Game Debate #164: Night Trap

[Reed Rothchild | 9,561]

[PII | 1,890]

I don't really have any desire to play it myself, but I do enjoy watching others play Night Trap.  It's a strange Anachronism and can be quite amusing, especially with a good peanut gallery in effect!

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

5/10 because it pissed off Tipper Gore. 

[Webhead123 | 687]

Not much to say about it. I've basically *seen* the entire game at this point, although I've never actually *played* it. From what I know about it, it's almost exactly what you'd expect from an early 90's FMV game in terms of (and I'm applying very heavy emphasis on the air quotes, here) """"game play"""". Watch horribly grainy video footage and occasionally click a button meant to simulate player interaction.

That said, I've considered booting up one of the modern HD rereleases of it just because this kind of classic schlock is right up my alley and I find the whole concept amusingly cheesy.

[Sumez | 2,970]

Just fishing for the low ratings here?

[Tulpa | 3,526]

Hilarious to watch, but not so much to play.

It's one of those things that the backstory is interesting*, but when you actually play it, the flaws of that genre become quickly apparent.

*As Mr Wunderful mentioned, everyone going apeshit over its content back in the day, its origins as a game for a VHS-based console, the presence of Dana Plato (who was likely neck deep in her drug issues when filming it), and Digital Pictures/Sega resurrecting it from the ashes to spark the Sega CD addon because everyone thought FMV was the future of video games; all that stuff is pretty neat to read about. Just wish the game itself was remotely engaging.

[DefaultGen | 5,415]

2/10. Maybe if I had it as a dumb kid and was forced to play it enough to actually memorize it, nostalgia could carry me to 3/10. I played with a notebook full of timestamps and watched the same video clips 75 times to get a few new pieces of information each run. You can’t ever enjoy the FMV because you’re always jumping around or taking notes. It is the worst.

[RH | 4,935]

2 hours ago, Tulpa said:

Hilarious to watch, but not so much to play.

It's one of those things that the backstory is interesting*, but when you actually play it, the flaws of that genre become quickly apparent.

*As Mr Wunderful mentioned, everyone going apeshit over its content back in the day, its origins as a game for a VHS-based console, the presence of Dana Plato (who was likely neck deep in her drug issues when filming it), and Digital Pictures/Sega resurrecting it from the ashes to spark the Sega CD addon because everyone thought FMV was the future of video games; all that stuff is pretty neat to read about. Just wish the game itself was remotely engaging.

This is a good game to for @Reed Rothchild to emphasis the whole "do not rate it by historical significance" rule.

If you strictly look at this game buy historical significance, I think you could argue that this is a "10".  But that's not because of any groundbreaking gameplay.  Instead, this became the centerpiece for congressional alarmism to force the industry to build a rating system.

I've never played this game, and I'm really not interested in it either. To me, this was only a game I heard about, I don't recall having a single friend that owned it but I do recall hearing on the news how "this game includes raping teenagers".  ...But it doesn't.  This game was the epitome of a cultural witch hunt of the 90s.

I am personally thankful for the results.  In the end, I think the organized rating system, controlled by the gaming industry was a good thing.  But I also don't agree with the tactics that were heavily used back then to scare parents into supporting change.  It's smarmy, even if I was on the side of the end result. 

Anyway, even though I've never played this game, I think the best I'd ever give it is probably a 2, maybe 3, from all that I've seen.  I also think that the whole congressional/news fiasco around this game really bolstered sales for Digital Pictures so that they allowed to make more games than they would have otherwise.  If this game hadn't received all of this national attention, we all know several fewer copies would have been sold and I would be surprised if Digital Pictures would have more than one game in them.  That would have much more quickly changed the landscape for FMV titles.

[Tulpa | 3,526]

47 minutes ago, RH said:

If this game hadn't received all of this national attention, we all know several fewer copies would have been sold and I would be surprised if Digital Pictures would have more than one game in them. 

Well, at least two games.

Night Trap and Sewer Shark were both made for the Control-Vision VHS console, filmed circa 1986, and the footage reused for the Sega CD and other consoles. Originally Night Trap just had the girls and monsters, and the team outside was filmed several years later. That's why the story is a bit disjointed and you wouldn't know Plato's character is a member of the team from just watching her.

Sewer Shark was actually directed by John Dykstra, who did many of the effects for Star Wars.

One other Control-Vision games, Scene of the Crime, is on the 25th Anniversary edition of Night Trap. It's very short, like four minutes long, and was basically a tech demo.

[Webhead123 | 687]

3 hours ago, Tulpa said:

Sewer Shark was actually directed by John Dykstra, who did many of the effects for Star Wars.

Despite it being an FMV game and the rather limited "game play" that this implies...I've always really liked Sewer Shark and have wished I could see the whole of the game in high quality for a long time. I think the setting and tone that the game sets is genuinely fun and interesting. It implies a post-apocalyptic world of a sort that I've always thought would be cool to explore further. I must have blanked on Dykstra's involvement but that explains a lot of the quality involved in those cinematics. The sets, props, costumes, lighting, camera work...all really good stuff, honestly. As a game, it was just average but as an idea, I found it fascinating.

Edited July 26, 2023 by Webhead123

[Tulpa | 3,526]

10 minutes ago, Webhead123 said:

Despite it being an FMV game and the rather limited "game play" that this implies...I actually always really like Sewer Shark and have wished I could see the cutscenes in high quality for a long time. I think the setting and tone that the game sets is genuinely fun and interesting. It implies a post-apocalyptic world of a sort that I've always thought would be cool to explore further. I must have blanked on Dykstra's involvement but that explains a lot of the quality involved in those cinematics. The sets, props, costumes, lighting, camera work...all really good stuff, honestly. As a game, it was just average but as an idea, I found it fascinating.

Plus, the guy who played Stenchler was Harvey Bullock on Batman TAS.

[Webhead123 | 687]

4 hours ago, Tulpa said:

Plus, the guy who played Stenchler was Harvey Bullock on Batman TAS.

Absolutely. I recognized Mr. Robert Costanzo immediately when playing the game, as he was a fairly prolific character actor all through the 80's and 90's. If you're old enough, you'll remember him as the guy in all the Shredded Wheat commercials. Then, of course, let's not forget his roles in the likes of Family Ties, Total Recall, Die Hard 2, NYPD Blue and about a hundred other guest appearances in every TV show imaginable. I thought he was charmingly despicable as Stenchler and was a great casting choice.

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

Never played it, but I'm intrigued enough to give it a try.

[guitarzombie | 927]

I got it for switch, had some fun times with it.

[G-type | 2,486]

Earns some points for the novelty and the campiness. Five nights at Freddy's does the multi-feed plate spinning game better.

[Estil | 1,265]

Oh yes, the game that kept Joe Lieberman awake at night.  Didn't he wrongly say the game glorified committing violence against women when the idea was to SAVE the girls?

And Jeff Rovin was absolutely right...our leaders need to focus on real issues that truly matter like the economy, crime, health care, the homeless, and so on.

[final fight cd | 187]

i actually put in the time to beat this game.   it definitely is one of the more memorable sega cd games i've played and beat.  FMV is definitely part of video game history and this has to be one of the quintessential FMV games to own.

the only downfall is you need patience.  and a lot of it.  which in 2023, most gamers won't have the patience to sit through this. 

i think the whole game/movie is around 25 minutes; if you F up at minute number 18 you have to start all over again and play for another 18 minutes to have another shot at success.  

unfortunately, i had to look up a walkthrough, because late in the game, i think around the 20 minute mark, there is a BS moment and i for the life of me i could not figure it out.  you literally only have one opportunity.  ONE!!!!   i only have patience to start over so many times before i wanted to run through a wall and destroy my surroundings.

but it still took me several hours over a span of several days to see the end.

double switch has similar but slightly different game play.  but i have not beaten double switch.  that game actually is hard.  

[Tulpa | 3,526]

4 hours ago, final fight cd said:

double switch has similar but slightly different game play.  but i have not beaten double switch.  that game actually is hard.  

I hate that game. If you listen to Corey Haim flap his gums too much in the beginning you miss a key moment that needs to be addressed elsewhere.

Because that's what I did, as stupid me thought the start game exposition was relevant like every other game.