Iron Storm (PC video game): Difference between revisions
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''Iron Storm'' is a 2002 [[First-Person Shooter]] / [[Third-Person Shooter]] game, created by French developer 4x Studios and published by Dreamcatcher Interactive. The game is a fairly typical war FPS, but offers lots of good level design and a huge amount of intelligent opponents. What sets it apart from most games of the genre, is its very unique [[Alternate History]] setting and engaging atmosphere.
In the game's [[Backstory]], [[World War One]] never ended in 1918 and dragged well into the 1960s. The reason behind this was a charismatic White Russian general, a certain Baron Ugenberg. He managed to unite lots of former Tsarist soldiers and warriors from Siberian and Mongolian tribes under his banner during the Russian Civil War. With the help of their constantly growing numbers, he
Sounds like a fairly straight-forward action and espionage story ? Well then : Expect a few interesting twists on your way...
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* [[All There in the Manual]]: The [http://www.ironstorm.com/weapons.html names and specs of the weapons] and the [http://www.ironstorm.com/characters.html short biographies of the main characters]. The original manual that shipped with the game even had a few [[Fictional Document]]s to better explain the various details and tone of the setting.
* [[Alternate History]]: One of its selling points, no less. It was arguably one of the first mainstream shooter games where AH was a deliberate part of the backstory and plot. It's also one of the few games that are set in [[World War One]] (or inspired by it).
* [[Artificial Brilliance]]: Though the game's budget wasn't big (it's nearly an indie game), the AI of the enemy soldiers is surprisingly high and cunning. You
* [[Big Bad]]: Baron Ugenberg. {{spoiler|This gets subverted hard in the Twist Ending, where you discover he's become just an old senile [[Punch Clock Villain]] after years of gradual [[Villain Decay]].}}
* [[But Thou Must!]]: Given the game's [[Useless Useful Stealth|dodgy handling of stealth mechanics]], there really isn't any way to escape from the Wolfenburg lab without [[Complete Monster|murdering every single scientist you find]]. To make it up to you, there's one officer cowering in a bathroom in the next lever [[Pet the Dog|who's death is entirely optional.]]
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* [[Diesel Punk]]: Oodles of it. The firearms are generally [[Our Weapons Will Be Boxy in the Future|fairly bulky and boxy in shape]], with a very [[Used Future]] look. Most of them (including the most common assault rifles) are a bizarre mix of early 20. century tech and more modern elements : Though some are equipped with state-of-the-art laser designators, they also have ''massive built-in coolers'' (a [[Shout-Out]] to old [[World War One]] heavy machine guns). Now that's some serious [[Schizo-Tech]]...
* [[Elite Mooks]]: The Russo-Mongolians have their Siberian troopers, armored [[Gas Mask Mooks]] with enhanced health and equipped with a full-auto rifle that fires explosive, one-shot-kill rounds.
** {{spoiler|In the final level, you encounter Consortium troopers, the soldiers of the American military-industrial complex that is secretly
* [[Expy]] / [[Captain Ersatz]]: It's painfully obvious that Baron Ugenberg is based on none other than the infamous baron Roman Nikolai [[Ungern-Sternberg]]. The only real difference between them is that [[Mirror Universe|Ugenberg was Sternberg's opposite]] [[Villain Sue|when it comes to competence]].
** [[Dummied Out|Earlier in development]], Ugenberg [[Historical Domain Character|was directly referred to as Ungern-Sternberg]]. A few traces of this survive (particularly with a tank designated the "US-III").
* [[Fackler Scale of FPS Realism]]: The game isn't a true tactical shooter per se, but still requires you to take precise aim, choose your gear wisely and carefully fight your way through enemy territory. [[Do Not Run with a Gun]] is paramount not only for achieving victory, but for ''basic survival'' as well, in each of the six campaign missions. [[Sighted Guns Are Low Tech]] is carefully semi-averted (you can see them on every weapon, but can't really use them in-game and have to rely on traditional FPS reticules or a scope).
* [[The Federation]]: The United States of Western Europe seems to be this, compared to Ugenberg's
* [[First Person Ghost]]: Averted. Arguably one of the first games where you could easily look down and see most of your legs and feet.
* [[Forever War]]: 50 years of bloodshed and no end in sight. It gets all the more ridiculous when you learn it has turned into a literal [[War for Fun and Profit]], with the arms industry and armies being an integral part of the international stock exchange. And the [[Twist Ending]] implies that {{spoiler|the whole conflict has degenerated into nothing more than an [[Enforced Cold War]]}}.
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* [[Nintendo Hard]]: The game is pretty hard and unforgiving even on Easy and Normal. The Hard and Realistic difficulty levels force you to really up the ante in terms of stealthiness [[Batman Gambit|and well-planned surprise attacks]].
* [[No-Gear Level]] / [[Stealth Based Mission]]: One of the missions starts with Anderson taken prisoner, with all of his weaponry confiscated. Luckily, you manage to acquire a melee weapon shortly after the start of the level and then carefully escape the prison and collect some new gear.
* [[Obligatory War Crime Scene]]: Several. A particularly memorable one occurs early on in the first level, where you glimpse a USWE conscript gunning down a
** There's also one building where you find a lot of USWE soldiers {{spoiler|that have been lynched, drowned in bathtubs, mutilated, and otherwise tortured to death}}. Another creepy place is {{spoiler|an abandoned trench near a bombed-out church, [[High Octane Nightmare Fuel|with a pile of skulls on spikes]] and [[Mood Dissonance|a religious icon looted from the church lying right next to them]]. [[Religion of Evil|This is all arranged to look like a small altar]].}}
* [[Old Soldier]] : Lieutenant Anderson.
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* [[Shell-Shocked Veteran]]: ''Everyone.''
* [[Silent Protagonist]]: Besides the trailer and a few cutscenes, lieutenant Anderson apparently hasn't got much to say. But hey, [[War Is Hell|can't blame him]]...
* [[Sliding Scale of Alternate History Plausibility]] : A little mushy, especially considering the
* [[Sliding Scale of Shiny Versus Gritty]] / [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]]: [[It Got Worse|Very]] cynical and ''very'' [[Hopeless War|bleak]] in tone.
* [[Sniper Rifle]]: The [[Shout-Out|Dragunov Sniperskaya]] (seen on the page picture) is a really useful [[Cool Gun]]. You receive one already at the start of the first level, but it avoids being a [[Disc One Nuke]] thanks to [[Crippling Overspecialization]] : It's really worthless for anything other than precision sniping at greater distances...
* [[Space Filling Empire]]: Ugenberg's Russo-Mongolian Empire becomes this very fast and the USWE is forced to do the same, working as a counter-weight superpower. Little change in territorial borders happens since the late 1920s and the two political blocks are still locked in a firm [[Cold War]] with each other in the 60s.
* [[Spiritual Successor]]: The ''Bet on a Soldier'' series of [[FPS]]es were developed by the same team that worked on ''[[Iron Storm]]''. Much of their setting, plot, and weaponry are not-so-loosely based on the latter.
* [[Standard FPS Guns]]: But with a [[Diesel Punk]]
* [[Sticks to the Back]]: Averted surprisingly well. You can clearly see the various firearms and weapons you're currently carrying - strapped to your backpack or put away in different holsters (which are attached not only to your belt, but your trousers as well).
* [[Stupid Jetpack Hitler|Stupid Jetpack Ugenberg]]: But this trope is present to only a minor degree...
* [[Twist Ending]] / [[Anticlimax Boss]]: Handled really well. Beware, major spoilers ahead ! {{spoiler|When Anderson finally storms the Reichstag in Berlin and meets Ugenberg face-to-face, it turns out the old mad emperor is only a powerless figurehead now, [[Punch Clock Villain|a shadow of his former self]]. His empire is ruled more by various [[General Ripper]]s, [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]]s, [[Arms Dealer]]s, [[Obstructive Bureaucrat|ObstructiveBureaucrats]] and he himself wields little actual power. Anderson then makes it to the escape point and is picked-up by a USWE helicopter. His superior congratulates him for completing the mission, but as the camera looms away from the chopper, we hear a muffled [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness]] announcement, then a gunshot and Anderson moaning in pain. It's implied that Anderson's superior killed him - in order to keep the truth about Ugenberg's declining power a secret and help perpetuate the [[Forever War]]. Makes you wonder if both of the superpowers aren't just [[Evil Versus Evil]], [[Not So Different|competing in who can make a bigger profit off the war and be the most careless and evil]]...}}
** [[Alternate Ending]] (also a [[Twist Ending]]): {{spoiler|When Anderson storms the Reichstag, an assault by Consortium (the American company/companies that are supplying everything to the USWE) troops happens at the same time, forcing Anderson to defend himself against not only the Russo-Mongolian troops, but also against the Consortium. He eventually reaches a room with a CCTV screen connected to other point in the Reichstag, and Anderson sees how the Consortium man that has been supporting him in the mission argues with Urgenberg: this discussion reveals that the Consortium has been supplying the Russo-Mongolian armies as well, that Urgenberg plans to stop the war in order to become a peacemaker after so many years of war and Urgenberg is
* [[Updated Rerelease]] : As ''World War Zero''. Published three years after the original, [[No Export for You|but sold only in the UK]].
* [[War for Fun and Profit]]: ''And... how!''
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