I'm going down to the Sea of Love... I'm going near that water...
It Came from the Desert is an Interactive Movie game from 1992 by Cinemaware that is a remake of a game for various computers of the time. The story, gameplay, and presentation are changed so much that it's practically a different game. It's about a high-school senior named Buzz Lincoln who has to prevent the ants from building an atomic bomb and releasing themselves into the whole world. Additionally, his parents are trying to push him away from college for a job at the nuclear power plant, while his girlfriend is doubting him, and everyone in the town except for him seems to be slowly falling under control of the ants. He has to save them by driving from place to place on his bike, exterminating ants who are causing problems in the town, getting through a tunnel to reach the force field that has to be destroyed to reach the ant queen, and finally kill her to set the people free.
This game provides examples of:
- '90s Anti-Hero: While the game takes place in The '50s, Buzz's behavior and lack of stereotypical traits make him one of these, rather than a Greaser Delinquent. He is extremely cocky before taking part in an extermination (often with some edgy one-liner), acts like a jerk to many people (including his parents, but they aren't good people), swears several times, rides a bike from place to place, and wears a black shirt which can be seen in the tunnels minigame. In the good ending, he admits to being a loner.
- Absent-Minded Professor: According to Buzz's parents and occasionally himself, Doc isn't very bright and sometimes forgets things (which he calls a "spud brain").
- Abusive Parents: Buzz's stepparents aren't the nicest bunch — they start the game pushing him to drop out of school to work at the nuclear power plant, and when Buzz refuses out of concern that the site is highly run-down and unsafe, his stepmother threatens to have him beaten for his ungrateful attitude (though his stepfather would rather just get a beer; yelling was enough for him).
- Accidental Misnaming: In one Channel 14 broadcast, Carl calls his parrot companion "Golfball", rather than "Goofball".
- Affectionate Nickname: At one point, Sonny happily calls his friend Buzz "Buzzard".
- All Men Are Perverts: When the musician at the saloon presents the choice of the girl, strength, or knowledge, he assumes Buzz will take the first option because that's what men who come there usually do.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Most people who have been brainwashed by ants usually speak weirdly and have a very hostile disposition to Buzz, even if they'd normally be his allies.
- Critical Existence Failure: Taken to a ludicrous extreme, where people can lose several body parts, including all of their vital organs, to an ant attacking them, but will still be fine so long as they're not completely eaten before the player kills all of the ants.
- Dissonant Serenity: In the final radio broadcast, Koolman gets excited about the "fireworks" that are about to go off the next day. Linda tells him that she's having an end-of-the-world party and asks him to play "Belong to Pieces" by Johnny Dark, a rather upbeat song. Meanwhile, almost everyone else has either been enslaved for the ants or is terrified of the coming apocalypse.
- Driven to Suicide: The sheriff shoots himself in the head... or not? It's hard to tell because there are no muzzle flashes made, and he just sits back up after that. It turns out the real sheriff is actually about to be eaten alive.
- The End: The game and the credits end with "THE END". The former is written in the Deluxe Paint gold font that's also used for the day transition screens, while the latter does not use a font different from the credits.
- The End... Or Is It?: The game over screen says "THE END?" This suggests that even though a town has been nuked and super-ants are free to colonize the world, someone might still try to stop them.
- Epic Fail: Carl complains that Channel 14's news program is being killed in terms of ratings by Funeral Organ Dance Hour... which is a radio show.
- Evil Laugh: The ant queen has a tendency to go into long, hysterical laughs while taunting Buzz.
- Gender-Blender Name: In the ending, Buzz assumes Sonny's cousin Ronnie is a dude and doesn't want to spend time because of the name, but he soon finds out she's a girl who looks almost like the one from his fantasies.
- Ghost Town: Borax is abandoned and the only real places of interest in it are a saloon and a mine. Buzz even says that it gives him the creeps.
- Hell Is That Noise: A person always does a hissing noise before Buzz has to save them from the ants.
- Iconic Song Request: According to Koolman, "Sea of Love" is apparently the number one most requested song of the night or by those who are about to die.
- The Immune: Buzz is immune to the ant queen's mind control powers, which is why he's able to rebel against her.
- Infernal Background: The ant queen is always shown behind a fiery background, with skulls for good measure.
- It's a Wonderful Failure: Running out of time shows the scene where the town is nuked and all the ants are released to the world. You get to hear a radio broadcast where Koolman is all alone and panics, but quickly regains his composure. He asks what song you want as you die, then decides to put on "Sea of Love" because that's everyone final request for a song.
- Ms. Fanservice: Buzz imagines a dark-haired woman who speaks in a seductive tone and wears a dress that shows cleavage. Appropriately, she's based on the image of his irresistible dream girl. It turns out Sonny's cousin Ronnie looks almost like her, being more modestly clothed but still seductive.
- No Challenge Equals No Satisfaction: When the Sheriff is about to shoot Buzz, the ant queen tells him to stop. As she enjoys taunting the protagonist later on a lot, it's clear she wouldn't want to just have him go down on the first day with a single shot.
- Not Quite Dead: At one point, the Sheriff shoots himself in the head and Buzz is shocked that he'd do something that crazy. However, it's quickly revealed that he survived and the extermination minigame commences.
- Not So Stoic: The Koolman is always confident and speaks in a cool radioman voice, but when the town is nuked, he sounds legitimately concerned with everyone seemingly gone before returning to his standard persona one last time.
- One-Hit-Point Wonder: Buzz loses if he's hit only once in the tunnels minigame.
- Polly Wants a Microphone: Carl's parrot named Goofball manages to speak on its own and even helps him with some lines needed for his news broadcast.
- Pre Ass Kicking One Liner: Buzz occasionally delivers them before taking on the ants. Likely his most powerful one is given before fighting the ants to save his parents on Day 7.In my world, it's called rock-and-roll! Let's get funky, freakface!
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner: The Sheriff has one just before he tries to shoot Buzz on Day 1, but the ant queen stops him.You think you've got this all figured out, don't you? Figure this out, smartass!
- Reformulated Game: The game has been substantially remade from It Came from the Desert (1989) as it replaces the graphics for FMV, changes up the minigames, and introduces a story only somewhat related to the original.
- Shows Damage: The exterminator minigame has people getting eaten by bugs, with their skin being removed to reveal flesh and bones. That said, only the lifebar at the bottom actually matters when it comes to their survival.
- So Proud of You: After defeating the ant queen, Doc immediately tells Buzz that he's proud of him.
- This Is Reality: After being informed of the ants, Doc says with concern that the ants are not part of a mindless invasion like the ones found in trashy science fiction movies.
- We All Die Someday: Both the game over and the ending have someone note that nothing lasts forever and that we all die someday, respectively.
- World of Ham: Almost every actor is hammy and yells their lines out loud, often gesticulating to some extent as well.
- WPUN: The radio station is called KOOL, hosted by the one and only Koolman.
