Eradicator is a 1996 sci-fi action game developed and published by Accolade for MS-DOS.
The hostile alien world of Ioxia is brimming with Mazrium, a source of unobtanium seemingly available only on said planet, but the hostile Ioxian alien population isn't allowing anyone to step foot on it's surface. To eradicate the alien problem (yeah, see the title up there?), three intergalactic merceneries were deployed to Ioxia's surface to eliminate all resistance.
Straightforward Excuse Plot aside, Eradicator, unlike most other similar sci-fi/action games coming out at the time, allows players a choice between three mercenaries:
- Dan Blaze, the human Jack of All Stats and Token Human character, seemingly based on the archetypical '90s Anti-Hero popular at the time;
- Eleena Brynstaarl, a feline-esque alien and the Fragile Speedster with Wolverine Claws used in tandem with her guns;
- Kamchak, a fierce warrior from the reptilian Treydan race who serves as The Big Guy.
The game was re-released digitally in 2014 for Microsoft Windows, macOS and Linux computer systems. This is not an Updated Re Release, but rather the original game running in Dos Box emulation.
Press (ENTER) to Select your Character and Tropes...
- Absurdly Spacious Sewer: One of the levels, where said sewer is large enough to run around while taking on Ioxian aliens in shootouts. You'll need to wade through knee-deep sewage gunk in a few areas, though.
- Camera Perspective Switch: One that the player can toggle at will, so they can kick ass in both first and third person view. However, most marketing materials tends to promote the game as an FPS.
- Cthulhumanoid: The basic Ioxian alien mooks, with their faces resembling mini brown octopuses.
- Hired Guns: Eleena and Kamchak, among the playable characters are mercs, paid to eliminate the Ioxian alien menace so other corporations can start establishing their Mazrium mining outposts. Dan on the other hand is just an engineer trying to escape.
- Jet Pack: Some of the Ioxians have hover-packs that allows them to float all over the place, and they (annoyingly) tend to show up in areas filled with platforming elements.
- Keystone Army: The Ioxian population were decimated once their controlling citadel is destroyed - or, eradicated - in the final level.
- Level Editor: The game was shipped with two editors, a basic offline level editor, and the in-game "ROPE" editor which, as the game's documentation stated, gave you enough to hang yourself. However, much of the interactive parts of the game required specific DLLs to be compiled and added to the maps.
- Mecha-Mooks: Besides aliens, you'll battle humanoid, robotic minions every so often. However, you could hijack and control a deactivated robot to your side.
- More Dakka: Some of the weapons can get really crazy with the amount of bullets spewed. There's even a triple-barreled machine-gun...
- No Fair Cheating: Using the cheat codes, using console commands to start at the last level, or even using the level editor to get to the last level resulted in the ending text message indicating that, by cheating, you've lost your ability to unlock the secret bonus for defeating the game.
- Title Drop: Complete a stage and when you return to the level select screen, the complete stage will have the words "ERADICATED" in caps stamped on it.
- Unobtainium: Mazrium, a vital element native to Planet Ioxia that various corporations are after. Unfortunately, the amount of hostile alien forces on Ioxia means someone - one of the three playable heroes - will have to clear it's surface and eliminate the opposition before miners can move in.
- Villain Protagonist: All the supposed "heroes". The aliens of Ioxia that they spend the whole game mowing down in droves are merely soldiers doing their jobs instead of invading other planets or having any hostile intent, but the problem is the future corporations really need the Mazrium in the planet's core.
