Trine 2 takes place sometime after the conclusion of the first game. Our three heroes, Amadeus The Zizard, Pontius The Knight and Zoya The thief are summoned by the Trine. The Trine is a sort of watchful protector of the land and summons the trio when trouble lurks. Trouble certainly is brewing, the kingdom is in disarray as the forest seems to be growing a mind of its own and the goblins have taken over the castle. To add to the trio’s already growing list of problems it seems a mysterious witch is watching their progress and is soon to reveal her intentions.
Trine’s graphical presentation is phenomenal; the vast array of colours that are produced is breathtaking. Frozenbyte reinvent the rainbow with the spectre of colours on display. The levels range from forests, castles, icy caverns, dungeons, underwater and even lava filled pits. Apart from the already mentioned fabulous colours on display, each individual level is bursting with details that deepen the experience. The trio’s voice acting isn’t anything special but they don’t get a great deal of opportunity to talk apart from a few humorous wisecracks now and then. The majority of the story is narrated through enchanting story book segments at the beginning of each level whilst it loads. The narrator is cast superbly and tells an interesting story, setting the atmosphere for each level. Each level’s accompanying soundtrack is unique and emotive and does a great job of adding to the experience.
The Trine is a mysterious relic that bounds the three characters into one, making things much easier for the player or players involved. Throughout your adventure the three characters will use their specific traits to solve a series of physics based puzzles which incorporate a couple of the elements as well as magic and gravity.
Amadeus uses his wizardry skills for the puzzle solving, he can conjure up planks or boxes and even levitate certain objects. Pontius is the muscle of the group doing most of the battling against the enemies and Zoya uses her agility and archery skills. Each character has a skill tree which can be developed through the collection of vials in-game. The branches offer more tools which can be used for puzzles and attack. Zoya for example can shoot flamed arrows, Pontius can use his shield to glide and Amadeus can conjure more than one object at a time.
Three players can join in the adventure either locally or online. Locally works fine and is great fun with a bunch of mates. The exact same goes for online where players can drop in and out as they please and your unlocked skills transfer no matter where you go. Online flowed smoothly without a hiccup but I feel it may be worth mentioning that using Amadeus levitating skills resulted in a jerky, imprecise and uncontrollable experience. Also from what I could tell, there was no online chat.
The puzzles offer a great challenge that have a good steady rate of increasing difficulty. Time and time again players will sing the accomplished “Ah-hah!” moment. Replay-ability comes not only great multiplayer available but also through the collection of secrets such as poems and portraits that dive deeper into the lore of Trine.
The PS4 entry offers a few unique opportunities to control actions of your player through the use of the Dual Shock 4’s touchpad. Aiming Zoya’s bow, levitating items with Amadeus or defending Pontius with his shield can all be controlled through the touch pad. Of course if this isn’t comfortable for you it has been mapped to right thumb stick.
