Trine 2 : First Look
Way back in 2009, Frozenbyte unleashed a gem of a puzzle/platformer on PC?Mac and PSN. Â That game was Trine, a beautiful and brilliant physics puzzler where the player guided a wizard, a thief and a warrior through a myriad of clever puzzles, using there own unique abilities, in a quest to find an heir to the fallen king and save a kingdom. Â In a couple short weeks, Trine 2 will continue that story, and we had a chance to play around in the beta. Â Will Trine 2 capture the majesty of the first title, or will it’s success just be a fairy tale?
EDIT: Steam details Trine 2 launching on December 7th!!!
New Look, Same Magic
Anyone who played Trine knew that it was a gorgeous game, even for a downloadable/arcade title. Â The textures were spectacularly detailed, the backgrounds and settings were vibrantly colored and the puzzles….oh the puzzles were divine! Â I didn’t think Trine could look any better, but Frozenbyte has honestly found a way to make the old engine look like a relic. Â Though there were only 2 levels in the Beta, I can already see that the graphics engine has been pushed far beyond what the original title had done. Â The new settings, textures and backgrounds are unlike anything I’ve seen in a side-scroller. Â I think my screen captures will speak for themselves, any of the pictures posted in this article are not touched up press materials, they are all screen captures that I took within the game and they are nothing short of breathtaking. Â Trine 2 goes beyond a simple facelift, there are new elements, not the least of which being online co-op. Â In addition, the story has received an overhaul and so have the characters. Â Each character has been tweaked and offers a new, unique skill tree for player customization. Â One of the most lauded changes is the mage’s new freedom from a mana pool, no longer will you be stopped from creating a box because you lack the mana—*poof* gone in a puff of smoke! Â I don’t want to give away too much, but not only will the mage’s skill tree grant the ability to materialize multiple crates for your puzzle solving pleasure, but he *may* be able to use his sorcery on some of the game’s enemies. Â Keyboard/mouse controls are solid, but I would still recommend the use of a gamepad, although I couldn’t find anything wrong with either control scheme, both are fully supported. Â Seeing as how the online pool is limited to Beta participants, it was a bit more difficult to find online partners, but the matchmaking and setup worked without any problems. Â All around the Beta was extremely impressive and if the full game lives up to the high bar set by the Beta, I can only imagine we will all be loving Trine 2 this holiday and eargerly awaiting an announcement for Trine 3!
Any Day Now!
I could wax poetic about Trine 2 for may more paragraphs, but I don’t want to romanticize the game with empty words to take away from how great it looks. Â There is still no hard release date for the game, but it will be releasing this month for Steam, XBLA and PSN. Â Frozenbyte seems to have taken everything we loved about the first and refined it to a more captivating element. Â Everything you remember and love will still be there, but it has been purified and made better! Â If you haven’t already taken advantage of the Steam pre-purchase, I would certainly encourage that. Â Pre-ordering on Steam grants you access to the 2 level Beta, and gives you some Trine themed Team Fortress 2 hats to play around with. Â In addition, you can get a feel for the co-op and play with other Beta participants. Â The levels and puzzles in the Beta were fantastic, as was the interesting mini-boss battle to cap it off. Â To say that I’m impressed with what I’ve seen so far is a gross understatement. Â Look for Trine 2 this holiday season, on your favorite platform, it looks to be a fantastic continuation of it’s highly praised predecessor!