Deathtrap Dungeon

by Eidos Interactive

Product Details

• ASIN: B000006RGO
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.5 x 5 inches ; 4.8 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #26,290 in Video Games (See Bestsellers in Video Games)

Product Description

GameSpot Review

It's overwhelmingly sad how clones of Eidos Interactive's unmistakably successful 3D adventure title Tomb Raider are getting churned out for the Sony PlayStation. It seems like it's the new cookie-cutter genre of choice for gaming companies, just like 2D platform games were for the 16-bit console systems (Spawn, for example, is a repeat offender). However, in the midst of this rampant lack of originality, it's quite surprising for a 3D adventure game to arrive that makes you wish it were more like Tomb Raider.

Such is the case with Eidos' Deathtrap Dungeon, a title whose main differences from TR are the number of enemies you have to fight and its 3D camera - the first of which is very refreshing and the second, absolutely maddening. Backing it all up is a storyline that's about as involved as a video game needs to be: Once a year, a powerful wizard offers adventurers a chance to gain riches by surviving his deathtrap-filled dungeon. As either a big-boobed male or female warrior, you rise to the challenge.

It's a dungeon hack where you carve your way through scads of enemies (such as goblins, killer clowns, half-naked women with swords, four-armed monsters, and, oh say, maybe a Tyrannosaurus Rex), push levers to open up new areas, and try not to tumble into the occasional spike-filled pit. While the diversions are plenty, it's the game's perspective that keeps the game from being fun. Instead of a continuous behind-the-back view as in Tomb Raider, the camera frenetically moves about high, low, and side to side as you run around. There are even moments when you end up looking at your character's face when you'd rather see what he or she's seeing. It's possible that the designers were trying to do something original and dynamic, but it would've been much more preferable if they would have just stuck to a third-person perspective. If this was an attempt to showcase the graphics better, then it's even more of a failure. They have their nice moments, but there's no denying that the appearance of seams and pop-up is pretty frequent.

Graphical problems are one thing if they're purely aesthetic, but once they trickle into gameplay, that's a whole new issue. Whether linked to frustrating cameras or clunky level design, since enemies teleport into the levels, there are times when an enemy appears right around a corner and kills you before you even have a chance to see it, let alone attack. And beyond appearances, you'll die a lot, because "live and learn," or rather "die and learn," seems to be the name of the game. There are many traps that have to first be experienced to be avoided later, health potions are scarce on the early levels, enemies will often swarm upon you in groups, and your character is very slow to turn around if set upon from behind. Luckily, the load function is pretty quick, so you're not left gnashing your teeth for too long while restarting your saved game.

If all of these issues were fixed, Deathtrap Dungeon's heavy action element (slicing the goblins into little pieces is great - it's the perspective that really gets in the way) would qualify it as more fun than the Tomb Raider series. However, then the puzzles might fall toward the simple side, since the camera's trickery is quite possibly what makes the puzzles challenging in the first place. In the end, Deathtrap Dungeon turns out to be at the low end of games for the Sony PlayStation. It's not quite as good as Sony's Blasto, which it mirrors in that you can see how it could've turned out to be a good game, but it's not nearly as bad as Sony's Spawn, where you just can't imagine what the developers were thinking. --Joe Fielder
--Copyright ©1999 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited. GameSpot and the GameSpot logo are trademarks of GameSpot Inc.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Classis Dungeon Crawl, October 21, 2003

By	Joshua Koppel (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Deathtrap Dungeon is a simple game: enter the dungeon and survive. Once people realize that, it is a lot more fun. This is a dungeon crawl. In other words, you explore a dungeon while killing monsters, collecting items, and solving puzzles.

The "plot" is simple. A powerful magician has a nasty dungeon and he allows heroes a chance at cracking it once a year. You get to choose one of two characters, a brawny male warrior or a scantily-clad female warrior. You then enter the dungeon and start hacking away.

The playing system is rather nice. Play will actually pause as you toggle through equipment menus to get just the right spell or object for a battle. The monsters are nasty and the graphics are, well, graphic. Watch the heads fly or the monsters get squashed and you will see what I mean.

I find this a level above a shooter as there are more puzzles than in an average shooter. There is less development than a role-playing game. I do find it a useful stress reliever at the end of the day.

If you like dungeon crawls, then this is a good game. If you don't like dungeon crawls then you will probably not like this one.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars What's wrong with a little dumb fun?, January 27, 2000

By A Customer

Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Maybe I'm a little too easygoing when it comes to evaluating games, but I really think this game is a lot better than people generally give it credit for. If you just want to play a video games with lots of monsters, weapons, scenarios, and a bit of challenge, this is a great game. I always found Tomb Raider a little boring...once an hour you get to kill a monkey, and the rest of the time you're staring at a cliff trying to figure out how to get up it. You get a wonderful variety of foes in this: snake women, imps, scantily clad warrioresses, dragons...and my personal favorite level is an insect world that is just gorgeous to look at. The variety of weapons and spells that you get will keep you interested as well. It's a bit choppy and the camera angles can be extremely unhelpful...and yes, you do die a lot. I never finished the final enemy because it was extremely time-consuming and I became sidetracked by the real world...but all in all I think it's well worth getting if you're into this kind of thing.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A flawed, but ultimately entertaining game, December 2, 1999

By A Customer

Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This game, greatly disparaged by the gaming press, actually isn't nearly as bad as everyone would have you believe. Now, it could be that I'm a masochist, but I actually enjoyed playing this game to completion even while playing masterpieces like Tomb Raider and Metal Gear Solid. Why? Well, maybe I like the whole premise of travelling through intricate 3D dungeons and killing a wide variety of creatures that stand in my way. There's no doubt that the game lacks polish and, had it been developed by Core Design instead of Asylum Studios, probably would have ended up one of the best Playstation games ever. Its primary problems are a flawed camera system and awkward player control. Another gripe is that, although you can choose a male or female lead character, each essentially possesses the same capabilities. That is simply not good game design. If you can work around these issues there's a real gem of a game here. The variety of dungeons and creatures is simply amazing. You really don't know what to expect next, which makes you want to press ahead. If you like the whole idea of a dungeon-based Tomb Raider, you might get some real enjoyment out of this title. Count on spending 40-50 hours to complete the quest.