Fixed Perspective

Lately I've found my interest in my current rotation of games is puttering to a slow irking halt, so I was thankful for Steam's Midweek Madness to include a 75% price drop on a game called Trine. For five bucks, I figured I'd be a fool not to get it. The graphics, based on the screenshots, looked alright, and I've been missing World of Warcraft now that a few friends have started playing again--Trine seemed like a logical baby step for the venture back into the fantasy world.

I started playing Trine at 2:30am in the haze of a half awake delerium, but it held my interest for a good hour or so before my body cracked the whip on me and I sauntered off to bed. I'll admit though, the intro was a great way to ease a new player like me into the game. The graphics are crisp, the controls are responsive and simple, and the overall feel is quite smooth. Basically, the story starts off with a thief entering this shrine to steal this crystal, but when she touches it, it freezes her in place. This same thing happens to a knight and a wizard (though they come to the crystal for different reasons), and once all three of them are there, they disappear. The intro lets you play as each of these characters as they get to the crystal, giving you a crash course in the character's specific abilities. The Knight can fight with the sword and block with the shield, the Thief can use a cool hookshot thing and fire a bow, and the Wizard can levitate objects, and create a block if you draw a square with your mouse (lol?). So it's like a tank, dps, and... mage, I guess, since you collect health from dead skellies.

The game has a Little Big Planet feel to it, mostly because of the way the terrain reacts to nudges and other forces your characters posses--but it serves as a nice touch when you're looking for an alternative route through a certain area. While there's always a way to get through, there is not necessarily a way for each of the three to get through. An example would be a time where I needed to make a jump as the Thief, create a block to stand on with the Wizard, then jump over as the Knight because there was enemies on the other edge. The game hinges on these sorts of obstacles instead of sending wave after wave of enemy at you while you jump your way to the other end of the side scrolling scenery.

Speaking of, I was really taken in by the graphics. The scenery is in 3D, sometimes obscuring my view but never at key times. There's a lot of nice detail to it, like little bugs flying from flower to flower, pollen reacting to being disturbed, even the sound gets more intense as a tree passes in the forefront.

Though I haven't played through the whole thing, I've played enough to know that I'll eventually want to get there. The narration overlays the gameplay, which at times makes it feel like I'm playing a extremely cool picture book. The story is admittedly simple, but I wasn't really expecting much. Besides, the amount I got out of this game for the price I paid is enough to trump any criticism. Okay, well the Knight's voice is pretty annoying. But seriously, I paid 6 bucks for some McDonalds last night and all I got from that was a depressing and greasy feeling in my stomach.

On a final note, the game has a multiplayer portion that I have yet to sample, so get on Steam and spend 5 bucks!