Trine 2 Review
Our
heroes from the Trine universe are back at it again, whether they want to be or
not. For those that haven't taken a dive into this world before, three unique
heroes are brought together by a magical artifact (the Trine) in order to save
the Kingdom from a mysterious threat. The worrisome Wizard, brave Warrior, and
cunning Thief are all characters you can play as throughout the campaign and
multiplayer modes. Each one carries their own set of specialized skills and
weapons, and one of my favorite parts of the game is that you can (and will need
to) actively swap between these characters on the fly in order to solve puzzles
and fight off enemies. Controls for Trine 2 range in complexity; the easiest
being a forgiving movement system that is on par with Super Mario Bros.,
followed closely by the Warriors hack-n-slash attacks, leading up to more
advanced maneuvers like the Thief's grappling hook and the Wizard's spell
gestures. I was a little disappointed that the game page displayed controller
support when keyboard and mouse are truly the only inputs allowed, which to be
fair is not much of a surprise once you get into the game and see how everything
is laid out, but still a bit of a misrepresentation worth mentioning. I'm not
even going to mince words when I discuss the visuals of this title; it is
probably the most beautiful game I have ever seen. Seriously, spend some time
with the demo if you don't believe me. The colors and overall art direction of
Trine 2 are exquisite. The audio collection isn't bad either, with great
narration of the story as you play through as well as some cheery voice acting
to keep things light. I don't know if I would say that the musical score is as
exciting as the game page would have you hoping for (Ari Pulkkinen largely
contributed to the soundtrack), but it definitely fits with the theme and sounds
to be composed well (to be honest this could be a masterpiece but my noob ears
just aren't hearing it). Trine 2 will take you on an 8-10 journey for the
regular campaign, with additional hours stacked on for the Game+ and co-op
modes. The mixture of puzzles that almost always have more than one method of
solving, and the strategy needed to fight off enemy attacks while keeping
everyone in your party alive provides a unique challenge that I think most will
enjoy even if you're not necessarily a fan of the genre. Co-op mode is easily
complements each aspect of the game and is one of the better implementations of
the play type I've seen in gaming lately. I highly recommend getting together
with a friend (or two) and playing through at least a few levels to see what
kind of fun is waiting to be unleashed.
Final Rating: 96%. Our heroes from the Trine universe are back at it again, whether they want to be or not.
