Trine

Ah, Trine. What is Trine, you ask? To put it plainly, Trine is a glowing example of how a game does not need to be complicated to be worth playing. Trine resisted the urge to overwhelm the player with thousands of customization options, passed up the opportunity to use the entire keyboard and then some for controls, and even left out what seems to be the holy grail of gaming these days: online multiplayer. What? You want details? Then you shall have them!

To begin, Trine was not what I had at first expected. Upon starting the game I was welcomed by a detailed artistic slideshow, with high quality narration, which dunked me into the story behind the game. There are three characters, and 3 beginning levels where they introduce you to each in turn. These serve as your tutorial to the game. But I get ahead of myself: the game is a sidescrolling fighting / puzzle game with beautiful 3d graphics and a stunning soundtrack. I should make a note here that the game utilizes an advanced physics engine, which makes the puzzles all the more interesting. Moving on!

A description of the characters is in order. To begin, there is the thief. She fights with a bow, and has a grappling hook contraption that can latch onto nearly anything wooden in the game (And there are a lot!) and swing around.

Then there's the wizard. He has no actual attack to protect himself with. Instead, he can conjure items of various shapes and sizes, and levitate such objects at will. His only defense is dropping these objects on the heads of enemies, a rather difficult endeavor. You can use his conjured items to build towers, bridge gaps, crush unsuspecting foes, or any number of nefarious tricks. He is quite a skilled mage...its just too bad he never figured out the fireball spell.

And finally, you have the knight. There isnt much to explain; he has a sword, a shield, and likes to smash stuff. His shield is quite handy for blocking attacks, protecting you from falling objects, and numerous other things. Its a pity he sinks like a rock in water.

Each character has three different ways they can be upgraded, using points you recieve for levelling up. All three characters level up simultaneously, as you pick up green experience potions. Basically, you use these three characters to fight and think your way through a plethora of levels and maneuver yourself around obstacles. You can switch between them with the touch of a button, making things even more interesting and opening up many avenues for puzzle completion that the developers probably never intended. In my experience, those are always the most fun solutions. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention you can find various items in the game that help you out.

The entire game can be played using the arrow keys, mouse, and 1-3 on the keyboard. Of course, you can customize the controls to your liking if these keys dont suit you. The game supports USB gamepads, so you can plug in your favorite controller and have a go with that. The controls are so uncomplicated, you'll probably be a master by the time the tutorial has ended.

But what's this? No online multiplayer? A shocking decision by the developers, to be sure! Ah, but all is not lost! The game supports local multiplayer. No, not over your network. Indeed, Trine has travelled all the way back to using one computer for multiple people. Personally, I hope more games will follow in its footsteps and bring this old form of multiplayer back into the open. The game even supports multiple keyboards, although I didnt see an option for multiple mouse inputs. This allows you to fight alongside your favorite videogaming buddy and use entirely new methods of puzzle solving to get you where you need to go!

Overall, Trine is a masterfully created game that hearkens back to platforming games of old, but also brings its world to life through top of the line 3d effects. My advice: bring out your favorite usb controller, sit down in a nice comfy chair, and get ready for some engaging adventuring, because Trine just rolled into town.