​Deathtrap Review (PC)

Deathtrap is not an ordinary tower defense game. Although developers have copied the formula and implemented it into their game, they have added some action RPG elements to make it more engaging.

The game is pretty basic when it comes to objectives: simply build towers and traps (hence the name) to prevent waves of enemies from reaching the core. How you achieve that is what makes Deathrap interesting and a bit addictive, if I might add.

Those who have played Neocore’s The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing might remember the short intermezzo developers have included in the game that features the same tower defense formula.

There are a few missions in Van Helsing where the protagonist has to defend his safe house against hordes of monsters by using traps. Probably devs noticed these specific missions were highly regarded by players and thought to make a game out of it.

That game is Deathtrap and having already finished both Van Helsing games, I’ve recognized the same graphics engine, artwork, visuals and voice acting. The resemblance between the two games when it comes to these aspects is a good thing because Van Helsing is a good aRPG after all.

Story

Deathtrap’s background story is intertwined with that from Van Helsing games, which makes perfect sense since they are part of the same universe.

The Ink is a realm beyond the veil of this world, which can be reached through portals. The Ink is full of monsters that usually serve other more powerful monsters.

Apparently, the veil has been breached or someone really wants these monsters in our world, so hordes of brutal creatures are now pouring through portals. Your goal is to rebuild the long-deserted strongholds that usually kept these creatures at bay.

Unfortunately, their defenses are in poor shape, which is why you will need to restore them by building towers and traps to prevent monsters for reaching the core at the end of each map.

This is the background story of Deathrap, but apart from that you won’t get too many details as you advance into the game. Considering this is a tower defense game that doesn’t focus on story, it’s more than enough to keep you interested in killing the monsters.

Gameplay

Now this is where Deathrap shines. The game plays like a tower defense and action RPG at the same time. In between waves of monsters you are allowed to place new traps and towers, or upgrade existing ones.

Even though the game has a straightforward tutorial, I was a bit scared the first time I opened the list of traps and towers because I’ve been hit with quite a lot of information that I needed to learn before going into battle.

The good news is you get used to all those traps and towers, and their upgrades, on the fly, So, the more you play, the faster you learn everything they can do.

Deathtrap - Inventory

You spend “essence” for each trap/tower and or any upgrade to them. You receive essence at the end of each wave of monsters that you can spend to place more traps/towers, but you also gain some while killing monsters.

Now one thing that I felt a bit uneasy is the fact that you can only build traps and towers on pre-determined positions, you can’t just place them anywhere you want.

That certainly requires a little bit of planning and it’s one of the reasons that Deathtrap is a bit more challenging that many other tower defenses.

In most cases you won’t be able to build traps and towers in strategic places because it would have made the fight easier, so I can understand why developers preferred this approach.

It’s also worth mentioning that there are 25 traps/towers that you will eventually be able to build and they have more than 150 upgrades that you can unlock by spending points. That is really an impressive number and adds to replayability.

This is the tower defense part, so now let’s talk a little bit about action-RPG part. You start a new game by selecting a character of your choosing: Sorceress, Mercenary and Marksman. I have tried them all and my favorite is the Marksman, though newcomers to the genre will find Sorceress much easier to play with.

As soon as you finish placing your traps, monsters will start spawning from various portals on the map. Instead of just watching them following a certain path, you can engage them with your hero just like in any other aRPG.

“The gameplay mechanics feel very much like Diablo. You only have two types of attacks, which are tied to the left and right mouse buttons. ”

As you unlock more powers, you will be able to change the ones you start with, but these are very good nevertheless.

The right mouse attack will spend mana/focus, which will only replenish if you’re not attacking and standing too close to enemies. Most of the maps you’ll fight have teleporters that will allow you to reach certain areas when you need it.

There are about 100 levels to achieve and more than 50 skills per class. Most of these skills are passive and are meant to improve your powers or the resources used to fight monsters like reduced traps cost and more essence to start with each map.

But that is not all. At the end of each map, you will get some loot that you can then equip. You have an inventory, a character sheet, a store where you can sell and buy gear, as well as crafting.

After a few missions Deathtrap becomes really addictive. Although there might be some balance issues between the classes, in general, the game doesn’t need too many adjustments.

The hack ‘n’ slash combat feels very comfy with just 2 mouse buttons that you need to use. A third one, the mouse wheel, is used to build a new trap or upgrade an existing one.

The thing that I like most is that Neocore has managed to simplify the gameplay mechanics to the point that you can do everything with just a touch of a button. Both combat and building during combat can be done on the fly.

Sound and visuals

Most of, not all, Neocore games use an in-house engine called Coretech 3D (?). It’s the same engine from Van Helsing, which is a good thing. The fantasy artwork is simply amazing and the visuals are certainly above average. Deathtrap looks much better than many tower defense games, but also aRPGs.

The music is fine as well in the fact that it won’t distract you from killing monsters. Seriously now, the background music perfectly suits a game populated by fantasy creatures like lycans (Virkolaks) and rusalkas.

The voice acting is great as well, though Deathtrap doesn’t focus on your hero but on killing monsters with traps, so you’ll be hearing him/her quite rarely.

Multiplayer

This is another area where Deathtrap shines. The game comes with two multiplayer modes, which aren’t broken. I repeat, you can play Deathtrap multiplayer as long as you have an Internet connection.

You can choose to play either co-op or versus and from what I’ve noticed playing cooperative offers the most rewards gameplay-wise.

When playing co-op multiplayer, the resources will be split and there will be more monsters spawning in comparison with the single-player campaign.

You can play co-op game with up to 3 of your friends, but for the best experience I recommend playing with just one of your friends. Two-player scenarios seem to be balanced very well.

Did I mention that you can play cooperative campaign with specially designed maps? Yep, you can play a campaign scenario as many times as you want.

Deathtrap - Victory!

The Good

The Bad

Conclusion

Deathtrap is a fortunate tower defense / aRPG hybrid that checks all the requirements a game needs to stand out from other titles in the same genre. The amount of skills, powers, traps and towers allows for incredible levels of customization and strategies that players can employ in each scenario.

Even though it’s not a flawless game, Deathtrap has the potential to redefine the tower defense genre and make it more addictive than ever. The combat feels smooth and the multitude of choices you have to take during each scenario keeps you interested more than other tower defense game.

Neocore has taken an already winning formula and improved it in both aspects: combat and strategy. Deathtrap offers great replay value, and along with map editor and Steam Workshop support, beats any other tower defense that’s been release up until now.

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