Line #34 VideoGame/TheDaedalusEncounter


1	The Daedalus Encounter is a point-and-click InteractiveMovie, released by Mechadeus in 1995 on the PC and 3DO, notable for being one of the first games to be released on DVD-ROM.
2
3	In 2135, humanity's first interstellar war is winding down, between humans and the Vakkar aliens. You play as Casey O'Bannon, gunner on one of the frontline fighter ships alongside Ariel "Ari" Matheson and Zack Smith. When one of the Vakkar ships is destroyed, the crew has to abandon ship before debris destroys it. Unfortunately, Casey's EscapePod was hit by some of the debris. Casey is revived as a "Brain in a Box" two months later after which the war is over, and is brought on board the salvage ship ''Artemis'' to look for valuables left over from the war. An unfortunate warp causes the ''Artemis'' to get lodged in a unidentified alien ship heading for a nearby sun. With the ''Artemis'' disabled, they must explore this ship and find a way to steer it back to safety.
4
5	!!The Daedalus Encounter contains examples of
6
7	* AirVentPassageway: This comes into play when a Krin breaks a door's lock mechanism, forcing you to fly your probe through a maze of little tunnels to unlock it from the other side.
8	* BeepingComputers: The bridge of the ''Artemis'' plays this straight.
9	* BorrowedBiometricBypass: Near the end of the game, a machine appears in the ''Daedalus' '' hub that requires an alien hand to work. You have to dissect a dead crewman's hand off in order to use it.
10	* [[BrainInAJar Brain In A Box]]: Casey has no body by the time the game starts, and all that's left is his brain hooked up to a life support system on the ''Artemis''.
11	* DiegeticInterface: The game's HUD is the virtual interface connected to your brain, giving you some degree of interactivity with the surrounding environment.
12	* DilatingDoor: All the doors on the ''Daedalus'' open this way. The ones in the ship's hub appear made of dozens of organic threads that weave open and shut.
13	* CyberCyclops: Casey's life support system and probe both have a single camera lens for an eye. At one point, an annoyed Zack even calls you "cyclops" for looking at him.
14	* EasterEgg: Following a certain path in the maze ends in a room full of pods containing the game's developers frozen in expressions of horror.
15	* EpicTrackingShot: After the crash, your probe is sent to examine the ''Daedalus'', where it slowly pans around the outside of its hull.
16	* EyeSpy: You're able to launch and control a robotic probe from the ''Artemis'' to explore outside the ship. A majority of the game is spent seeing through it.
17	* FeaturelessProtagonist: Casey's body is never shown at any point in the game, and his probe can't make any noises short of beeps, and a simple "Yes" and "No". Ari admits that she pulled you from the medical lab before you could be fitted with a speech interpolation system.
18	* ForbiddenZone: The Mizar sector, which is a neutral zone very close to the Vakkar system, which would risk violating the Talidaran peace treaty they established. Zack insists on going there when looking for places to salvage, and [[ButThouMust you have to agree to continue with the plot]].
19	* {{Holodeck}}: One of the rooms on the ''Daedalus'' appears to be this, showing a huge projection of an alien world that somehow has wind inside. Zack also [[HolodeckMalfunction falls through the floor in one spot]].
20	* GhostShip:
21	** Your first salvage mission involves a Vakkar freighter. Nothing's in there except one dead alien (with a "kick me!" note stuck to its back) and a war medal.
22	** The ''Daedalus'' later on also counts. Exploring it turns up the remains of its crew, having been slaughtered by Crin. [[spoiler: Subverted when you finally find the ship's bridge, where one surviving crewman and a new Queen are discovered.]]
23	* InUniverseCamera: Ari and Zack have cameras on their earpieces, and they sometimes tap them into your POV during cutscenes.
24	* JustifiedTutorial: The first use of your probe is essentially a way to get the player accustomed to the game's controls.
25	* LivingShip: The ''Daedalus'' is this, with plenty of OrganicTechnology inside, all made of a living material that the ''Artemis' '' sensors couldn't detect, which was why the ship crashed into it.
26	--> '''Zack:''' "Did they build this stuff, or grow it?"
27	* MeaningfulName: Halfway through the game, Ari decides to name the alien ship the ''Daedalus'', in reference to the [[Myth/ClassicalMythology mythological figure who flew towards the sun.]]
28	* MultipleEndings:
29	** [[spoiler: If you succeed in communing with the ship's Navigator, they'll activate a forcefield around the ship that saves it from being incinerated; afterwards, the Navigator and New Queen are willing to both repair the ''Artemis'' and provide Casey's crew with a bevy of alien knowledge.]]
30	** [[spoiler: Failing to commune with the Navigator results in a fight while Casey must solve one last puzzle to manually navigate the ship. The Navigator, New Queen and Zack all die during the firefight and Ari is left a sobbing wreck.]]
31	** NonStandardGameOver: [[spoiler: If you send the wrong message to the ship's Navigator, they'll activate the forcefield, but it will only shield the ''Daedalus'' - not the ''Artemis''. As a result, Ari, Zack and the aliens survive, but Casey's brain is burned along with the ''Artemis'', resulting in his death.]]
32	* NoOshaCompliance: Several areas of the ''Daedalus'' consist of huge rooms with long drops and narrow walkways spanning them without handrails. You even have to save Zack from falling in one of them.
33	* PipeMaze: You have to solve a puzzle like this to reconnect the ''Artemis' '' systems when it crashes into the ''Daedalus''.
34	* PressStartToGameOver: If you do not respond when Ari asks you to say "yes" (the first chance to interact with the game), she and Zack will think you're not working, and shut you down, ending the game. Replying "no" instead has them take it as a joke, and the game continues as normal.
35	* RoboCam: Your life support system and probe can send video and sound directly to your brain, described as "artificial senses" by Ari.
36	* ShellShockedVeteran: Ari is heavily implied to be this, being quick to draw her gun and attack any hostile that gets close.
37	* ShoutOut: When Ari suggests other areas of space to explore. Zack immediately declines visiting [[Film/{{Alien}} LV426]].
38	** When Zack suggests that an energy field they went through transported them to the alien's homeworld Ari sarcastically responds that he's been watching too many ''Franchise/StarTrek'' reruns.
39	%%* SpaceIsNoisy: Played straight during the first part of the game. You can hear laser blasts and explosions in the intro quite well, along with the ''Artemis' '' crash scene.
40	* SpaceMarine: Ari and Zack used to be this during the war. Now they're just SalvagePirates.
41	* StarfishLanguage: The crew of the ''Daedalus'' communicates using flashes of light, and you have to translate their language in order to get around the ship.
42	* TomatoInTheMirror: Early in the game, when Ari first uses her earpiece camera to show what you look like from her point of view.
43	* VideoGameCrueltyPunishment: During the Krin fight, you can shoot either Ari or Zack, killing them; the survivor will them be overwhelmed and killed by the Krin. However, you will lose your probe soon afterwards (either a Krin will destroy it, or Zack will shoot it in a TakingYouWithMe moment).
44	* WhatAPieceOfJunk: The ''Artemis'' was apparently cobbled together from a pair of surplus Alliance transports, and Ari and Zack fitted it with engines "[[BlatantLies borrowed]]" from an Orion-class destroyer.

Context VideoGame / TheDaedalusEncounter