and orange fireballs.
24	* MadeOfIron: Though not invincible, your helicopter can take a ''lot'' of missile hits and keep flying.
25	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed:
26	** General Kilbaba (who invades a small but wealthy Arab emirate) is basically Saddam Hussein. The camouflage-wearing man giving the mission briefings resembles General "Stormin' Norman" Schwarzkopf.
27	** [[spoiler: In the ending, the player character and his co-pilot are honored with a ceremony at the White House. The President of the United States and his First Lady resemble UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush and Barbara Bush, respectively.]]
28	* PunchClockVillain: General Kilbaba's deputy Muammaar -- bordering on GuiltRiddenAccomplice. He clearly disagrees with his leader's plans, but he is apparently too scared of his boss to object.
29	-->'''Muammaar:''' Your Greatness, I admire your mighty plan, but [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes I want to see my children grow up]] and you will cause the end of all the world.
30	-->'''Kilbaba:''' ''[[BitchSlap [slaps him in the face]]]'' Get back to work now or you will be food for the rats from which you came.
31	* {{Qurac}}: The actual country involved in ''Desert Strike'' is never named.
32	* RippedFromTheHeadlines: UsefulNotes/TheGulfWar.
33	* SideQuest:
34	** You're given bonus points for going above and beyond the mission parameters. If your mission is to take out a power station, take out the electrical towers with it; if you only need to capture one enemy commander to fulfill your objective, get the other three anyway; and so on. This game, in particular, has an unadvertised mission to locate and rescue the MIA co-pilot during the second campaign.
35	** In the third campaign, you can find the EANN news crew and hover-lift them back to the TV station. The landing zone disappears immediately upon drop-off, so if you left some behind and grab them, they're stuck taking space inside your chopper until you complete the campaign or get a game over.
36	* TrappedBehindEnemyLines: One of of your copilots has to be rescued by you.
37	* TurnsRed: Inverted. At the start of each campaign, the enemy has various radars and electrical systems in operation which, while active, make their units target you faster, hit harder and have significantly more armour. Naturally, these radars/power plants will be among your first objectives to level the playing field.
38	* TwentyFourHourNewsNetworks: The EANN (Electronic Arts News Network).
39	* WeaponOfMassDestruction: Chemical, bio and nuke weapons.

Context VideoGame / DesertStrike