Trine - Demo Impressions

I think it's fair to say that downloadable games have grown increasingly popular recently. Personally, ever since a little beauty known as Braid was released last year, I've been paying more and more attention to the release of such titles. So, just imagine my delight when Trine was announced for release on PSN and PC later this year (although the recent news is that an XBL version is also in the works). The first trailer had me intrigued - 'LittleBigPlanet meets Lost Vikings' is what many initially said, which can only be a good thing surely? Trine went under the shadow slightly for quite a while but, during E3, Frozenbyte announced that a demo would be released in due course. Well, on 25th June, the Trine demo became available for download via Steam and various other sites. Being the curious lil' chap that I am, I decided to c-c-c-check it out.

The demo wastes no time at all, launching you straight into the story. One of the first things to admire is how well executed the cutscenes are; an artistic set of images is combined with charming narration to move the story along rather nicely, although it's clear that the story itself isn't the main focus here. The vibe from the cutscenes and story is very much something many would associate with your typical light-hearted, childhood tales. Of course, it'd be innaccurate to suggest that the story is going to sway gamers either way - it's more of an afterthought, really - but it's a nice touch that adds to the overall experience. I don't want to spoil the story for those who care about it, but let's just say that the three main characters - a thief, warrior and wizard - find themselves... stuck... in a bit of a tricky situation. That certain situation comes in handy for us gamers, as we're able to switch between each character on the fly.

Each character has his/her own tutorial at the start, so you can get to grips with their basic abilities. The first character you get to try out is the thief, whose basic abilities are a bow & arrow and a grappling hook. The thief is incredibly accessible in terms of controls, with the WASD keys used for movement and the mouse used for her abilities (left-click fires an arrow, while the right-click is used for the grappling hook). While each tutorial is unsurprisingly simple, it serves its purpose, while also offering an insight into the types of puzzles you'll be encountering later on. The wizard was next, and his abilities were rather intriguing; not only can he move certain objects (namely crates), but he is also able to draw boxes to help solve the puzzles in each level. In fact, the wizard essentially acts as a cheerleader for the game's physics-based gameplay, with his magical abilities paving way for some truly creative situations. These two abilities are controlled by the mouse, which comes in very handy. Indeed, it's hard to imagine whether the wizard's abilities will be as easily controlled through a controller - that's something we'll have to find out if and when a PSN/XBL demo is released (or we could just wait for the full game). Last up was the warrior, with his tour-de-force approach proving useful for... well, smashing things. His abilities were admittedly the least interesting out of the three but, like the other two characters, he was very easy to control, with a left-click of the mouse swinging his sword and a right-click raising his shield.

So, with the three tutorials out the way, I then had the chance to try an actual level out. One striking aspect of Trine is the flexibility in completing the various puzzles set out before you in each level. Whether you use the wizard's spells to conjure up crates, grapple onto ceilings with the thief or, you know, smash things with the warrior, each puzzle can be completed in a large number of ways. This alone ensures some replay value, as you keep coming back to levels to solve each puzzle in a different way - I even played the demo several times over, just to try out different methods of solving certain puzzles. The physics-based nature of the gameplay - the game's main attraction in many ways - also adds another dimension to the gameplay, with there being a sense of unpredictability when facing up to enemies or trying to reach the other side of a bottomless pit.

Within each level there are a large number of green bottles to collect - 50, to be exact. These bottles are 'experience'; collect enough of them, and you can level up each character and add to their abilities. The demo is very limited in this regard, but you get given a glimpse of the kind of upgrades you can implement in the full game, such as multiple arrows for the thief or the ability to conjure up more than one crate with the wizard. The upgrade system itself - from what I could tell - does seem to have a lot of depth to it, which should ensure that the gameplay mechanics still feel fresh as you progress through the game.

Overall, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't impressed with what Trine has to offer. A charming narrative, combined with simple controls and versatile gameplay mechanics, means that Trine looks set to be quite the downloadable gem. I haven't even mentioned the graphics yet, but they don't need much of a mention - to put it simply: Trine is an absolutely gorgeous game. I initially played it on the higher settings before switching to a lower setting (due to framerate issues), but it was certainly enough to conclude that this game classifies as one of the most beautiful looking platformer games ever to exist.

The revealed price of $29.99 (via Steam) has raised a few eyebrows, and rightly so - it's certainly pricey for a downloadable game, although rumour has it that the singleplayer campaign will last 7-8 hours (not to mention the co-op mode). It's hard to know at this point whether Trine will be worth the purchase; while it's an undoubtedly charming game, whether there will be enough twists and turns to warrant its price tag is questionable. But, for now, Trine has a lot of potential. Let's hope this is an exception to the rule that 'three's a crowd'...


Trine is due to be released on PC and PSN on 3rd July 2009, and is scheduled to be released later this year on XBL.