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Trine PS3 PSN Review

01/10/2009 Family Teen Gamer Review
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Trine PS3 PSN

Trine PS3

Format:
PSN

Genre:
Shooting

Buy/Support:
Support Rowan, click to buy via us...

Trine is a platform game where you control a thief, a knight and a wizard. There is also a cooperative play feature, whereby multiple players can join in at any time to control different characters simultaneously. It's a solid, fun game, which fits very nicely into the somewhat lacking 2D spectrum of games available.

I must admit when I first heard about this game I was intrigued by the name simply, it sounded magical. After wondering for a while whether to get it I eventually decided to take the plunge. I popped down to the virtual shop that is the PSN, and picked it up. I wasn't disappointed, in fact the complete opposite; this was quite the underrated gem.

The first thing which was an instant great point about the game was that it could support up to three players. Me and my two brothers gave it a go. We all chose our characters with me picking the stealthy thief and my brothers being the enchanting Wizard and tough old Knight. We all didn't know what to expect, I'll be honest, but the game started nevertheless with a voice narrated story, telling it much like a fairy tale, and we were instantly engrossed, always a good point in my books.

We all smiled as it just felt like instantly the game mechanics worked.

Enemies primarily include walking skeletons and bats, along with boss characters, like giant skeletons and other large creatures. Some skeletons are armed with swords, others with bows and arrows, some spit fire, and some have shields, but the point being that they are all balanced fairly, and we never came across an overly powered enemy that hindered our progress.

After playing what was a tutorial based section which introduced the game we preceded to the first level. Our first obstacle was a ledge that was simply too high to surpass by jumping, so after trying certain methods to get up there it became clear that what we needed was the Wizard to summon a box. My brother did this by drawing what was possibly one of the worst shaped boxes ever, however it worked, and we jumped up into the next section, we all smiled as it just felt like instantly the game mechanics worked. Next we came to an undead skeleton that, yes you guessed it, needed a few whacks from the Knights sword. After this section was cleared my other brother in charge of the thief swung over and opened up a bridge for us.

The music is also fantastic and it won't be long before your humming away at work or college the lively tunes that the game offers, probably getting a few odd looks here and there.

The game was really enjoyable and thought provoking at the same time, forcing the three players to work together to get over the many obstacles that lay ahead. I would say then, that the game is best spent in multiplayer, although being significantly easier in single player.

Levelling up in the game is also a satisfying feature, with new abilities becoming unlocked the more bottles of experience you collect, so searching for them is essential. The game comprises of around 15 levels, and if my experience is anything to go by it took me and my brothers a couple of days to complete, so while not being lengthy in any way collecting all the secrets and experience bottles on each level could take quite a while.

The visuals in the game are superb; really capturing a story book like feel to everything. The music is also fantastic and it won't be long before your humming away at work or college the lively tunes that the game offers, probably getting a few odd looks here and there. I really felt that if anything, this game was going to be one of those games that really isn't appreciated as much as it should be, buried under the slew of other big proper games on the platform, hopefully I'm wrong. Simply we need more games like this to show that games aren't just about going around and killing everything that you come across, and that there really is a brilliant creative process behind them.

Anyway though, all this talk is distracting me from playing the game, which is a bad thing once you've been pulled in by its many charms. Frozenbyte if you're reading this get cracking with the sequel, because I know I'll be left wanting a bigger slice of this series in the not to distance future.

Written by Rowan Brown

You can support Rowan by buying Trine PS3



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Rowan Brown writes the Teen Gamer column.

"I write about my favourite games from a younger person's perspective. It's often surprising how different this ends up to other more grown up reviews."


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