Trine Review:

 

Trine is really one of those rare gems in the gaming world that is easy to miss. In fact I my self had heard almost nothing about the game until reading a raving review about it. Curious, I decided to give the game a try myself.

 

 

 

Trine follows around the story of a wizard, a thief and a warrior. Long story short they get their souls bound together by a magical artifact and need to seek a way to get unbound and destroy the evil that has plagued the land. The story has a very laid back, folk like RPG storyline which is narrated to you during loading scenes.

 

 

 

The game can be classified as a 2D Platformer/Puzzle/Platformer game, where most of the game is focused around physics based puzzles. Because the three characters souls are bound together it allows you to switch between them with the touch of a button, opening up some excellent opportunities for creative problem solving.

 

 

 

Each character has their own unique set of abilities. The Wizard is very poor in combat (he actually has no attacks himself) but makes up for it by being able to levitate items, summon boxes and bridges and eventually summon flying platforms. The thief, on the other hand, is a nimble character who uses a bow. You also get a grappling hook which allows you to hook onto wooden objects giving you the opportunity for some cool tricks (such as swinging, building up momentum and jumping to the ledge you were swinging from). I did feel that at times the grappling hook felt more like I was fighting it than with it, mostly due to it's kind of random nature at times on what it decides to latch onto (which is usually the closest wooden object). Still this really only came into a problem by the last stage, and even then you can learn how to deal with it correctly. The thief also gets some nifty fire arrows, which allows you to break (breakable) objects and light unlit torches. Finally you have the warrior, who is the main fighter of the three. Chances are you will use him in combat most of the time due to his fast attack and ability to block. He can actually also throw heavy objects as well as later on wield a sledgehammer, allowing you to break stone walls.

 

 

 

The games combat, especially for a puzzle game, is well thought out and fun. Even though you never fight many varying types of mobs (get ready for some skeleton bashing) the skeletons come in a number of flavors, from regular run-of-the-mill skeletons with swords to archer skeletons, skeletons who breathe fire and skeletons with shields. There are also slightly larger mini-boss type enemies that show up now and then as well. Part of the reason why combat works so well is that both the archers bow and the Warriors shield can be directed through the use of either the mouse or right analog stick. This gives you some great aiming control, and actually allows you to control the tension of the bow (allowing you to pull off trick shots, like shooting an arrow over a wall). It works very naturally and makes the combat a lot of fun.

 

 

 

Of course the games combat is really only a small part of the game as most of the game focuses around these physics based puzzles I've talked about. The nice thing about trine's puzzles is that often enough they are designed so that there is multiple ways to finish it. One nice example in my mind is a puzzle where a treasure chest is way up in a ledge that I can not get to. There is a large, swinging log that you can stand on and the treasure chest is sort of in a little cove. You can't grappling hook up there due to no wood. The way I figured it out was to actually stack 4 boxes (max boxes a wizard can summon at once) all on top of each other and then run off of the log onto the boxes and up to the treasure. Of course I was later informed that if you hit the log with the warriors hammer it would jettison up near that ledge, allowing you to just jump from the log to the treasure. Examples like this are what makes the game such a blast to play, because it really rewards you for thinking outside of the box.

 

 

 

I should also mention that the game is incredible looking. The 2D perspective really allowed the developers to create an awesome sense of depth in the world, and the game has such a great fantasy feeling to it that you can't help but get immersed in the game. Trine also has a wonderfully composed music selection which only helps to immerse you. Often times I found myself just in amazement of the games world and how it looked. It really is impressive on how much care and thought went into Trine, and it also is something else to think that a 2D perspective game would look this great.

 

 

 

Trine really is one of those gems that I'm afraid people are going to miss, or skip over. It really is not often that a great 2D game comes out, and trine is easily one of the best I have played in years. The puzzles are well thought out, the game looks beautiful and the story is a simple and elegant one that all aims to immerse you in it's world. The game has around 8 hours worth of gameplay from the single player, and more if you play on the unlocked difficulty selection (and the game also gives you the option of replaying certain levels).

 

 

 

Trine is available on PC (through steam) for $30 and will be available on PSN near the end of July for $20. A port for XBLA is also in the works.

 

Score: 5/5

I've learned that when you post about a game, the game is definitly worth checking out. Your Dead Space thread convinced me to buy it right away when I got my Xbox 360. This game definitly looks like a game I would be interested in, platformers are one of my favorite genre's. I will be waiting for it to appear on XBLA before purchasing it though, since I don't have steam.

I can vouch for everything Nadril is saying. There is just one drawback I can think of: the final boss. I don't think a boss has made me rage so hard in forever :lol:

Yeah the last boss/stage is so old school. Gives an awesome sense of accomplishment when you beat it though.

Yeah the last boss/stage is so old school. Gives an awesome sense of accomplishment when you beat it though.

 

What makes it so hard?

Lava is rising from the ground and you have to get to the top of the tower. It's really difficult platform wise, and the boss is also a [bleep] and will spawn [cabbage] in your way to slow you down, or will spawn large [bleep]ed balls that might hit you.

Lava is rising from the ground and you have to get to the top of the tower. It's really difficult platform wise, and the boss is also a [bleep] and will spawn [cabbage] in your way to slow you down, or will spawn large [bleep]ed balls that might hit you.

 

Harder then IWBTG?

It sounds just like The Lost Vikings. :lol: Nah, seriously, it seems to be a great game. How long is it?

It sounds just like The Lost Vikings. :lol: Nah, seriously, it seems to be a great game. How long is it?

 

 

 

Around 8 hours.

Lava is rising from the ground and you have to get to the top of the tower. It's really difficult platform wise, and the boss is also a [bleep] and will spawn [cabbage] in your way to slow you down, or will spawn large [bleep]ed balls that might hit you.

 

Harder then IWBTG?

 

IWBTG is just as rage-inducing.

This is the second game in a row Nadril has made me want to buy, but my computer sucks so hard I'll never be able to :wall: :wall:

 

 

 

Heh it's too bad, the game really is great. I haven't played a normal single player game for so long (straight) in a while, but I beat the game in almost 1 day.

Looks pretty good, may consider buying it if I get the chance... :-k