The Earth Dies Screaming is a 1983 space shooter developed by Sirius Software and published by Fox Video Games based on the 1964 movie The Earth Dies Screaming, which was produced by 20th Century Fox. Gameplay involves shooting at incoming enemy spaceships before they attack the player's shapeship or the Earth itself. The game was released under the name Final Orbit for Atari 8-bit computers.
The Earth Dies Screaming is a first-person space shooter where the player attacks incoming enemy spaceships.[1] Players move a targeting reticle around the screen, trying to destroy incoming ships before they fire missiles at the player's ship.[2] While shooting, the bottom of the screen shows a rotating Earth which gives "a pretty good illusion of 3-D motion".[3] Enemy ships can also directly target the Earth.[4]
The Earth Dies Screaming is loosely based on the 1964 film of the same name, which was released by 20th Century Fox.[3] The studio partnered with Sirius Software to release games under its Fox Video Games imprint.[5] The game was considered as having "absolutely nothing to do with the plot of the film",[3] and was described as part of a trend for 20th Century Fox to recover investment from "underperforming films".[5]
VideoGameCritic.com praised the graphics but found the game confusing.[8] The game's graphics were considered a "visual upgrade" from the 1977 game Star Ship.[9]GameSpot called the game a "slow and tedious experience", preferring the similarly themed games of Star Raiders and Starmaster.[7]
Multiple reviews commented on the uniqueness of the game's name,[2][7] but the Fort Worth Star-Telegram described the name as a "turn-off".[10]
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