Reviews// Trapt (PS2)

Naturally, since this is pretty much the whole of the game, the extent of the traps and how you can use them is quite vast. By killing your enemies you earn money, which can be used to purchase more traps. Before each level begins you are greeted with an ‘Intermission’ screen, where you can buy more traps, equip some attacks to your inventory so you can use them in battle, and read up on just who you will be fighting. And depending on who’s after your blood this time, certain traps will not work on them effectively.

For instance, a chunky samurai warlord with heaps of armour on isn’t going to be affected by a well-shot arrow. So crack a meteor into his skull and you soon remove that problem. People you kill are quite ceremoniously added to a museum of deceased victims, with specifics on how they died. You can also buy keys, which will open up new rooms in the mansion – at first you are limited to the one room to battle in, but soon you can run from one area to another if you fancy taking the fight elsewhere.

When you start a battle, you’re given a rolling introduction to your enemies. It’s polite to know them before you start garrotting them, you see. Even though you may fight as many as five people in any one round, you will only ever see two foes at a time. Likely due to how much the PS2 can handle, but as you get to the later stages it all starts to feel a bit artificial. Well obviously it is, because it’s a video game, but perhaps more than two people to battle at once would have added a bit of adrenaline to later levels.

And speaking of which, although the gameplay is original for the type of game it is, you might end up feeling bored with it after a while – the trap-placing and the running around does get a little repetitive, and you will likely stick to a select few traps that you know will work best instead of experimenting after a short time. It appears that once you get to the stage of taking on five enemies, almost on a one-after-the-other basis, you’ve hit the top of the learning curve.

The AI of the enemies are quite good, as we found ourselves rather frustrated when we set off traps too early, and the enemies simply stepped around our bodged attempt at beheading them. They do tend to be a little bit cheap though, particularly the magicians that will gang rape you with spells even when you’re on the floor and have yet to recover. You may also have problems adjusting to how slow the game is in action – the framerate is quite low and as a result everyone runs around almost as if they’re in slow motion, particularly the enemies. Not very exciting to have to wait for ages for a slow-witted opponent to be lured into a bomb trap.

Longevity is a bit of an issue as well, although the game does try its best on this one. During the story mode there is a ‘Side Story’ that consists of one extra battle, which adds an alternative side to the main game. You also have a Survival mode, but considering the issues with repetitive play, it’s unlikely you will head here too often. The bizarre story keeps you playing, with multiple twists and possibilities being uncovered in almost every scene, but once you’ve seen it all you will probably come back to it every now and then to indulge in the interesting gameplay and to mutilate people in various fun and nasty ways. For as long as it does last though, there is a lot to appreciate from gamers who are looking for something new.


SPOnG Score: C+

It has its shortcomings, but this is interesting enough to hold your attention until you complete it. No doubt we’ll get the Daily Mail and the other media telling us that Trapt will encourage youths to get possessed and use magic traps to kill their mates or something – Trapt is a unique and gloriously gruesome puzzle-fest. One to rent.