Deception III: Dark Delusion

"A decent way to spend an afternoon... or two..."

Introduction:
I have mixed feelings about this game. It is a very fun and original game, yet there are some flaws that may turn gamers away from it.

Graphics: 6/10
Deception has decent graphics for a Playstation One title. While not very detailed, the graphics don’t clip or mess up nearly at all, and there isn’t any slow down either. The character models look quite nice, and the levels give off an atmosphere which is perfect for the type of game that it is.

Music/Sound: 5/10
Deception has the bland and unimaginative music that plagues many of today’s games. The music neither adds or subtracts from the game. In fact, you probably won’t even notice that it is there. The sounds for the various traps do sound nice though, so sound effects gets a good score. The voices aren’t too good though. When enemies are dying, it sounds like they couldn’t care less.

Story: 8/10
You control Layna, a young girl, who received a strange pendant for her birthday. You have to guard this as you make your way towards solving the mysteries that surround the royal family. The king and queen are fighting against each other, the queen wants the pendant that you have, your family is taken away from you, you travel through time with the pendant, etc., etc. I don’t want to give away any major details, but this game has a very indepth story.

Gameplay: 6/10
The gameplay consists of you wandering around a small area and setting traps for the enemies. You can set a bear trap in front of a door, and then when a soldier walks in, you press the X button, and boom, they are hurt tremendously. Then you wait for the trap to “recharge” and you can use it again if you lure the enemy over there. This shouldn’t be too hard since the enemy A.I. is usually quite low, and they will walk straight towards you, even if it means going through a trap. You can also set up traps so that they happen in a combo. For example, have a soldier get caught in a bear trap, then an arrow shoots out and hits them, and then an axe swings down and finishes them off. Setting a trap is quite easy. You pick a trap from a list, you can use up to three traps at a time, and then pick where to put it.

Replay: 9/10
This game has multiple endings, so you’ll have to replay multiple times to see them all. There are even different levels depending on some of the choices that you make as you play the game.

Overall: 6/10
The game isn’t perfect, but if you can find it for a low price, you should pick it up. The game is quite long with over 20 levels and multiple endings, so it will keep you busy for quite a while.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 11/04/03