"The Trap" follows the plot of most escape room titles: Cube (1997) or Portal (2007). You've probably heard of the trope by now: you are captured and put in a mouse maze by treacherous, sadistic captors, this time, it's a classic alien abduction story.
Navigate "The Trap": a viscera of obtuse machinery using the full extent of the GoldSrc engine. While certainly nightmarish for our poor protagonist; this is a dream come true for every fan of the original Half-Life, and an orgy to enthusiasts of its then-incredible physics engine. While - granted - the original Half-Life had avant-garde platforming sections using the most of its physics engine, sadly its puzzles were often nothing more but box puzzles. "The Trap" goes far beyond that, with multiple-room puzzles, far more intricate, convoluted, and even deceitful at times.
As you enter each trap room, your alien overlords may take or give weapons - rather tools - as they see fit, diminishing or strengthening your odds. In their world, primal "weapons" such as pistols, grenades, to your trusty crowbar are merely toys for their selfish amusement.
While the story is undeniably cliché by now, the execution remains terrific - in every sense of the word. Its atmosphere captures the isolation and discombobulating horror of escape room movies as flawlessly as its idols; yet, there is also a fair bit of tongue-in-cheek humor very reminiscent of Portal, keeping things fresh, delicately facetious.
Better or not than its contemporaries, "The Trap" was certainly a one-man party.
Navigate "The Trap": a viscera of obtuse machinery using the full extent of the GoldSrc engine. While certainly nightmarish for our poor protagonist; this is a dream come true for every fan of the original Half-Life, and an orgy to enthusiasts of its then-incredible physics engine. While - granted - the original Half-Life had avant-garde platforming sections using the most of its physics engine, sadly its puzzles were often nothing more but box puzzles. "The Trap" goes far beyond that, with multiple-room puzzles, far more intricate, convoluted, and even deceitful at times.
As you enter each trap room, your alien overlords may take or give weapons - rather tools - as they see fit, diminishing or strengthening your odds. In their world, primal "weapons" such as pistols, grenades, to your trusty crowbar are merely toys for their selfish amusement.
While the story is undeniably cliché by now, the execution remains terrific - in every sense of the word. Its atmosphere captures the isolation and discombobulating horror of escape room movies as flawlessly as its idols; yet, there is also a fair bit of tongue-in-cheek humor very reminiscent of Portal, keeping things fresh, delicately facetious.
Better or not than its contemporaries, "The Trap" was certainly a one-man party.