Mon ennemi Robot
Eden Blues, released in the UK as Doomsday Blues, is an Adventure Game nowadays classifiable as part of the Explorer Horror subgenre. It was developed by ERE Informatique for release on the Amstrad CPC in the winter of 1985, but found itself delayed until February of 1986. In April of 1987, a remake for the Atari ST hit the market in the wake of March's announcements for PC Booter and ZX Spectrum ports for June of 1987. The Booter version was released in July, but the ZX Spectrum version, which was to be handled by Infogrames, never materialized.
The protagonist of Eden Blues is an unnamed prisoner spending his days in his cell. He is also, as far as he knows, the last human alive because the robots have rebelled and exterminated the rest of the human race. What their plans are for him he does not know and his escape attempts are more curiosity than genuine, because as the last human there's nothing for him out there. His perspective abruptly changes when one night he hears a woman's cries. Realizing he's not alone, he breaks out in earnest to find her and escape together.
Starting in the protagonist's cell, the player is to guide him through a Three-Quarters View prison landscape to find the female prisoner and not get killed or exhausted while trying. The prison comprises three distinct areas: the austere cellblocks, which includes the courtyard, the dingy cellars, and the surreal living quarters. Each has their own obstacles and resources and the areas can be travelled between freely as long as the protagonist keeps up his vitality meters. There are three of these — strength, courage, and fitness — and only courage is optional. Strength represents the protagonist's ability to use physical force, which is needed to kick through doors. If the meter reaches zero, no more progress can be made and the game is effectively over. Courage represents the protagonist's ability to stare robots into submission. It is the only form of self-defense available. Lastly, fitness represents the protagonist's health. It decreases over time and faster when in contact with a robot and when it reaches zero, the protagonist dies. Before the game begins, the player is handed 100 points to assign to the three meters as deemed wise. This minor RPG element encourages experimenting with one's play style.
In regards to player interaction, the screen consists of the play window in the center and the Heads-Up Display beneath it. From left to right, the HUD's first icons and numbers form the aforementioned three vitality meters. To the right of them is a sun-or-moon icon that signifies day or night. Below it is the information how many coins the protagonist has on him to buy coffee. The slate that takes up most of the HUB keeps track of time through tally marks. Eight tally marks is 08:00 in-game, nine tally marks is 09:00 in-game, and so on. The icon all the way to the right is a P.O.V. Cam that shows what the protagonist is looking at and what they will interact with if the action command is selected. This can be eating food, finding and picking up a coin, or kicking in a door. The value underneath the view shows how much food is still available or how much sturdiness a door has left.
Eden Blues was one of ERE Informatique's early hit releases and from 1987 to 1988 was re-released thrice as part of a compilation pack, those being Ere Hits 2, Les Aventuriers, and Logistrad 12.
Eden Blues contains examples of:
- 20 Minutes into the Future: Aside from robots advanced enough to rebel and wipe out mankind, the game's present isn't much different from the 1980s present. Doors still open manually, food is still traditional food packaged and served in recognizable holders, there are no nifty technical doodads to be discovered anywhere, and the fashion sense is even a little dated.
- Adam and Eve Plot: Humanity has been exterminated by the robot uprising with the exception of two humans, one male and one female. They're kept in the same prison, but apart and unaware of each other for undisclosed reasons. Eventally, the male prisoner hears the female prisoner's cries and sets out to find her. If he succeeds, they'll greet each other by enthusiastically kissing each other on the sofa.
- After the End: Some time prior to the game, humanity developed robots that could take over various tasks. Then the robots became advanced enough to rebel and exterminate the entire human race except for two specimen they decided to keep alive. The game's narrative concerns itself with the fate of these survivors.
- All There in the Manual: The lead-up to the events of the game and the protagonist's goal can only be found in the manual and the back-of-the-box blurb. Without it, you'd never know that humanity's been exterminated and that the protagonist is looking for another survivor.
- Awesome, but Impractical: Courage lets the protagonist stare down a robot into submission. All they need to do is look at the robot with courage points to spare on hand and the robot will cease to be a bother. The problem is that the points needed for a stare-down are high considering the amount of robots encountered, coffee to replenish courage is acquired late in the game and only if coins to pay for it have been collected early in the game, and just sneaking past robots isn't all that troublesome.
- Covers Always Lie: The boxart and the title screen both depict the two prisoners escaping together, and the premise on the back-of-the-box clearly instructs to find the female prisoner and escape together. But the game ends when you find the female prisoner. No joint escape attempt occurs in the game itself.
- Death Glare: The protagonist can stare down a robot into submission as long as he has enough courage to do so. What exactly happens if he succeeds in a stare-down is not explained. Is it something robots are programmed to obey to and did humanity get killed in their sleep or otherwise chicken out of using this ability? Or is it something only the protagonist is capable of, possibly as some sort of psychic ability?
- Dehumanization: The protagonist wears a prison suit with a big cross on both the front and back of his shirt, pretty much reducing him to "Prisoner X".
- Descending Ceiling: A few rooms in the living quarters have descending ceilings that reset upon every re-enter. The protagonist has to leave such rooms timely to avoid getting crushed, but there is one room a little trickier. It's the room before the female prisoner's cell, which is locked off by a door with 255 hit points. At best it can be brought down fifteen hit points per kick, so the protagonist will have to land a few kicks, leave the room to not get crushed, and then reenter and repeat the process until the final door opens.
- Dump Stat: Before the game begins, the player is given the option to distribute a total of 100 points to strength, courage, and fitness. These aren't true stats, but rather the supply you have to spend. It is wise to totally ignore courage and only invest in the other two. You need strength to make any progress at all because once it has run out you can't open any more doors. Fitness is health and being without health means it's game-over. Courage is needed to fight back against the robots, but the robots can just as easily be avoided altogether, making courage fun but frivolous.
- Fast-Forward Mechanic: Sleeping, which can only be done in the cells, speeds up the time. Whether it is night or day influences whether there are robots out on patrol in the cellblocks or in the courtyard.
- Food Porn: The fully decked out tables found in the living quarters look delicious. Not only is the food itself varied and plentiful, but it's also the one thing of luxury the protagonist comes across in the bleak apocalyptic landscape he wanders around in.
- Full Moon Silhouette: In both versions of the cover art, the two humans run atop the prison wall against the full moon's light while their robot guards take aim from the courtyard.
- Glass Cannon: The protagonist can kick open prison doors and stare robots into submission, but walking into a wall costs him one strength point per incident. This includes the semi-existent fourth wall.
- Great Escape: The goal of the protagonist is to make their way through the prison complex and find the other human held prisoner by the robots. The goal thereafter is to escape the prison complex together
- Hope Spot: Before the events of the game, the protagonist had given up hope of escape not because he doubted he could, but because it would've been pointless. As the last human, where was he supposed to go? What would life free but damned to isolation have to offer him? It's only because he heard another human's cries that he has a reason to give escape another try.
- Hyperactive Metabolism: Each of the three vitality meters goes up from consuming food or drinks found during the jailbreak. Wine ups the amount of strength points the protagonist gets to spend on kicking through doors. Coffee ups the amount of courage points the protagonist gets to spend on staring down robots. And food ups the amount of fitness points the protagonist gets to spend on staying alive.
- Instant Gravestone: If the protagonist perishes, he turns into a heap of ash from which a cross emerges.
- Institutional Apparel: The protagonist wears a striped shirt with a big cross on both the front and the back. This may mean he already was imprisoned when the robots took over, because the female prisoner wears a fancy dress, suggesting that the robots had them locked up as they found them.
- In-Universe Game Clock: There is a 24-hour cycle that regards 08:00 to 19:00 as daytime and 20:00 to 07:00 as nighttime. Which half of the day it is affects the robots that are out and about. The time is visualized as tally marks in the heads-up display, which at a rate of one per real-life six seconds go up to twenty-four before the slate resets. The game starts at 07:00 and the time can be sped forward by lying down on a bed.
- Laser Hallway: A few rooms in the living quarters are outfitted with rows of laser fields that insta-kill the protagonist if he gets caught in one. Fortunately, they're only sporadically active and there's always enough room between them for the protagonist to catch his breath and wait.
- Living Drawing: There are many portraits of women in the living quarters, although limited to two variants. They pull creepy faces and cruelly laugh when the protagonist injures himself.
- Money Grinding: There is nothing to do in the cellblocks but escape. And find coins in the window stools of various cells. The purpose of these coins is to spend them on the coffee vending machines located in the living quarters. Coffee ups the protagonist's courage and with that his ability to stare robots into submission. It isn't that useful because by the time the protagonist reaches the living quarters the robots left are easier avoided than confronted, but it is a gameplay element that can hardly be experienced without coffee.
- Must Have Caffeine: There are coffee vending machines in the living quarters. Unlike food and wine, coffee needs to be paid for with coins. The purpose of coffee is to up the protagonist's courage points, which he needs to stare down robots if he chooses confrontation over sneaking past.
- Nameless Narrative: The closest to a designation in the entire manual and game is that the protagonist is locked away in Cell 412. He himself isn't named, nor is the female prisoner, nor are the robots, nor is the location of the prison.
- Nothing Is Scarier: The early part of the game takes place in the cellblocks, from which the protagonist has to escape. As he does, he may enter one of the many cells other than but just like his own. They are identical and all empty and some have a coin on the window stool left by whoever once was there. The back-of-the-box and the manual already are clear that the protagonist is one of at most two humans left alive, but it's the emptiness of a place that should be full by force that truly unsettles.
- Post-Apocalyptic Traffic Jam: In the French manual, the protagonist can see a long line of abandoned cars littering the roads. It's early enough after the robot takeover that the cars are still gleaming.
- Press Start to Game Over: At the second title screen, before the game begins, the player is given the option to distribute a total of 100 points to strength, courage, and fitness. Some of the points are already allocated, but can be taken back to invest in another vitality meter. However, if all points are taken out of the health meter, the protagonist dies then and there at the second title screen.
- Red Filter of Doom: The cover art of the Booter version is just as strong in the cool part of the color spectrum as the Amstrad cover art but there is a notable exception. In the Booter cover art, there's a barred prison window in the direction the prisoners are running away from. For no given reason, an ominous red glow emanates from inside.
- Resting Recovery: Sleeping does not recover anything but does prevent fitness from dwindling. Normally, fitness goes down by one point every time an in-game hour passes, which is six seconds in real-life. Sleeping makes time go by faster and no fitness loss occurs during that time.
- Robot War: The game takes place after robots have exterminated all humans except for two, a male and a female. How this came to be, why this came to be, how it's working out for the robots, and what intentions they have for the prisoners is not addressed. In any case, the prisoners can't be too important to them because they've set up deadly traps outside of the female's cell and while the male can leave his, if they spot him they go in for the kill.
- Space-Filling Path: There is a room in the living quarters that uniquely can't be walked around in freely. A part is laid out with tiles and this path has to be walked over to reach the other door. Getting off injures the protagonist as if he walked into a wall.
- Speech Bubbles: While the game is mostly text-free, when the protagonist injures himself and when the portraits laugh, their sounds are presented in speech bubbles.
- Tally Marks on the Prison Wall: There's a slate in the heads-up display that starts at seven tally marks. These represent the time of day, so the game starts at 07:00. At a rate of one per real-life six seconds, more tally marks are added until after twenty-four of them the slate is wiped and tallying starts anew.
- Tin-Can Robot: There are four types of robots in the game and two or three more on the various covers. They all are composed of tubes and butttons and lights and rotors and all kinds of shapes that aren't unfamiliar, but which don't suggest anything alive either.
- Timed Mission: The protagonist loses fitness points every in-game hour, which equals six seconds in real-life. Fitness loss can be halted by sleeping and fitness can be replenished by eating, while encounters with robots speed up the loss. Other than permanently sleeping, though, all actions and inactions eventually result in the fitness meter hitting zero if the game isn't finished beforehand.
- Titled After the Song: Eden Blues is named after the song "Eden Blues" by Édith Piaf. There's no obvious link between the song's content and the game's content, but in both there is a boy-meets-girl plot, a cross atop a grave, and a day-night contrast.
- Trial-and-Error Gameplay: Eden Blues can be finished in less than ten minutes, but it will take a lot of exploring and memorizing before that level of efficiency is reached. There are plenty of paths to travel that don't lead to the female prisoner, a lot of enemies and traps that can promptly end the escape, and three vitality meters to manage. Especially strength is going to lead to dead-ends because once it runs out, the protagonist can't kick any more doors open. Wine to replenish strength is found only in limited supply in the cellars, so there's limited room to experiment each play session.
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: The male prisoner within the game is bald, a tad short, and has a pronounced chin and nose. The female prisoner is a cute beauty clothed in a low-cut dress. In the manual's art and the cover art, the two are more alike in attractiveness.
