Game Info
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Developer: Cinemaware
Publisher: Cinemaware
Year of Release: 1990
Game Review & Impressions
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"Not once in the five years since the defeat of the mutant ants had anyone suspected that there was a second queen, thirsting for the destruction of all that is human."
Such is the opening to the sequel of what remains one of my favourite Amiga games of all time. The original It Came From the Desert is a superb tribute to the B movie horror flicks of the 1950s and 1960s, featuring some of the best graphics, music, not to mention narrative direction and storytelling on the platform. Released as an expansion on a pair of floppy disks, Antheads repurposes the setting and most of the assets from the original game, creating a brand new adventure for horror fans to enjoy.
For those unfamiliar with the original ICFTD, players assumed the role of Dr. Greg Bradley, a geologist and researcher stationed in the backwater desert town of Lizard Breath, USA. The town and its residents are thrust into a living nightmare when radiation from a nearby meteor strike causes an ant colony to mutate to the size of train cars, with the insects threatening not only the town's existence, but the whole of the world too.
With the help of the townsfolk and scientist Dr. H.G. Wells, Bradley managed to locate and destroy the ants nest, blowing the queen lurking within its labyrinthine tunnels to kingdom come with a timebomb.
Unfortunately for Lizard Breath, the horror has only just begun.
Picking up five years later, the town is once again under threat of destruction. The U.S. army plans to test the destructive force of an atomic bomb in the desert, a few short miles from Lizard Breath itself. Recognising that the force of the blast will flatten the town and turn the desert into an irradiated hell-hole, new army recruit Andy Nash, stationed at the Lizard Breath test site, manages to smuggle out an emergency communique to his older brother, Brick.
A veteran of the Korean War and grizzled fighter pilot, Brick springs into action. Arriving in Lizard Breath, Nash hijacks a truck containing the plutonium trigger for the A-bomb and heads of into the desert. Unfortunately for Nash, the radiation from the plutonium trigger has awoken what remains of the ant colony. The ants bear down on the truck, ripping it apart, dragging the plutonium back to the nest to activate a second, dormant queen.
Townsfolk recover Nash's unconscious body from the wreck some time later, bringing him back to the town to recover. This is only the beginning of Brick's troubles - not only must he avoid the plethora of government agents combing the town looking for the plutonium hijacker, the vengeful ant queen and her colony intend to wreak revenge on Lizard Breath and all of its inhabitants, and Brick is top of their hit list.
Beginning on January 1st 1956, Brick has 10 days to save the town from a fate worse than death. As with the original game, saving Lizard Breath involves visiting locations around the town and nearby desert, talking to townsfolk and dealing with the ants as they crop up. The cold sweat-inducing antenna-shooting sections are back, but the ants have some new tricks up their chitinous sleeves this time around, including kidnapping and transforming town residents into horrific human-ant hybrids! How to stop the ants and their deadly plot is something you must discover, and there are multiple paths through the game.
If you enjoyed ICFTD, you'll more than likely love Antheads. Despite the familiar setting and reuse of assets, the writing and narrative do, by and large, make this feel like a new game, and the Invasion of the Bodysnatchers plotline is a cool twist. Trying to blow the antennae off a bus-sized ant as it skitters across the screen is still completely terrifying and, if you're a fan of adventure games with a dash of suspense, this will likely be right up your alley.
Information & Trivia
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Video Notes
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- I delay going to the hospital until day 10 to try and capture as much of the story as possible
Related Longplays & Videos
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It Came From the Desert (Amiga): • It Came From the Deser...
Chapters
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0:00:00 Intro
0:00:50 Day 1
0:15:27 Day 2
0:24:45 Day 3
0:33:46 Day 4
0:41:44 Day 5
0:52:27 Day 6
1:00:53 Day 7
1:13:52 Day 8
1:21:07 Day 9
1:38:32 Day 10
1:48:15 Good Ending
1:49:33 Bad Ending
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