tl;dr: If you like Tower Defense and you like ARPGs, then you'll really like Deathtrap

From the makers of the Van Helsing series comes Deathtrap which is a hybrid tower defense and ARPG. Veterans of the Van Helsing series will recognize the darker aesthetic right away and even meet some old monster "friends." The gane at this writing is Early Access but is already feature rich. At the moment you can choose between a Sorceress and a Merc. More classes will be added soon as well as new game modes.

There is a huge amount of skills to upgrade both for your character and the traps themselves. Additionally you can upgrade world effects that do things like damage ALL baddies on the level for a short time. All skills have a cooldown period just as you would find in Diablo, Torchlight, Titan Quest and other ARPGs. Character skills are assigned as usual with left click being your primary attack, right secondary, and keys one through four as additional battle skills.

Before each wave you have the chance to look at the enemy wave information including the path as well as the monsters coming through the Chaos Gates. You must think tactically as to where to build your traps. Building them is as easy as clicking the middle mouse button and placing them. As the game progresses, more traps are unlocked and you can choose what to place.

Traps are built through accumulating "essence." You can think of this as "mana" for the traps. The traps themselves are quite imaginative and fun. Acid sprays, lightning traps, ice, and even traps that have monsters that kill other monsters!

In addition to all of this and the coming excellent selection of game modes is one of the most intuitive map and monster editors I have ever seen. Making maps is a snap and what's more, they can be easily shared with your friends, enemies, and persons yet unknown on Steam.

It is quite clear that Neocore are becoming a marquee indie developer and the progression from the first Van Helsing game to Deathtrap clearly shows a developer who is maturing and willing to take risks.

The music has the same sort of Eastern European feel that fits with the visual aesthetic of the game. As for the voice acting, it is serviceable but I wish Neocore had brought back the actress who voiced the acerbic Katrina in the Van Helsing series. Some of her lines were simply classic whereas the voice acting in this game is at this point just some lines repeated at random. They are not frequent enough to be annoying but, some variety would be nice.

Before each battle there are well written descriptions of the land you are about to enter. Again, it is clear that Neocore is building a franchise and creating very interesting lore.

Once upon a time I had ONE favorite tower defense game, Defense Grid. I still love it - especially the voice acting. But, the rich fantasy setting of Deathtrap combined with strong ARPG elements and a nice map and monster editor could possibly have me split my TD itch between Deathtrap and Defense Grid.

I have only 36 minutes in and the ONLY reason I stopped was to write this short impression of the game. A full review would not be fair as the game is not finished. That said, it is worth the price of admission at least for me. I bought this on the strength of the Van Helsing games and I do not regret it one bit.

I am hooked on this and need to get back to work!

One word to laptop users who have both an integrated graphics card AND either an Nvidia or AMD: make sure to set Deathtrap to run with the dedicated Nvidia or AMD. It plays decently with integrated graphics but has a weird tendency to minimize itself. Running under the Nvidia has been quite stable.

Deathtrap is a standalone Tower Defense game with RPG elements taken from Neocore's previous game 'The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing'

In addition to traditional TD's (Tower Defense), you have a character where you can find weapons/armor and level up your character (RPG elements) while building Towers to defend your base. If you think its overwhelming, it's really not that much in terms of multitasking, waves are started on your own time so there isn't too much pressure for beginners.

Here is my part 1 video on Youtube (spoilers)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X7LnnZGxgA

This is the full episode (parts 1 & 2) for people who don't mind the full demo spoilers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWVKJLoEADA

- excellent options menu
- smooth character controlling
- graphics are fine
- FPS cap is 60 I believe (while there is an option to have no limit, I did a bit of testing and it's still 60)
- no screentearing with vsync off


I understand this is in early access, so here are somethings that I would look into fixing

- ranged enemies do a ton of damage
- (not sure if this was intentional) some enemies go off path and you can loop them around so you never leak
- map 3 final boss was questionable in difficulty

This game is freaking awesome! Best money every spent. If you are a fan of tower defense and MMO's, you will definitely want to get behind this game as it develops. The combination of towers, traps, monsters, and your own hero make for endless ways to play. This is by far my number one TD game, and trust me, I've played them all. I am only taking a break from the game to review the game!

The graphics are great, the sounds/music are great, the UI is great, and most importantly, the gameplay is GREAT! By far the best money I've ever spent. I have not even encountered any bugs!

If you did not already know, this game offers a simplistic tower defense. By simplistic, I am only referring to towers and tower placement. Enemies come from many different entrances, and it's up to you, along with the aid of your towers and traps, to stop them before they reach the gate(s). The game heats up once you have hordes of monsters entering from five different locations! The game has persistent hero level/upgrades, meaning once you level up, you keep that level forever. You can upgrade not only your hero, but every tower, trap, and monster. You can also loot items on the battlefield to enhance your hero! So many possibilities! Honestly, they are endless.

Currently there is one class and five campaign maps. That being said, it is in beta, and that is to be expected. Even so, with the map builder you are able to create custom maps and publish them to steam workshop. You can subscribe to any of these custom maps you like and play them in game. It also seems that you do get loot and experience from these custom maps.

There will also be much more included in the future, including co-op/vs. modes. This is definitely a game you will want to get behind! Help the devs. to create what I already know, will be an EPIC game!

Easily a 10/10

P.S. this is the first 10/10 I've ever given!

Go buy it now!

Early access - NO multiplayer cooperative or competitive!

Having established this, though it is stated clearly, on to the review:

It is a hero-TD, meaning you have a hero (sic!), which kills (alot) of monsters, coming in a wave. Other meaning of killing monsters are, of course, towers (here called 'traps'). For each kill, you get money, which you spend on customizing and upgrading. It looks as Diablo (hero/skills/loot/leveling) is packed in TD-game (upgrading towers/research tree/customization). Graphics are excellent and so is the sound.

Both hero and traps have extensive upgrade possibilities, and you (probably, I'm playing early preview) can't have all of them maxed out - as you very well shouldn't. This means you can develop your own, unique playstyle. Thats TON of possibilities and potential replay value. Since it's not the only one, we shall call it TON-1.

MP coop *will* become available at some point (read the schedule). I expect that each additional player, with his own unique setup, will make gameplay different - I haven't seen this in work, but expect TON of variations, and we shall call it TON-2.

MP competitive will have players in two team pitted two against two (attackers who manage monster waves and defenders - or so I'm told). I don't have a clue what will be attackers options and how many different strategies and possibilities they will have, so lets say that, if done right, it *can* add a POSSIBLE TON of variations, call it possible TON-3

The Editor: yes, there is one. It's in the early stage. I don't know where its limits will lie, but if done right, player-made content can produce unique, high quality maps, introduce different elements and settings - this is PROBABLE TON of variation, TON-4.

Conclusion:
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Based on my many years of playing various TDs, and last five years spent as coodeveloper/developer/balancer for the one of best known and long-lived TDs around (no advertisement, though it is a mod and therefore, free) and having helped on several other well and not-so-well known TDs, here's my judgement:

This game has great potential. It is early preview, so all I saw was one hero in single player campaign and lots of stuff is still locked. I believe that full game will be a TD worthy of having, and certainly fun to play - whether you are an aRPG or TD fan, you'll find something intriguing to this genre mix-up.

But since I've detected TON-1 and TON-2 (totalling 2 tons) of certain variations, and, possibly, TON-3 and TON-4, I think think this will be game worth having and that players will return to it many times. Because of those tons of variations, of course...

Should I buy it?
--------------------
1) If you're interested in helping developers to find bugs, refine balance, propose new features (they're very open to this) and influence game development in general - YES
2) If you're interested in playing what is on the table, few maps, campaign, one hero - YES - in just a couple of weeks/months there will be alot more.
3) If you're going to check MP availability, although it is *clearly* stated that there is not one at the moment, and then whine about it and even write negative reviews, then NO, please don't bother

The game is in the playable state, there is no placeholders or missing graphics (in the part which I've seen, at least) - unlike many "Early previews" who are just a way to support further development.

Meaning, you can play it right away, with some options disabled. Which is what I am going to do, as soon as I finish this.

This is what Early Access is all about. Solid barebones concept, that's still fun, and playable, with a clear develpment schedule. While at first glance, it may seem a little too barebones, with only one of the final 5 classes available, and just 3 maps, not to worry, with the Steam Workshop Map Editor (That's actually easy to use) you'll have plenty of time to make and play user generated maps (and make them) while you wait between the 2 week content updates. Don't pass this one up if you're a TD (hybrid) fan, it's gonna be quite a ride as it all unfolds. Good Stuff!

I made the "Wave Started" text in the game.
Therefore, the game is good.

Make the gameplay time 4hrs.

Death Trap, a top-down tower defense game from the looks of it, but also plays as horde mode with normal player combat, and with RPG elements like having a talent tree for different characters, and looting items and character armor.

Think Orcs Must Die 2, but top-down, more serious looking with a lot of dark fantasy characters and world, a little bit more in-depth with the skill trees for your character and for your turrets and traps, and having different armor to loot and wear with different stats, which is kind of neat to have and manage through, adding a different taste and perspective to the game type of tower defense and action RPG, with more stuff to do outside of combat.

I wasn't too sure about the game before playing it, thought it was going to be boring and not that good but it actually turned out to be fun, with the nice looking graphics and gameplay, plus the coop with more stuff added that I mentioned above, I had a great time playing it and there isn't much bad to talk about it that I can think of aside from the confusing moment of which when I and my coop buddy was trying to know if we were progressing or not, or if we were playing on the same level, so a better UI notification or something to tell the player of their progression through the game.

If I had to say anything more, I'd like there to be something that would make the game a little bit exciting, I mean everything is fun and all but it's also a little bit bland too, maybe more intense music, or environmental effects and whatnot like birds or interactable objects, something happening that would make the map more living, maybe whether and/or catastrophic effects? Don't know.

For the price that it's asking for, I'm giving it a yellow light with it approaching the green light for purchasing it. It's a good game but needs a little bit more tweaking and a little bit more content, and that's probably be done nearing the game's launch out of Early Access. It's also worth mentioning that the game has a map and 'monster' editor, so community made maps are there.

Shameless link to original post.

+ tower defense, feels like the best practice is collected from the genre :)
+ flexible devs, community management and keen ear to user suggestions
+ different playable characters
+ skill and trap levelling system, with reset possibilities
+ grinding very possible
+ a lot of eyecandies, nice graphics, greatly scalable, even playable on IGP-s
+ WORKSHOP support, user-friendly level editor
+ even if it is the dev of the Van Helsing series, there is no substantial connection, so absolutely playable without knowing those games
+ interesting new ideas on maps (hidden treasure chests, character buffs), so more tactical options
+ pleasant soundtrack

++ greatly enjoyable and playable even in Early Access, so if you have the chance, support the devs! :)

- nothing in the Cons so far, seems promising, I just hope that the devs can maintain a clear focus and develop the existing aspects of the game, then it will be almost perfect. I hope they won't get lost in the sea of ideas.

This will be a WIP review. I will update it as the game updates.

Current build as of 23/10/14- First release.

Firstly this game does not deserve the title early access. The content that is here is absolutely outstanding, this is exactly how an 'early access' game should play. It feels more like a BETA ready for release.

Graphics- One of the most beautiful TD's I've played, and I do love TD's

Gameplay-Hugely fun combination of traps/towers and your hero lead to a blast of a time.

Current issues? -None found yet in 10 hours of gameplay. Have tested both the game and map editor. Both function with the content that has been released.

Map editor- Already a powerful tool allowing customisation of maps, approaching enemies(currently in different group types), pathing, enemy spawns, defense locations and exits. Full workshop integration. Very easy to edit and upload maps.

Hero- One class released currently. The sorceress. The levelling system is very nice gaining XP for finishing maps(including custom maps), with the ability to improve passive and active abilities. Full inventory system with weapons/armour/trinkets that you keep. A ingame shop feature to spend your gold. The hero is an important part of your defense, you never feel like you just sit back and watch the traps do all the work.

Defenses- Already a massive selection of defenses released. As you complete levels you unlock upgrade points to improve defense levels and add special abilities. Defenses can be placed in type specific locations across the map.

Currently there are 3 'campaign' levels and all the custom maps you want to create or subscribe to.

Summary- The game runs smooth, no glitches, no bugs and no crashes on my windows 7 system. The content that is currently available is very polished and well developed. The devs are active on the forum and have already layed out their update schedule for the rest of the year.

As the game currently stands I would highly recommend it. It plays better than most completed games and if it continues this way it will be THE TD/RPG hybrid to compare all others to.
Will update below as the game updates.

Any questions regarding the game please ask below or PM me.

This game is a dream come true. Your character skills and items (even the way you find items) is very similar to diablo 2 and with the TD element it makes for a challenging grindable loot farming game that will hopefully have a trading system and a creative tower defence related pvp system (maybe like wintermaul wars =0)

Death trap a fun tower runner not the first but is worth a shot if you like these kinds of games only 3 maps out right now but with custom maps still has a alot of play for a early access game for 20$ i would say go for it stop reading reviews and buy the game it has potential to be a fun and long played game

Its great fun, like a TD Diablo kinda funk.

One of the most interesting tower defense games I have played in a long time. The ability to collect gear which can help your character and towers as well makes for many variations on gameplay. It's very polished for an early access game. There are some maps that have side quests that require some planning as to when to do them. Only played for a couple hours so I'm sure there is more to discover...

UPDATE 12/16/2014 - Now that I have explored it thoroughly, it is awesome. The devs are very open to new ideas and suggestions (and very responsive to the community, good job!). Custom maps are great to both play and create. Coop and Versus mode is still in the works yet, some bugs, but still very fun to play with others. The full release of Deathtrap cannot come soon enough.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:
This will be an outstanding game once it becomes more complete. As of right now, it has a solid setup and design to be very enjoyable for many hours.

Since it is still in early access, only certain characters, game modes, options, etc. are available. With that said, from what I have seen and played, it is extremely fun. As for an added note, if you have played The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II, you will know exactly what this game will be all about. RPG mashed with Tower Defense makes a good combo. I kind of see it like an Orcs Must Die with a top-down 3rd person Diablo-isk view instead. It almost feels Dota-like as well.

Upgrade towers, upgrade skills, loot, and gear-up; Deathtrap will be a gem to have.

This game has alot of potential. I am really enjoying it so far. There is a potential for a lot of replay value due to the multiple ways that you can upgrade your traps, characters, etc. The game really isn't that buggy for an early access either.

Towerdefense Game with RPG Elements.

Pro:

- Interesting Traps
- playable Hero with active and passive Skills
- Itemloot
- Equip your Hero with Weapons , Armor ect.
- Skilltrees for Hero and Traps
- Quests ontop of the Defense Gameplay
- Nice Graphics

Con:

- only 3 Maps at this Point
- Forced Positions for Traps, no Mace possible


I will update, when more Maps are playable and i have more exp with the Game.

To this Point its a good Game and all who Love TD´s should keep an Eye on that one.

Fantastic Game,...i dont do Reviews,but with this game i feel i must share it with you,...i have V.H,VH2,.WOW, And i think this game is going to &should be just as great as those if not better, what i love about this game(and all from neocore),is the easy to pick up gameplay,graphics are brilliant,and has loads of gameplay,got the Early Access ,ASAP After Launch and Neocore have done it again,..cant wait for the full game extra maps ect,....just buy it!!! :-)

Love the game even though it's a little light on content for now. From what I've played it seems like it's going to be a great game. It kind of has a bit of a diablo feel, and it's a really interesting twist on a tower defence game. The RPG aspects are great even though they aren't finished yet, and I love playing around with the different towers and traps.

From the creative minds that brought us the amazing 'Van Helsing' adventure series comes a new breed of tower defense style combat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjJ3ZuXiu4s
For those of you familiar with playing 'Van Helsing' you will recall a tower defense style section in the original game where you had to defend your keep from hordes of monsters and demons. It was a very cool addition. Well.... Neocore Games the developers have taken this cool and unique concept and seem to have based a FULL game around it and it's simply brilliant. Unlike other standard TD games... in Deathtrap you're character levels up, gains new items and weapons and you get to play a major, and decisive role in the game. It even has Monster traps for you to call to your aid! - This has got to be my favourite TD game this year - Superb!

Good tower defense game - controls work well, smooth animation and fun. Worth it to buy if you are enjoy TD games -