Trine 2 : First Look

Way back in 2009, Frozenbyte unleashed a gem of a puzzle/platformer on PC?Mac and PSN.  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.  In a couple short weeks, Trine 2 will continue that story, and we had a chance to play around in the beta.  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.  The textures were spectacularly detailed, the backgrounds and settings were vibrantly colored and the puzzles….oh the puzzles were divine!  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.  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.  The new settings, textures and backgrounds are unlike anything I’ve seen in a side-scroller.  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.  Trine 2 goes beyond a simple facelift, there are new elements, not the least of which being online co-op.  In addition, the story has received an overhaul and so have the characters.  Each character has been tweaked and offers a new, unique skill tree for player customization.  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!  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.  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.  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.  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.  There is still no hard release date for the game, but it will be releasing this month for Steam, XBLA and PSN.  Frozenbyte seems to have taken everything we loved about the first and refined it to a more captivating element.  Everything you remember and love will still be there, but it has been purified and made better!  If you haven’t already taken advantage of the Steam pre-purchase, I would certainly encourage that.  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.  In addition, you can get a feel for the co-op and play with other Beta participants.  The levels and puzzles in the Beta were fantastic, as was the interesting mini-boss battle to cap it off.  To say that I’m impressed with what I’ve seen so far is a gross understatement.  Look for Trine 2 this holiday season, on your favorite platform, it looks to be a fantastic continuation of it’s highly praised predecessor!

Chris Maeurer on December 5, 2011.