Hardware

 Audio
 Controllers
 General
 Mainboards
 Modems
 Monitors
 Portables
 Printers
 Processors
 Scanners
 Storage
 Video

 Games

 Reviews
 Previews
 Cheats & Hints

 News

 Current News
 Archives

 General Info

 About Us
 Advertising
 Awards
 Contact Us
 Hot Links
 

 Downloads
 

 Message Board

Storyline   Just how exciting can a holiday in Costa Rica be? Anne, a young woman in her early twenties, is  about to find out when her chartered plane crashes near Isla Nubla, popularly known as Site B, an abandoned research facility of InGen. Though Jurassic Park was completely destroyed, InGen managed to keep the secret dinosaur breeding ground at Site B intact, and the not-so-friendly inhabitants of the island managed to come through the lost world crisis with a respectable number of kills to their account. Now Anne, sole survivor of the crash, has to battle her way through horrendous encounters with Raptors, T-Rexes and Albertosaurs to reach the InGen Headquarters and get in  touch with the outside world. Game Play The developers at Dreamworks have gone a long way to make this game different from any other  first person action/adventure game. They have succeded only too well, making the user interface a  real pain to work with. Though it is supposed to be quite flexible, the nearly impossible controls make it frustrating, since it is really hard to manipulate your movements even in the simplest of situations.  For example, to shoot a dinosaur you have to point the crosshairs, adjust your arm, shoulder and  wrist before pressing the trigger. One could just imagine the result of going through all these actions when staring down a  tyrannosaur's gullet. Or trying to open a door when a velociraptor is hot on  your trail. To pick up a weapon, rather than just walking over it as most players are used to doing, you have to walk up to it,  look down, move the hand over the weapon and finally grip it with your fingers. After  all this, you might just drop your gun unknowingly when you bump into something & find yourself pointing your middle finger at the next raptor you encounter. All in all, it's a good thing that Anne's  left arm broke during the crash, as I don't think any human with ten fingers would be able to control her if she had more than one hand.  The minimum requirements for Trespassere is a big joke, but most of us don't find it funny. The game was found to be lagging on one of our Game Rigs which happens to be a PII-350MHz with a Creative Labs 12MB  Voodoo 2. The main reason for this drawback is that the game hasn't been optimized for average PCs because the game itself has a complex structure due to the high detail levels. The crawling pace of the game was almost unbearable. Anne's walk was a mere crawl and her run could be compared to a slow walk.  The attacks of the 'swift' velociraptors boiled down to sluggish, slow movements. All the dinosaurs appeared clumsy & slow, removing the main element of appeal from  the game.      ' The physics engine of the game is quite phenomenal, unlike anything else we've ever seen. The objects react as they would in the real world, not in a predetermined way. An object placed on  a slope would slide away responding precisely to the forces of gravity. These movements are also supported by approprate sound effects. A noise created by the rubbing of two materials would change according to the materials.  You can pick up any object and use it as you prefer, for example you can even throw stones  at a T-rex, if you're comfortable with the fact of commiting suicide.  . But the real-life physics engine somewhat hinders game play as it makes setting up objects more complex and difficult Most dinosaur reactions are also realistic, they will not charge madly at you at first sight, especially Velociraptors would show sophisticated pack attack behaviour. The dinosaur behaviour is noticably parrallel to the JP films. The dinosaurs even turn on each other, leaving you in peace & giving you the chance to sneak away right under their noses.  Six dinosaur species are featured in this game, Velociraptor, Tyrannosuarus Rex, Albertosaurus, Stegosaurus, Tricerotops and Parasauralophus.  Velociraptor is by far the most vicious predator in Lost World,its swift movements and pack hunting behaviour make it a formidable adversary at any time.  Never consider yourself to be safe from these pack hunters, they might stalk you and pounce upon you at the most unexpected moments. Trespasser loses some authenticity by making the Velociraptors too easy a target for your shotgun, which should not be the case.      Tyrannosaurus is supposed to be the mightiest predator, but Dreamworks developers have reduced it to a dumb sloth. The terrifying encounter with the huge carnivore simply didn't work, it may cause your heart to beat a little faster but that's all. Most of the T-Rexs in the game are too stupid even by dinosaur standards, they will just ignore you or shriek at you even if you fire at them, or  just chase after some fat herbivorous dinosaur. The only other predator in Lost World is the alberatosaurus. It tends to hunt alone rather than in packs, and though more of a scavenger, it's highly aggressive and should be avoided if possible. All the other dinosaurs you encounter in the game are pretty much harmless herbivores, but might attack you if provoked. So think twice before shooting a Triceratops. Other than the guns which you can expect to find around every corner (with little ammo), you can expect to find many objects that have no functional use lying around the place, which just taxes your time & patience. Which brings us again to the aspect which both hinders and enhances Trespasser, graphics.