In 1963, Dalek-mania erupted in Britain thanks to the first on-screen appearance of the iconic, villainous race. The BBC scored an immediate hit, turning Doctor Who in𝔉to a full-fledged cultural phenomenon that made it what is today.
Some developers have taken a stab at a game over the years, most notably 1992's Dalek Attack, but we've always wanted something a bit more engaging! The question is, can the Daleks survive on their own without the Doctor making an appearance? We think so, and here are💦 10 ways it could accomplish that feat.
10 ꦕ FOCUS ON THE DALEK WARS
The Doctor has always found himself meddling in Dalek activities throughout the course of his adventures, bu꧃t he wasn't an active pa🦩rticipant in many of the species' longest-running wars. These conflicts were heavily centered on the Dalek campaign against the human race, but it also involved several entanglements with various other species as well.
By keeping the narrative focused on the Dalek Wars, there's no need t𝓰o inject the Doctor into the equation. Instead, we could see a game that fleshes out these oft-spoken legend🧸s, creating new lore in the process.
9 ❀ PUT THE EMPHASIS ON LARGE SCALE COMBAT
We picture a Dalek game involving entire legions of troops battling waves of Daleks in ground-based attacks. This could take on a m🉐ultiplayer format, provided the story was able to progress 𝐆somehow.
Space-based battles aren't out♏ of the question, either. We'd love to see such a battle envisioned with fighter craft going up against Dalek warships and smaller attack units in dogfighting scenarios, with large objectives to complete. A battle against Dalek forces should be epic a꧙nd terrifying!
8 📖 ADD IN STEALTH SEQUENCES
Large scale combat is great, but there are times when the game should sift to solo mode, and that means going up against very superior adversaries! As the 1970s and 80s "Who" episodes proved, Daleks are men♕acing in the dark!
We picture starting out with no weapons, or at least none that can crack Dalekanium casings. Using your wits, you'll have to avoid active Dalek patrols wiജth orders to exterminate on sight🌊. Talk about stressful! We'll take on that challenge.
7 ABSLOM DAAK ⛦
Within the hallmark of Dalek lore sits Abslom Daak, one of th✅e fiercest foes the villainous pepperpots have ever f𒊎aced. After going on a killing spree, Daak was found guilty and sentenced to a choice: death, or a job as a Dalek killer. Daak chose the latter, defying all odds and single-handedly destroying an entire task force on the planet Mazam.
Now, we don't care if Daak is the primary character of the game, or if he's part of a larger narrative. He simply has to be in it. ✅Daak is commonly associated with stories that focus purely on Daleks, with the Doctor taking a back seat. The Daleks fear him as much as they do the Doctor, making him the perfꦆect boogeyman.
6 🎐 ♏ NEW DALEK TYPES
Comic books and other stories have frequently made mention of alternative Dalek types that were deployed during larger scale conflicts. These include hovering Daleks and Spider Daleks, to name but a few. 1988's Remembrance Of the Daleks serial gave us our first canonized alternative, the Special Weapons Dalek. Cooওl as it is, we'd love to see more.
There's no better way than through a video game! We want to see traditional Daleks beefed up with heavy plate armor and varied weapo💃n types, as well as entirely new Dalek designs that serve a special purpose.
5 PROVIDE A PROPER BACKSTOR💮Y
Genesis Of The Daleks changed the course of Dalek histo💙ry irre☂vocably by inadvertently setting off what would later be known as the Time War. However, a lot happened before the Daleks rose from their delaying slumber to wreak havoc across the galaxy. We wouldn't mind a deeper look into the backstory of the conflict between the Kaleds (the original Dalek race) and their bitter enemies, the Thals.
We're not sure how this would play out, but putting the player square in the middle of a conflict that begins with rifles an⛦d land mines, and ends up engulfing the entire galaxy would be a massively cool prospect! Talk about a story arc!
4 🐼 ꦰ ADD IN OTHER RACES
A Dalek game could easily ꦓfocus on a conflict with the human race, and it would be just fine on its own. We'd prefer to see some variation, however. Perhaps the humans launch a cooperative defensive mission with another race that has united with them in common interest.
Even enemies could become allies, such as the Movellans or the Exxilons. This would spice up the game and prevent it from becoming just a shot-by-shot repeat of previous action scenes. The Doctor Who universe is built on vivid imagination, and we'd love to꧃ see as much packed into a Dalek game as possible.
3 𝐆 INFILTRATING THE DALEK EMPIRE ﷽
A Dalek video game could include a main mission where the player mℱust venture directly into the belly of the beast - the Dalek Empire! We know that humans have been used in Dalek operations before, and not just as slaves, but as soldiers with var♊ious ranks and positions.
Perhaps the mission involves the player in disguis🐈e as a Dalek officer to gather reconnaissance and vital intel from the Dalek stronghold. Or, take it a step further and make it one of the final acts of the game involving an infiltrator who slips in to destroy the Dalek's internal defense network. Did we mention that we're really good at coming up with game ideas?
2 NOᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚౠᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ MENTION OF THE TIME LORDS
It's a given that the Daleks would eventually turn their ire against the Time Lords, kicking off t🎶he most cataclysmic war in all of space and time. Is it necessary to include them in a game? Not really.
Any reference to Doctor Who will serve to detract away from the Daleks, themselves. The temptation to include a reference might be irresistible, but we'd still recommend that developers resist it with all their mi🅠ght. The result woul♍d keep the story firmly in check, without spiraling out of control.
1 ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ CATACLYSMS GALORE 🎀
Squaring off against the Daleks means that bad things are going to happen. In addition to fieಌry combat sequences, we'd want to see some truly spꦑectacular (and terrifying) cataclysms take place, as well. Destroyed planets, cracked moons, or suns going supernova at the hands of Dalek tech are just a few ways that the monstrous evil of this race could be demonstrated.
Game technology has given us some pretty amazing and iconic scenes. If the right developer tackled a Dalek game, these kinds of over-the-top sequence🐬s would easily go down in the annals of gaming history.