No longer recognized due to the changes in their DNA, the O'Brien's security robot, simply known as "the Ship's Defender", assumes they are invaders and kills them.

An apparent technical malfunction has caused the O'Brien's computer to believe that it was in a real life war situation, and select the planet Calliope as a target for destruction.

In the lower-left, taking up about 1/4 of the screen, is a simple control panel with buttons that move the robot in one of the four cardinal directions or up and down if it is located in a vertical shaft.

In addition, the crew left several video recordings in the dataports that contain access codes needed to destroy the Defender through a variety of methods - crushing it or throwing it into space for instance.

After finally disabling the defender droid and destroying the Jeremiah O'Brian, the player is brought back to Starbase Amethyst expecting to be greeted as a hero for saving the world and stopping the war.

[1] Computer Gaming World in November 1993 praised the Macintosh version of Iron Helix's "incredibly fast" speed given the use of CD-ROM.

The magazine stated that the game had "first-rate, realistic" graphics and sound, and that the five difficulty levels provided "excellent replay value", and concluded that Iron Helix offered "an intensely satisfying experience".

[4] In April 1994 the magazine said, however, that when the game's "several hours of intense, strategic duck n' jive against an aggressive and efficient opponent ... there is very little replay value".

[6] GamePro in 1995 gave the Sega CD version a positive review, saying it successfully translated the PC game to a home console experience.

They highly praised Iron Helix's realistic graphics, slow-paced and suspenseful gameplay, and eerie atmosphere, remarking that "You really feel like you're in a lifeless, mechanical starship.