Iron Helix

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Iron Helix

Developer(s)	Drew Pictures
Publisher(s)	Spectrum Holobyte
Platform(s)	Windows 3.1, Macintosh, Sega CD
Release date	1993
Genre(s)	Adventure / Survival horror
Mode(s)	Single player
Media	CD-ROM
System requirements	Intel 80386, 4 MiB RAM, 1X CD-ROM drive, hard disk, VGA, Mouse, and sound card
Input methods	Keyboard, Mouse

Iron Helix is the name of an adventure computer and video game made for the Windows, Mac, and the Sega CD, designed by Drew Pictures, with Peter Stone of Xorcist creating the soundtrack as well as all sound design.

[edit] Plot

Set far in the future, the human race is in the middle of a cold war with an alien race called the Thanatosians. A fleet of space warships is about to perform target practice by destroying an uninhabited planet. One of these warships, the Jeremiah O'Brien, inexplicably breaks off and heads straight for Calliope, a peaceful Thanatosian planet. An apparent technical malfunction has caused the O'Brien’s computer to believe that it was in a real life war situation, and it selected Calliope as a target for destruction. Like all of the human fleet's Cerberus-class destroyers, the O'Brien carries a weapon known as "Iron Helix", which is capable of destroying all life on a planet in a single act. If Calliope is destroyed, the currently cold war with the Thanatosians could explode into a full-fledged conflagration, resulting in untold deaths on both sides. The O'Brien’s crew were all killed by the ship's security robot, which mistook them for enemy combatants due to some sort of virus that changed the crews DNA.

[edit] Gameplay

The player's objective is to board the O'Brien in order to somehow stop or destroy the ship before the Iron Helix is launched. The twist of the game lies in the fact that the player controls a zoology robot drone which is incapable of offensive action, but can sample the crew members' DNA, to gain access to the ship's systems. As such, stealth, problem-solving, and quick thinking are needed to thwart the O'Brien’s computer, and its armed security robot. In the process, the player may also uncover clues as to what might be responsible for the O'Brien going rogue in the first place.