Three for the Price of One

After dropping large amounts of time into inFamous and Dead Space I was ready to play something that was a bit more bite sized. Thanks, once again, to the miracle of the Steam holiday sale, I picked up Trine for little more than a song and a dance.

The premise of the game is simple yet unique. A warrior, a mage, and a thief become magically fused into a single being. As the player, you are able to swap between any of the three characters at any time. Each has unique abilities: the warrior is a combat juggernaut, the thief can swing with a grappling hook and shoot arrows, and the mage can conjure platforms and boxes and even levitate and move some objects. The game plays like a mix of an old school 2D combat/platformer and a modern puzzle game.

Loved

• Premise. The idea of swapping between three different characters on the fly is a very unique idea. Lots of people compare it to the old Blizzard game, The Lost Vikings, and while the comparison is apt, Trine is definitely an evolution on the idea. The three characters are constantly working in harmony with each other. It was not uncommon to see a swarm of skeletons and switch to the warrior. As the last one would fall, I would switch to the mage and pick up a nearby box and raise it up until it stuck into some spikes sticking down from the ceiling. Finally, I would swap out to the thief and grapping on to the now hanging box and continue on with the level.
  
  
• Variety. I read one review were the author was convinced that the mage was amazing and you would use him all the time. Another reviewer said almost the exact same thing about the thief. The fact that two different people could approach the game so differently really says something about the level and puzzle design in Trine. Each puzzle, obstacle, and enemy can be tackled in a plethora of ways. Whether you drop objects on the enemies, shoot them with a bow, or hit them with your sword, is a decision totally left up to you.
  
  
• Art. The art is Trine is absolutely beautiful. The game sits very comfortably in what has come to be known as 2.5D space, i.e.
  everything is rendered in 3D, but all of the action takes place on a single 2D plane. As a result, the creators were able to put a ridiculous amount of polish in all the things that the player does see. The backgrounds are gorgeous and the characters are easily recognizable and very iconic. The game is not just beautiful on the eyes, but also manages to put together a very decent soundtrack and a surprisingly cohesive and narrative.
  
  

I know I usually put a "Hated" section down here, but try as I might I can't think of a single thing I really hated about this game. It wasn't a very long game (around 3-4 hours), but I don't think it should have been any longer. The game was perhaps a bit too easy at times, but there were two difficulties past the one I was playing one. The biggest gripe I've heard with the game is that people say the last level is substantially harder than the rest of the game. While I will admit that it was harder (it took me 2 tries instead of 1), it really wasn't a big enough jump to be noticeable to me, and I probably wouldn't have thought anything of it if I hadn't heard it mentioned.

While Trine is certainly not a perfect game (and I'm not trying to imply that it is), it is a really good game. It takes a simple concept and a simple set of gameplay mechanics and polishes the hell out of them. The game even features a 2-3 player co-op mode I didn't even get a chance to play. Trine is just a brilliantly polished little game that I think just about anybody would really enjoy.