What Went Wrong?

About This Column::

Good ideas, good qualities...BAD flaws; that's the trouble with many promising entertainment products. Every once in a while there's that one product (movie, television, video, or game) which had it all --concept, sound, visuals-- yet fell like a rock because of a few grating mistakes. Techtite's "What Went Wrong?" commentary examines such titles.

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Some Of The First What Went Wrong Columns :

---Montezuma's Return

---Quantum Leap (TV)

---Quest for Glory 3: Wages of War

---Living Dolls (TV)

---3Dfx (!!!)

For the current What Went Wrong page, click here.

An Analysis Entertainment Column, by Techtite

A Thorough Critique of entertainment gone awry

Good ideas, good qualities...BAD flaws; that's the trouble with many promising entertainment products. Every once in a while there's that one title (tv, movie, video, or game) which had it all --concept, sound, visuals-- yet fell like a rock because of a few grating mistakes. This regularly updated page examines such titles.

The entertainment product discussed for is:

Trespasser

(IBM PC CD-ROM, Dreamworks, 1998)

Yikes; who would think it, huh? I mean; a Dreamworks game (ie, Steven Spielburg's movie company), a Jurassic Park setting, a 3D interface, a whole island to explore, plus the voices of professional actors! Even so, the game was disappointing. What went wrong?

First, as usual, let's discuss its strengths, fair and impartially :

What Went Right? On paper, this project must have looked, without a doubt, above and beyond any level of COOL. For one, it's a Jurassic Park game. Second, it's in 3D, with 3D acceleration in full use. Third, that means 3D dinsosaurs of all shapes and sizes. You get to explore the whole JP island, all by yourself! In addition, your character (a sort of Lara Croft in first-person perspective) is voiced by well-known actress Minnie Driver. Lord Richard Attenborough narrates scientific discoveries you find, portraying the character in the movies who built Juarassic Park. This is most likely what the "drawing board" looked like while making this game, and, if nothing went wrong, that concept was, again, above and beyond cool.

The final result does have one intriguing game engine quality; kinetics, or how game objects react to a true-to-life environment (with the exception of walking dinosaurs, of course). Each object is apparently recognized as being of weight X and can be moved with force Y. This makes for, at the extreme least, the most acuurate physics I've ever seen in a game.

However...

What Went Wrong? Let's go over some of the most popular gripes in one paragraph. Anne, the heroine of the game, is slow as molasses. She has the health and strength of a flea. She can only carry one item at a time (???). Bump into something hard enough and she'll drop what she's holding; even if it's her only weapon! In addition, while Minnie Driver is a nice actress, her diolog in this game is like being read The Complete History of Socks.

Then there's the game engine. Dreamworks apparently knew a lot about real world kinetics, yet nothing about gameplay. This is apparent as soon as you pick up even one item. First, you must look down at the item you wish to grab, ever so carefully. Then you click one mouse button, just to put your hand forward (!). Next, click the other button, to grab. After all that, be ready to do it again, a lot; the typical gun in this game has a mere 6 bullets, so you have to pick up nearby guns over and over again (no, Anne is allegedly too stupid to find ammo for a gun she already has). That's presuming a predator nearby doesn't make it easier; too impatient to wait for you to kill him --nothing personal-- he's made you lunch. Game Over, man!

A better action game interface? Well, I won't bring up Quake or Unreal, though I will mention Thief 2, just put on store shelves. Walk near a quiver of arrows and the object is highlighted. With one mouse click, the object is put in inventory. Yes, at the same time, crates can be knocked over, switches can control machinery, and water can douse a torch, though these environment effects do not hinder; they enhance. As I said before in the review for Thief : Gold, if you want Techtite's vote for the perfect blend of realism and gameplay elements, that honor goes to the Thief games.

The designers of Trespasser, by comparison, seem to have gone to the outer limits to force you to look away from the action at every turn. This even included the only way to check your health; by looking...down??? Yep; they actually made it necessary to look at Anne's buxom chest, regularly...and how bittersweet is that? Her heart tattoo is, in reality, the way you measure health throughout the game (and you thought all the reviews that mentioned this were just being sarcastic!). This idea was just plain bad. I may be a guy, though I think it's safe to KNOW the following as fact; a woman at war with a T-Rex is not about to pause to admire her rack!

It's all a matter of how much "interaction" you want in a game, as opposed to realism. Frankly, Trespasser's quest for "more realism" was way off base. I mean, the game is about modern dinosaurs; how "real life" is that? Sure, real-life weapons have merely 6 bullets for a revolver, though when aiming that weapon at a dinosaur, you're not in the mood for reality checks! You're left using your six bullets on a Velociraptor, which might take as many as 12 bullets to defeat. What's worse, you can't run from him. Oh, joy and raptor.

In the end, Trespasser was the most anticipated disappointment of 1998. While news stories claimed that sales went "gold," one wonders if requested refunds were equally golden. It was realistic...but not fun.

Comments? Opinions? Send them to Techtite