Reviewer: Scott "Scoots" Smith
Title: Trespasser
Web Site: http://www.trespasser.com
Developer: DreamWorks Interactive
Graphics Platfom: DirectX 6
Release Date: 10/27/1998
Review Updated: 11/5/1998

Trespasser
I've been reading some of the reviews floating around the 'net of DreamWorks Interactive's Trespasser. I think many people have misinterpreted the intent of this game, and are unhappy with it based on unfounded expectations for it to be a first person shooter like Quake or Quake II. Trespasser has created a new genre, closer, IMHO, to virtual reality than any existing 3D action game.

Welcome to Site 'B'
The story begins as our character, Anne, finds herself on a deserted island somewhere off the coast of Costa Rica, after her chartered plane crashes. Being an intelligent woman, she quickly surmises her location and sets about to find a means of contacting civilization.

Real Life Physics
Trespasser is the first game to attempt to incorporate real-world physics across the board. Aside from a few issues, they've succeeded. All objects, including yourself, are subject to the same laws of nature. Gravity and balance plays an important role in Trespasser-- push a crate off a ledge and it'll roll down the hill exactly as you would expect it to in the real world. Hit a barrel with a 2x4 and it might fall over; it depends where you hit it and how hard you swing the wood. Follows is a series of shots after I pushed a crate down a hill...

I've seen a lot of comments on lack of "friction" in the game. Sometimes objects tend to "slide" off of others. If there was unlimited computing power in today's PC's, I'm sure this would have been a relatively easy fix, but there's a lot more than just friction involved. I'm not sure how many of these elements Trespasser includes, but the requirements would be mass of an object, surface area, the two respective surface properties, coefficient of drag, and kinetic energy. More computations than the current crop of home computers can handle, I'm sure, while also rendering a highly complex 3D world.

New Interface--Does it Really Work?
Another distinguishing point, and surely a sore spot for some, is its gameplay interface. You actually control your arm, reaching out into the world to pick up or move objects, to aim your weapon, to pull a door open. With some practice you can even dial a phone number, by moving your arm close to a phone, then using the "grab/drop" button to press the buttons. You can even fine tune the aim of your weapon using the sites on the gun.

The arm is independant of your movement in the game, allowing you to hold a gun up high over your head while your walk up a slope, by both raising your arm and rotating your wrist upwards. This type of user interface has been seen before, but in science fiction flicks--The Lawnmower Man (loosely based on a story written by Stephen King) featured a virtual reality interface that used a similar representative arm as a control indicator.

There's quite a steep learning curve involved with the interface. It's atypical of FPS games to the extent that the frustration may initially result in the new player walking away from the game, but once learned becomes very natural.

The downfall to this interface is sometimes your arm simply gets in the way. When carrying an object, it can be tough to get around in the world without bumping into something and knocking it out of your hand. You can "stow" an object, but a second object stays in your hand. Several times throughout the game I thought I was carrying a weapon, but when I brought my arm into view, I had an empty hand. Luckily, weapons are abundant through out the 'levels', which are very large and detailed...

Graphics/Design
The Trespasser world is a large one, with what seems like miles and miles of island to explore. But unlike other games that have included large outdoor areas, Trespasser is filled with detail--flowers, trees, rocks and more. Not just a smattering, but everywhere. The amount of detail in Trespasser is far beyond anything we've seen previously in a first person game, and begins to compete with pre-rendered games ala' Myst. With quality turned on high, and resolution set at 800x600, the levels are truly beautiful environments, and some of the most impressive level designs I've ever seen. Turning quality down adds more tesselation and detail pop-in that isn't terribly annoying, but only gives a minor performance increase. Turning the quality all the way down yields virtually no difference in nearby object detail, but brings the viewable horizon much closer, offering a big performance improvement, and making the game much more enjoyable. Keep in mind that the test system is much faster than the minimum recommended system requirements. I've read that performance on slower, non AGP or SLI configurations is fairly painful.

I witnessed a few glitches in the visuals, mostly missing or incorrect textures. On the test system performance was not oustanding. I don't know a way to get actual framerates, but my experience with framerates were anywhere from 5 frames per second up to 30-35. Performance really suffers in highly detailed areas, like in "Burroughs", where there are dozens of buildings and hundreds of "detail" objects. Turning the quality setting down all the way did result in significant performance increases, but I have to wonder about the minimum system requirements (Pentium 166), but can't really comment without testing on the specific minimum system.

Oh Yeah, Dinosaurs!
One area where Trespasser really shines, is where I hoped it would the most. The dinosaurs are amazing... I stood and watched a pair of Raptors having it out with a T-Rex for about 10 minutes, and was simply wowed. The animation is the best thats ever been seen on a PC, and programming behind their movement and actions is simply outstanding. It's very difficult to detect any repetition of movement or animation, the big lizards seem more alive than any creatures we've seen in a first person game before. A T-Rex was following me across an open area, and I turned around just in time to see his mouth open wide and clamp down on my body, and I realized I was actually shook up a bit.

There are a few glitches though, as sometimes the dino's seem to get stuck when close to an object, and they freeze. Something to look for in a patch.

Even the dinousaurs have to live by the law of physics in the game. When a T-Rex stepped on a dying parasaurolophus, the poor fella's head and tail actually lifted off the ground momentarily, and it's mid section gave in a little. Exactly as you would expect it to. Then the T-Rex stood and turned his head left and right and stomped around a bit until he was able to find me. In another instance I pushed a dead raptor over a cliff (hey, wouldn't you?), I watched as it realistically bounced and rolled, and slid a little at the bottom before coming to a stop.

Audio
The sound engine behind Trespasser is new, also. It applies various algorithms to determine the sound that something "should" make. The sound of your footsteps change subtly, depending on the type of surface you're walking on. Hitting a barrel with a 2x4 sounds completely different than hitting it with a piece of metal. When something falls to the ground, it makes a distinct sound, depending on what it's made of, and what kind of surface it lands on. This leads to a very realistic aural environment. With 3D audio enabled and a four speaker system, the audio is superb. You can hear the dinosaurs coming up behind you long before he reaches you. Certain ambient sounds don't seem to be positional, such as waterfalls and bird sounds, but all other sounds are. This is the first game I've played since Battlezone where a four speaker setup and 3D sound card actually improves your chances of success. The ambient level sounds are very clear, and go a long way towards completing the environment.

Minnie Driver (of Gross Point Blank, Good Will Hunting) offers voice talent for different audio indicators and comical quips from time to time, while Lord Richard Attenborough narrates his personal drama at certain points in the game. Both actors offer credible voice acting and add to the game's ambience.

Gameplay
Much of the gameplay in Trespasser at first is simply finding your way around, avoiding or killing dino's as you run into them. There are several situations where you must use the physics engine to your advantage, by knocking crates over to climb over a fence, to access a weapon, and so on. Movement in the game is very slow compared to other first person shooters, but in this author's opinion a much more realistic pace. There is also a very limited angle of slope that can be climbed, which can be very frustrating.

There is no HUD, again leading into a true "virtual reality" environment. You look down at your chest where a tattoo changes depending on your health. There is no inventory system, no scoring. Your weapon "floats" -- you can hold it in any position you want. Straight in front of you, to the side, high or low. Aiming the weapons is simple, line up the sights on your target. Some of the weapons don't clearly have sights (such as the shotgun), but aiming a shotgun was never a tricky proposition. Not the same can be said about all the weapons, though. Sometimes it's hard to tell if you're actually hitting the mark or not.

There is so much distance between points in certain areas, that travelling back and forth to solve a puzzle can become tedious, if not boring, so save often! The entire game spans miles and miles. Luckily, there's usually a lot to look at along the way. The levels are absolutely the most lush environments seen yet...

Overall, the story line seems very, very well thought out, puzzles are typically not hard, and there is the thirst for "what's going to happen next", and the requisite for success, the need to play "just one more level before bed".

In Conclusion...
Trespasser is a breakthough game. The animation, physics engine, sound engine and the quality of level design are far beyond any previous title. While serious performance issues will lessen it's success in the general gaming community, there are so many elements in Trespasser that push the technology envelope into a new era that it's a "must see" for any serious gamer. Now what I really need is an HMD...

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