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By Andy Matheson on November 2nd, 2001
Introduction If there was an award for best sleeper series on the PSX, the Deception series would take it home with ease. This is the 3rd game in the series, and it just gets better and better with each release. The basic premise is simple. Each stage is set within a castle, warehouse or outside in an enclosed area. Depending on the part of the story you are at(and the story is awesome) you’re defending the area or trying to escape, or you are just in the wrong place at the wrong time. You have traps you can set. Their are over a 100 possible traps you can create. You can set 3 traps per room, one floor trap, one wall trap and one cieling trap. Where things get interesting, is in combos. You can combo the traps together for mixed results. Example, you can set a ’launch pad’ on the floor, which will launch your victim into a wall where you have a magnet set, pinning him/her there. Then you have a boulder fall from the ceiling, crushing them. Or, you can set a bear trap on the floor, have oil drop from the ceiling all over them, then shoot a flaming arrow at them, igniting them.
Presentation The menus could use some ummm pep. KageroDeception 2s menus were much better. Quicker to be more exact. One problem with D2 was sluggish control. It has been fixed for D3. You can now turn around much quicker, and your character doesnt move around super slow anymore. It makes the game much more fresh and much quicker and enjoyable. There is a major flaw in the game, and its the same thats been in D1 and D2: bad bad localization. Half the time, you dont really understand the story or what people mean, which is a shame because what you do understand shows an awesome storyline and understanding it all would just make it better. Also, some of the modes arent really put together very well. Theres the ’training mode’ where you train and complete tasks. And theres expert mode, a much harder training mode. So hard in fact, that if you havent created the right kind of traps so far, you’re out of luck. Graphics & Sound For a PSX game, D3 looks good. It doesn’t look great, but its entirely playable. Any better looking and there would probably be frame rate issues. The character models are very well done, detailed and well animated. The traps and stages on the other hand, are not. Textures are horrible, even by PSX standards. Effects look pretty good, particularly ice and fire effects. Sound wise, D3 is very solid. Aside from the localization problem that makes for jabber that doesnt make any sense, theres really no problem sound wise. Each and every one of your victims has something to say to you when they die and they never get old. The trap sounds are pretty good, especially the arrows and rocks. Gameplay With average graphics a game would need awesome gameplay to be good and D3 has just that. The sheer depth of the trap/combo system will keep you playing just to find out new ways to torture your opponents. It does get rather old ater you play for an hour or so. But you take a break and come right back. The story is awesome, much better than most RPGs. Aside from your own traps, theres also room traps. These are traps built into the room you’re in, and they vary. Some rooms have swinging blades that will cut down you or anyone who gets in their way. Theres spikes that shoot from the ground in certain spots when stepped on. This all just adds even more depth, allowing you to throw those in for even longer combos. You’ll get mad bonus points for using them also. The gameplay is simply perfect. There is one thing I can ask for in D4 and thats a 2 player mode. Lasting Appeal As if the gameplay wasnt enough to keep you coming back, you also have a cool training mode and an equally good but frustrating expert mode. And the best feature in this game is the create a trap feature. You get points when you perform combos or kill someone. You use those points to buy parts for traps. You can create some very funky combos. My favorite is a huge foot that simply crushes your opponent. You will play through the game again and again, because you unlock more and more as you beat it again and again. There are multiple paths you can take in the story mode, ensuring you’ll play through it atleast a few times.Conclusion If you want great graphics look elsewhere. If you want a game thats challenging both in difficulty and creativity, this is the game for you. The game can get old after long sessions, but you will always come back for more. This game should be insanely cheap now if any stores even carry it still. You can probably pick up all 3 Deception games for a good price and I recommend all three. Now all we need is a PS2 sequel with online play. | 
