.FLYINGHEAD WE GOT GAME
.TITLE Trine, an almost-perfect modern side-scroller
.AUTHOR David Gewirtz
.SUMMARY Recently we’ve seen a small resurgence of modern side-scrollers which meld the gameplay of old with the 3D rendering capability of the PS3 and XBox 360.
.OTHER
I used to love side-scrollers. After all, some of the best games of the 1980s and 1990s were side-scrollers. We didn’t have graphics that could handle full 3D, so good game design was absolutely essential. The early Mario games, the early Sonic games, and so many more were side scrollers.
But then we fell in love with 3D games and, in particular, first-person shooters. Why scroll left or right when you could play Halo? Like adventure games, side-scrollers and action platformers began to slip into the past.
Recently, though, we’ve seen a small resurgence of modern side-scrollers which meld the gameplay of old with the 3D rendering capability of the PS3 and XBox 360. And, when done right, the result is nothing short of wonderful, as shown in Figure A.
.FIGPAIR A Here, the thief is shooting arrows at skeletons. They’re nasty.
One such game is Trine. Bad name. Fabulous game. Trine was created by Frozenbyte, located in Helsinki, Finland. The main characters in the game are a wizard (he can draw boxes, but can’t seem to master the fireball), a thief (she can shoot grappling hooks, but only to wood), and a knight (who’s kinda dumb, but hits hard).
.TEASER Tap here to read the rest of this review.
One day, they all touch a magic artifact called the Trine and meld together. You control all three characters, and can switch from one to the other instantly. The game traverses 14 levels, as you try to find your way through dungeons, dragon graveyards, and other ghostly terrain, all the while trying to undo the blight that’s come upon the land.
What makes the game fabulous is the game balance. Part of the challenge is moving about the levels. Sometimes the thief can grapple or jump her way to the next ledge, but sometimes she can’t. A puzzle component comes into play, because the wizard can build structures that make movement over tougher areas possible, can block attacking fireballs, and can drop objects on enemies from a distance.
The narration and the story is also fun. Each of the characters has a real personality and, as the game progresses, we get to know and care about them more and more.
Trine is available for the PlayStation 3 and the PC, and because it uses full-on 3D rendering, the levels are beautiful and alive, as you can see in Figure B.
.FIGPAIR B The wizard is about to drop a box on an enemy.
There’s also a co-op mode, where up to three players can play each of the characters. This is fun, but there are some points in the game where only one character can make the trip, and other players have to drop out to reunite the trine to get past the tough spots.
My wife loved this game, as did I. The thing is, she’s a better player than me. In fact, she’s a better player than the developers, apparently, because she managed to get the "Better than developers" trophy for completing the final level on Extra Hard, without dying. Actually, she completed all the trophy challenges and got every trophy the game has to offer.
Unfortunately, it’s the trophy system that saps Trine of a perfect 5-out-of-5 rating. Denise had some problems getting some of the trophies. She did some particularly hard challenges, completed everything perfectly (I watched, so I can confirm it), and the trophies weren’t awarded. We had to reboot the game, and when she completed the challenge again, only then were the trophies awarded.
This is obviously a bug, but one that’s definitely annoying.
Even so, I can unreservedly recommend Trine, at least for the PS3. It’s probably just as fun on the PlayStation. We’re just hoping Frozenbyte’s got a Trine 2 on the way.
.RATING 4
.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
.H1 Product availability and resources
Learn more about [[http://trine-thegame.com/site/index.php?page=home|Trine]].
.END_SIDEBAR
.BIO
