Fluid dynamics play a more central role in much of the puzzle design there are quite a few instances where you need to direct the flow of water onto magical plants to make them grow to gigantic size, and you can get creative to accomplish that goal by balancing troughs to funnel the water, stacking several conjured planks together, or sometimes just standing underneath a waterfall and raising your shield at the right angle. Where Trine 2 feels like it moves things forward significantly is in the design of the levels, and the new ways you can influence them. True, you've seen all these abilities-and the general gameplay model that results from switching between the three characters on the fly to use them smartly in concert-before. The story is just barely more substantial here than in the first game, involving a long lost kingdom and a couple of magical princesses, and it mostly serves to propel you through the game's dozen fantastic chapters set in swamps, caves, and an ice fortress level that's probably one of the most visually stunning video game environments ever rendered. You're up against a race of burly, green-skinned goblins this time around, and though it's occasionally fun to employ that neat omnidirectional control over the knight's shield and the thief's arrows in a fight, it's often faster to just flail at nearby enemies as fast as you can with your sword, since you'll usually kill all of them before they kill you. The occasional boss monster shows up to interrupt your platforming every now and again. And the trusty old knight Pontius is mostly here to do the heavy combat lifting with either his sword and shield or a heavier hammer that you can throw around with an optional upgrade. Zoya, the thief, handles ranged combat with her arrows and is the most nimble character with a grappling hook that gets her swinging from anything made of wood. The wizard Amadeus again acts as your physics tool, since you can use him to manipulate all sorts of objects in the environment, using the game's robust physics system, and also conjure boxes and planks out of thin air to help you climb about. All three characters handle more or less the same as they did before, and you still have access to a talent tree that provides them pretty much the same abilities, with a few minor additions. The side-scrolling puzzle mechanics in Trine 2 are taken directly from the original, meaning everything still hinges on the three-way split between the knight, wizard, and thief characters who are linked together by the mystical soul-binding artifact called the Trine. But then, Trine was already so good that it's hard to argue with more of the same great game, right? Everything about the game is better in only an incremental way, leading to the occasional feeling of excessive familiarity. With more involved puzzle mechanics and even lusher visuals-which is really saying something, considering that first game was quite a looker itself- Trine 2 feels like a genuine step up from its impressive predecessor. That unique blend of physics-based puzzle-solving is back in full force.Įverything you loved about Frozenbyte's beautiful 2009 puzzle-platformer Trine is present, and in most cases improved, in the new sequel out now for PC, Xbox Live Arcade, and PlayStation Network.
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