Trine 2 Review

By Kevin Mitchell  |  Posted: February 14, 2012

I dare you to find a better-looking downloadable title than Trine 2 — you may even be hard-pressed to find a retail title that looks better. You can search high and low, but you will never find one — unless Frozenbyte develops Trine 3, of course. The use of colors in the background and foreground blended with soft, overly saturated elements brings this game to life. Trine 2 is, of course, more than a beautiful piece of art, as it is one of the most fun and rewarding platforming puzzle games on any system.

Once again, the Trine has gathered the three heroes — Zoya the Thief, Pontius the Knight, and Amadeus the Wizard — and set them on a new adventure in a mysterious land. Amadeus, for those who are unfamiliar with the first game, uses sorcery to move objects around in the environment. He is also able to conjure up boxes to help solve the countless number of puzzles throughout the adventure. Pontius the Knight carries a sword, shield, and hammer. He is the strongest of the three characters and is able to deflect any attack with his shield. Zoya uses her bow and arrows while utilizing a grappling hook to latch onto wooden surfaces to move freely around the levels. This makes her the most versatile of the three characters.

Players must utilize all three characters to complete the physics-based puzzles set in this side-scrolling platformer. In your path are also endless armies of goblins that add a combat element to the game — this is where Pontius shines, but using the wizard to throw a goblin like a ragdoll into fire is very satisfying. You are not forced into playing the game in any specific way, and this leaves the puzzle-solving completely open to the player. Personally, I enjoy using the Knight and the Wizard more than the Thief, so I tend to use a more brute force approach to the puzzles.

If you are playing the game solo, you are able to switch between the three characters at any time, but Trine 2 also includes some of the best co-op gameplay on any platform. Playing locally or online, having 3 people try and work out the puzzles at the same time turns up some very interesting ways to solve them. This is where the gameplay in Trine 2 really shines, as there isn't a right or wrong way to get through them — although some approaches work better than others. This leaves the choice completely up to the player on how to get through each puzzle. I find that this freedom feels very refreshing in having almost an infinite amount of solutions to each puzzle.

The boss fights, however, are easier than the puzzles themselves. The bosses are simplified to the point of requiring players to hit a weak spot either on them or in the environment a few times to take them down. Compensating for this though, the journey to these bosses more than makes up for the shortcomings of the bosses themselves.

Simply Put

The world created in Trine 2 is simply gorgeous, if not the best-looking downloadable game ever released. With 3 unique characters and full local and online co-op, Trine 2 is a puzzle platformer that will not disappoint. No other game has the openness to the puzzles built straight into the design of the game. For $14.99, Trine 2 is a sure steal for the amount of gameplay there is to be had. Any fans of platformers should pick it up right away.