Blood of the Cybermen (video game)

Blood of the Cybermen (video game)

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Blood of the Cybermen
Doctor:	[[doctor::Eleventh Doctor]]
Companion(s):	Amy Pond
Main enemy:	Cybermen Cyber Lord Cybermat
Main setting:	Arctic, May 4th
Key crew
Publisher:	BBC Wales Interactive
Developer:	Sumo Digital
Writer:	Phil Ford
Release details
Platform:	PC Mac
Genre:	Graphic Adventure
Release date:	26th June 2010 (Windows; UK only) 30th June (Mac OS X; UK only) 24th July (international; PC only)

Blood of the Cybermen is the second of the Adventure Games, a series of four games where the player will have the ability to play as the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond. Though the Cybermen resembled those from a parallel universe, they also donned a different logo on their chests.

As with other games in the Adventure Games line, Blood of the Cybermen was initially released in the UK for free download for PC and Mac users in June 2010. In July 2010 an international version was made available for a fee through Direct2Drive, which has chosen not to release the Mac OS version of the game.

Aside from Matt Smith and Karen Gillan, the voice cast for this game includes Sarah Douglas, best known as Ursa in Superman II.

Synopsis

The Doctor and Amy materialize in the Arctic - where members of a survey team are turning from flesh to metal and digging something sinister from under the ice that's been waiting thousands of years - an army of Cybermen!

Plot

Present Day, Earth. The Doctor and Amy arrive in the Arctic, where they find a crashed skidoo, and discover an unconscious rider at the bottom of an ice cliff. The Doctor and Amy rescue the rider, who tells them that their base has been invaded. The Doctor, Amy and the rider, Chisholm, then travel by TARDIS to the GSO base, where Chisholm is attacked by a Cybermat. He explains to the Doctor that those infected by Cybermats slowly turn into Cyberslaves. Chisholm then locks himself in a tower to prevent him from attacking the Doctor and Amy.

The Doctor and Amy head towards the main dome in search of other survivors, and are confronted by a Cyberslave. After defeating it, they head into the dome and discover the director of the project, Professor Elizabeth Meadows, who is working on a cure. The Doctor and Amy then go in search of a Cybermat in order to get a sample of the virus to work from. When they return, they discover that Meadows has vanished. The Doctor completes the cure, and then heads over to the tower to administer it to a partially converted Chisholm.

The Doctor and Amy head down a lift to a series of tunnels, leading them to a large Cybership. Heading up to the top, Amy is captured by the Cyberslave, and the Doctor reaches the room containing the Cyber Lord, and Meadows, who is revealed to be a Cyberslave. She threatens that unless the Doctor revives the Cybermen, Amy will be the first of a new race of Cybermen. The Doctor proceeds in reviving the Cybermen, and succeeds.

The newly revived Cyberlord states that Meadows is no longer necessary and may now be deleted, and shoots her. He attempts to shoot the Doctor, but the Doctor manages to escape, and heads over to the Cyber-conversion area where Amy is being held. Freeing Amy, they then proceed back to the Cybercommand area via a different route. They are cornered by the Cyberlord and two Cyberman, who are then killed by the fully-restored Chisholm, using a laser of a detatched Cyberarm. The Doctor then reverses the revival process, and states that it should be a "good half hour before the thing blows." A Cyber voice is then heard stating that it is 2 minutes until total meltdown, and the Doctor, Amy, and Chisholm make an escape. Back outside the dome, the Doctor states to Chisholm that the Cyberslaves should revert as the virus has been destroyed in the process. The Doctor and Amy then leave in the TARDIS. A group of Cybermen stand still in the snow, and a mechanical movement, just like that of a marching Cyberman, is heard.

Cast and characters

• The Doctor - Matt Smith
• Amy Pond - Karen Gillan
• Chisholm - Barnaby Edwards
• Elizabeth Meadows - Sarah Douglas
• Cybermen - Nicholas Briggs

Crew

• Produced by
  • Anwen Aspden - Executive producer: Interactive
  • Charles Cecil - Executive producer: Interactive
  • Mat Fidell - Senior producer
  • Richard Jenkins - interactive producer
  • Steven Moffat - executive producer
  • Pat Phelan - executive producer
  • Piers Wenger - executive producer
  • Beth Willis - executive producer
• Original Music by Murray Gold
• Casting by Andy Pryor
• Art Direction by Darren Mills
• Art Department
  • John Hackleton - artist
  • Michael Hirst - art lead (as Mick Hirst)
  • Dominic Hood - art manager (as Dom Hood)
  • Richard Jordan - concepts
  • Richard Jordan - storyboards
  • Chris Pepper - artist
  • Will Tarrat - design lead (as Will Tarratt)
• Sound Department
  • Matthew Cox - sound effects (as Matt Cox)
  • Pat Phelan - sound editor
• Visual Effects
  • Chantal Beaumont - graphic design lead
• Animation Department
  • Simon Bradley - animator
  • Robin Butler - animator
  • Ian Deary - animation lead
  • Phil Hanks - animator
  • Shruti Rao - animator
  • Lee Taylor - animator
  • Stephen Thomas - animator (as Steve Thomas)
  • Simon Wottge - animator Music Department
• Ron Grainer - composer: ori
  • Doug Sinclair - music editor
  • Pat Phelan - music editor
• Other crew
  • Lindsey Alford - script editor
  • Toby Allen - additional support
  • Jason Ausmus - quality assurance
  • Tom Barker - quality assurance
  • Hayley Brant - additional support
  • Mark Bridges - quality assurance: lead
  • Carl Cavers - vice president: european
  • Charles Cecil - voice director
  • Sarah Cook - design and scripting
  • Sean Davies - programmer
  • Nick Deakins - quality assurance
  • Carl Dixon - programmer
  • James Drew - additional support
  • Henry Durrant - programmer
  • Neil Fielding - additional support
  • Damian Fowkes - additional support
  • Mark Freeman - quality assurance
  • Ian Gruchfield - brand executive (as Ian Grutchfield)
  • Richard Josebury - technical project manager
  • Ifty Khan - legal manager
  • Dan Mallinson - programmer
  • Gary McLoughlin - additional support
  • Sean Millard - creative director
  • Nana Nielsen - design and scripting
  • Philip Palermo - quality assurance
  • Paul Porter - studio head
  • Stephen Robinson - technical director
  • Gary Russell - voice director
  • Laura Schofield - additional support
  • Julie Scott - production executive
  • Tom Sedden - programmer (as Tom Seddon)
  • Nick Sibbick - additional support
  • James Sutherland - programming lead
  • Mark Thackeray - additional support (as Mark Thackery)
  • Nate Umipeg - quality assurance
  • Mike Welsh - design and scripting
  • Phil Woods - programmer
  • Stuart Yarham - design and scripting

References

• Amy asks the Doctor whether he's seen the movie The Thing. The Doctor responds "The Carpenter/Kurt Russell thing, or the Howard Hawkes thingy with the walking carrot?", referencing both The Thing and the film it was based upon, The Thing from Another World.
• When Amy asks the Doctor if he'll be going into the vents, he says "Am I wearing a Bruce Willis vest?". A reference to the movie Die Hard.

Story notes

• This game was incorrectly entitled Winter of Terror.
• This games tagline was The Cybermen are Coming.
• A new type Cybermat which have the "cyber head" logo that the Cybermen have on their chests appears. This is the first time Cybermats have appeared since Revenge of the Cybermen.
• The Cybermats have the ability to change people into "robots".
• This episode features a new Cyber-race called Cyberslaves, which are converted humans.
• It is not stated in the story whether the Cybermen in this story are from our universe or Pete's World. However, a "Who Fact" on Cybermen in the game refers solely to the Mondasian Cybermen, while another on Cyber-Biology refers first to Cybermen and then "the Cybermen created by John Lumic" as if they're a different group. In game, their use of Cybermats and awareness of the fact that the Doctor is a Time Lord, as well as the Doctor's reference to "races" conquered by them, further confirm that they are the Mondasian versions. Despite this, physically they resemble the Pete's World Cybermen and the Doctor states they use organic brains in metal shells (like the Pete's World versions).
• Placement of this story is difficult. Amy asks who the Cybermen are during this story, but she also appears unfamiliar with them when they appear in The Pandorica Opens. Rory's absence would logically place this story prior to the series finale, and if one is to assume that the Adventure Games occur in the order they are presented this would logically place the story after Cold Blood and, of course, City of the Daleks.
• The date is the 4th of May, 2010 ("the present day" in the game). When the Doctor accesses the laptop and looks up about Meadows, it says her daughter's birthday is 5th of May which the Doctor says is tomorrow.
• According to the game files, this was originally going to be the first episode.
• This episode is similar to the Star Trek: Enterprise episode Regeneration, which also shows a project in the Arctic Circle stumbling upon the ruins of a spacecraft that crashed years ago manned by Cyborgs, the Borg. The Borg have often been compared with the Cybermen.

Promotion

As part of the promotion of this episode a live talk with Phil Ford and Nicholas Briggs was broadcast via the BBC website on the 22nd June 2010. Fans were encouraged to write in with questions and read along with two exclusive script extracts.

Rumours

to be added

Production errors

to be added

Continuity

• The Cybermats return. The Mondasian versions were last seen in DW: Revenge of the Cybermen.
• Amy says the Cybermats are worse than spiders which the Doctor replies "I'd rather you change the subject" which is a reference to his fear of spiders established in DW: Planet of the Spiders.
• The virus that converts people into Cyberslaves may be related to (or the same as) the virus the Cybermen planned to use in BFA: The Reaping to convert flesh into metal.
• Cyber-tombs appear in the ruins of the Cyberman ship. (DW: Tomb of the Cybermen)
• The new series Time Lord Seal appears on many of the walls of the Cyberman ship. This may be a production error or it could be a subtle reference to Revenge of the Cybermen in which the Seal of Rassilon was first used by the Vogans.

Timeline

• Blood of the Cybermen occurs after VG: City of the Daleks
• Blood of the Cybermen occurs before DWA: Fashion Victims

External links

• The Adventure Games at the BBC Doctor Who site.