Strategy games come in many different flavors: real-time, turn-based, role-playing, puzzle/strategy, etc. Thanks to two significant, highly innovative games (Pikmin and Full Spectrum Warrior) the genre has begun to get attention from all gamers, not just those who are glued to their PCs.

Tecmo's foray into strategic gaming, Trapt, seems like it came out of nowhere with Dead or Alive 4 garnering every bit of hype available. This PlayStation 2 release is vastly different from the strategy games we're used to, playing like a third-person shooter without any of the guns or any of the shooting. You plant traps – up to three at a time – and wait for your enemies to fall into their devious illusion. Actually you're supposed to monitor the area and plant the traps based on your enemy's level of stupidity. I mean their level of movement, which is generally predictable and easily avoidable.

Trapt's third-person controls and traditional 3D environments further separate the game from other strategy titles. Although the gameplay is in real-time, traps are set up via a grid and a menu screen that freezes the action until you're ready to continue. It would've been exciting to see how frantic the battles would be if trap selection was in real-time as well, but I have no complaints in this department.

The grid looks typical, but unlike other strategy games, players (and enemies) can move anywhere they want. You're not limited to the square placement that your traps are limited to, and you never, ever have to wait for an opponent to take action before you can.

Traps are clever and are twice as much fun to execute as they are to plant. Traps fall into one of three categories: wall, floor, or ceiling. Floor traps are integral in blasting your opponents out of the way. Wall traps strike from whichever wall the trap has been placed, shooting projectiles and may also be used to pull the enemy in for a brief suspension. Likewise, there are floor traps that do the same thing (with more damage!). Ceiling traps drop bombs and other wonderful things down on the world, crushing you, your opponents, and anything else crazy enough to be standing in the falling object's path. Players don't get a handicap of any sort. If a trap can harm an enemy it can also harm you.

This makes trap execution difficult at times. Traps are not triggered by enemies walking through a laser or by tripping a wire. Players must execute the traps themselves by pressing either the wall (square ), floor (X), or ceiling (triangle) button. I like it better this way - it allows me to be in charge of when and where my enemies will be damaged.

It also allows me to build combos, which is where the game really gets interesting. Only three traps are allowed to be set at a time (one from each category), but you may exchange the trap mid-combo to create additional hits. Suppose I set up a floor trap (a bomb) that blasts your opponent back a few feet. Having anticipated this would happen, I placed a ceiling trap directly above where I thought the opponent was likely to land. I also placed a wall trap within his range. I wait for him to start to get up, then fire the wall trap before he's standing. Each successful hit results in temporary paralysis. While the enemy is stunned it's time to push the triangle button until* the ceiling trap is released. Three hits!

To go further I would have needed to be paying close attention and quickly change each trap, or at least one of the traps, as soon as possible. Traps have a delay effect and cannot be exchanged immediately after being executed. They also have a meter that regulates how often you can execute each trap. The meter is based on time and must be completely re-filled before a trap can be executed after it's been planted. The same goes for traps that have been switched. Any time you do anything on the trap selection screen, the trap altered, either moved or exchanged, will have to re-fill itself.

*Trapt is a bit unresponsive at times. Most PS2 games respond to light button taps. At times it felt like Trapt was built for pressure-sensitive control, as if I had to push the button as hard as possible for the game to pick it up. Considering that there is no mention of this anywhere in the game, I'm convinced this is a technical flaw and was not intentional.

Speaking of technical flaws, what is the slowdown all about? The game is slow enough. You barely have the option to run. The entire game could be summed up as being a wait and see RTS, minus the units, weaponry, massive battles and large environments.

Yet when I strike more than one enemy at a time, the game feels the need to slow down to a snail-like pace. We're talking well below 15 frames per second. No, I didn't count them, but I know what 30fps looks like, and I know what 20 looks like, and this game wasn't hitting either mark.

The levels, as interesting as some of them are, are rehashed several times before you get to explore a new environment. "Explore" might be too big of a word. "Look around" might be a better explanation. There isn't much to them. Four walls, some stairs, a few objects and not much else. Enemies come through the only open door in the level, and if you walk through it you'll find another room. With another four walls. And likely more stairs...

Enemies don't differ much in appearance or in the way they attack. More often than not your opponents will follow wherever you go, allowing you to set up the perfect trap. Or they go in the opposite direction because they believe that coming in from the other side will make a difference. The camera is movable, I can see all areas of the room! Silly enemies. They thought this was reality.

Enemy attacks include the standing still sword strike (easily avoidable). The dashing sword strike (easy to avoid as long as you turn off the treacherous voice track that accompanies this move every time the character performs it). The standing still arrow shot (the only time you won't dodge these is when you're distracted. Not a frequent occurrence). And finally, magic spells. The spells are quite deadly and provide the biggest challenge in the game, but there's a simple way to avoid almost all of them.

Though conceptually brilliant, Trapt doesn't have the nuts and bolts necessary to make it the must-have, innovative game it could have been. It's got a lot going for it, but with the exception of gamers like myself (those who love strategy games as a whole, and appreciate new and unique ideas), most will be bored stiff. Don't be fooled by its thriller and survival/horror appearance. A scary adventure this is not.

Gameplay: 6.0
Repetition redefined! The innovative, highly creative ideas are great, but how many times can a game expect us to do the same thing before we get bored? The death sequences are a bore - do I really need to witness every enemy die in a similar fashion? The game takes you out of the action to show death sequences, among other things. They would've been better off using picture-in-picture and keep the gameplay flow going.

Graphics: 5.0
We're going back in time it seems. More and more brand-new PS2 releases are looking like PS2 launch titles. Bland backgrounds, stiff character animation, weak explosions – just because the next-gen is upon us doesn't mean the current-gen consoles are weak. Why let all that power go to waste?

Sound: 3.0
Forget about it. The music is generic, which I can live with, but the rehashed sayings drove me nuts. They annoyed me so much that I could not progress until I turned the sound off.

Difficulty: Easy/Medium

Concept: 9.0
Unlike any strategy game before it. Trapt controls like a slow third-person action game but has very little action. It’s more about following your enemies and waiting for them to approach. Studying their patterns allows you to place your traps in the optimal locations; luring them into a multi-trap attack is the most fun you’ll have with the game.

Overall: 6.0
A worthwhile experiment for the developers; not necessarily a worthwhile experiment for gamers. Trapt is clever, innovative, and left a lasting impression. I won't forget its accomplishments. I wish I could overlook its flaws, but the repetition is immense and the technical issues are inexcusable.