Deathtrap Dungeon (PC)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.0 stars Good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 6.2 (3.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Stephen Poole
• Reviewed on: 09/04/1998
• Updated on: 05/01/2000
• Released on: 07/31/1998
• Originally published on GameSpot: Deathtrap Dungeon (PC) Review

Thanks to a racy ad campaign featuring a whip-wielding dominatrix in a skimpy leather outfit and sporting some wicked thigh boots, Eidos Interactive managed to get a whole lot of action fans revved up for - or at least aware of - the imminent release of Deathtrap Dungeon. Of course, such a strategy can backfire: A lot of publicity often leads to unrealistic expectations. But with the exception of online play, Deathtrap Dungeon delivers nearly everything that Eidos promised.

Whether or not that's a good thing is a matter of taste. Deathtrap Dungeon follows the Tomb Raider formula, and if you didn't care for its third-person perspective and camera angles then Deathtrap Dungeon will probably leave you cold.

Don't take that to mean that Deathtrap Dungeon is simply Tomb Raider with a fantasy veneer, though. The graphics are superior, ranged and handheld weapons make for more intense combat, the addition of spells adds depth to play, and the number of enemies - the ads claim there are more than 50 - is almost mind-boggling.

Based on the Fighting Fantasy books by Ian Livingstone, Deathtrap Dungeon's premise is about as simple as it gets: Playing as the female warrior Red Lotus or the hulking ChainDog, you've got to fight your way through a dungeon chock-full of critters ranging from pesky imps to rock creatures, demons, killer bees, snake women - the list goes on and on. And those aren't the only things that stand between you and survival; countless booby traps can spell instant death just as you think you've made it to safety.

Given the fantasy setting, Eidos could easily have made Deathtrap Dungeon a gloom-and-doom affair, but a host of humorous touches brings some welcome levity to the action. Those imps I mentioned earlier snort and giggle a lot like Beavis (of Beavis & Butthead fame); clowns laugh as they wait for you to advance and fight; some enemies even slap their hands under their armpits and make the classic noise schoolchildren have known and loved for years.

There are a few puzzles thrown into the mix, but nearly all involve pulling levers and finding keys. It feels as if they were added out of obligation rather than to make gameplay more immersive or exciting. The real puzzles are the levels themselves - huge, complex mazes that'll have you scratching your head trying to figure out where you should go next. There's a nifty "chalk mark" feature that can help you keep your bearing, but if that's not enough there are several spots on the Net that have fairly detailed maps to get you back on track.

Mastering the weapons and magic system is a little confusing at first - you have to hit a function key then a number key to determine which weapons and spells are active - but given all the stuff you're dealing with there's probably no other way it could have been done. And once you memorize which number to use for each weapon, you can almost switch on the fly.

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