Developed By: Dreamworks Interactive
Published By: Electronic Arts
- A powerful physics engine adds a "realistic" touch to Trespasser
- A solid story driven plot leaves no ambiguity about your objective
- The lack of a clipping plane makes for some astounding scenery
- Over 15 licensed, high-powered weapons are available for maximum dino-killing mayhem
- Control is awkward at best, alien at its worse
- Trespasser is a resource hog, bogging even high end machines down to unplayable frame rates
- The game's pace is very slow, and feels like your character is walking on the Moon
- No multiplayer capabilities
Of all the games we played through last year, Dreamwork's Trespasser is arguably the most disappointing, and thus, gets our coldest ranking. Years of company sanctioned hype fueled by the media's intense coverage raised the expectation levels of gamers everywhere. When it finally hit store shelves the public's love affair with Trespasser was over. It was clear that many of the earlier "game" screenshots that appeared in both print and online publications were rendered images. Even the minimum system requirements were greatly exaggerated to increase sales.
However, it wasn't Trespasser's insane system needs or less-than-expected image quality that left a sour taste in our mouths. Throughout their development stages, Dreamworks kept stressing the important role realistic physics will play in Trespasser. Those "realistic physics" consisted of moon-like gravity and the ability to palm boxes, crates and other impossibly heavy objects. Additionally, players were forced to master three different axes of movement for the character's arm alone, making control very awkward.
Trespasser's saving grace was its immersive scenery and story driven plot. The accurate representation of the lush vegetation with a solid terrain engine and convincing ambient sounds coupled with a clear game objective kept us glued in front of our monitors when we would have otherwise been long gone.
Be sure to check out our review of Trespasser.
