It Came from the Desert

It Came from the Desert is a cinematic action-adventure inspired by 1950s B-movies, particularly the giant ant classic Them! . You play Dr. Greg Bradley, a geologist investigating a meteor crash near the remote town of Lizard Breath, California in June 1951 . The meteor's radiation has mutated local ants into monstrous, man-eating giants. The game blends point-and-click detective work with multiple action sequences: first-person shooter segments against giant ants, overhead driving, and even flying a crop duster . Time runs in real-time, and you have only 15 in-game days to gather evidence, convince the skeptical mayor, and destroy the queen ant before the town is overrun . The game features a non-linear storyline with multiple endings, night/day cycles, and the ability to recover in hospital from various misadventures .

PC Engine

Released in 1991 by Cinemaware and published by NEC, this version was a ground-up remake for the PC Engine CD-ROM² system . It was one of the first games to use CD technology to deliver full-motion video (FMV) scenes with digitised actors . The console could display 482 colours on screen, and the CD format enabled full voice acting and redbook audio . While technically ambitious, the FMV sequences are now heavily pixelated and choppy due to the early compression standards, with visible pauses during playback before the game eventually crashes . German magazine Video Games awarded 58%, criticising the action phases as feeling unfinished and tedious . The game offers practice mode cheats to skip directly to specific action phases . Often regarded as a fascinating but flawed technical experiment that has not aged well .