Sunday, October 14, 2012

Trine


6.5/10

I got the game for cheap on steam at some point. Only got to play recently. To sum it up, Trine is a platformer with physics and puzzle elements. You can swap between 3 characters at anytime: the rogue, the wizard and the warrior. The rogue has a hook and bow. The warrior has a shied, a sword and eventually a hammer and can lift heavy objects. The wizard can spawn objects and use telekinesis. You gain experience points and find items that boost their ability. The skill point that you allocate might give you an edge to go trough an area but usually there are multiple solutions to each puzzles.

I said "puzzles" but the levels are more like an obstacle course. I don't remember anything mind blowing  like in Braid. You usually just need to find a way to pass through. Monsters spawn on your way; they are not very challenging on their own but they could put you in a bad spot if you're not careful. The spawning stops for a while when you kill a bunch. There are just a few areas in the game where you really have to fight special monsters. Also you'll find items in chests. I almost passed by my first chest without looting it, the graphics are pretty and all, and I thought it was just part of the background. There are many chests and experience potions in hidden areas which require a little bit more work and exploration to find.

My favorite character is the rogue because it can just zoom around like Spiderman with the hook which seemed to be the fastest way to go trough many areas. Also at some point, I would kill monsters faster at range with the bow than in melee with the sword. I remember that an item that poisons arrows made a big difference.

The game was quite enjoyable while it lasted, the graphics are beautiful and the story is like a fairy tale. I think that physics adds a nice touch to the platformer, but I was not impressed; many other games out there have cool puzzles that must be solved using physics mechanics. Also sometimes I felt like the controls failed me but maybe its just me being a sore loser. It took me about 7 hours to complete the game, and I'm sure its possible to finish it a lot faster on your first run if you don't bother to kill so many monsters as I did.