PC Gamer - March 2012

THREE-PEAT
TRINE 2 is pretty enough to blind you
to the lack of true innovations by Jon Blyth
Need to know

What is it? A fairy-tale physics puzzle-platformer.

Influenced by

Lost Vikings

Play it on

2GHz dual-core CPU, 1GB RAM, GeForce 8800 or above Alternatively Braid (92%) DRM

Steam; DRM-free version coming in 2012

Trine 2 is more “radical cosmetic surgery” than sequel: Frozenbyte has exploded the Trine formula into a beautiful, rainbow-soaked spectacle. You don’t realize how few purplish-green crystal caverns there are until you’re forced to stop and bask in one.

Trine 2 is a fairy-tale platforming adventure, based around a magical floating artifact that’s bound together the souls of a wizard, a knight and a thief. The story is charming and a shade too earnest, but what really drives you (beyond the irresistible platformer instinct to travel to the right) is the satisfaction that’s gained from the inventive physics-based puzzles.

Playing solo, you can swap
between characters instantly as you
utilize their different skills. The
Wizard levitates objects and can
conjure boxes (and eventually
planks), allowing him to bridge gaps
and create steps. But he’s crap in a
fight, so tap him out whenever
goblins and bosses appear.

Three’s company

If you’ve played the first game, you’re probably thinking “this sounds pretty familiar. Shouldn’t you be focusing on the new stuff?” The weakest thing about Trine 2 is how broadly identical it is to the first game. The energy bar is gone, and there’s online co-op, but otherwise Trine 2 amounts to a skill reset and a bunch of gorgeous new levels.

Multiplayer does change the nature of the game. First off, it’s nice to solve a puzzle with a friend. The first Trine had local multiplayer which was bizarrely hidden in a sub-sub-menu; Trine 2 brings it to the

◆ Price $15 ◆ Release Out now ◆ Publisher Atlus ◆ Developer Frozenbyte ◆ Multiplayer 3-player co-op ◆ Link www.trine2.com ◆ ESRB E

Breaking on through
Three ways to cross a chasm in Trine 2

1 Trunk call of booty The Thief can hang from wooden items with her grappling hook, and easily swing across. But the farther into the game you get, the less wood there is. Poor Thief.

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2 Sword-slashing lumberjack While he’s mostly there for fighting, the Knight has other uses. Plants can be chopped away as they are in this puzzle, releasing a log that will bridge the gap.

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front and adds online matchmaking and text chat. It’s a cinch to drop into a game with strangers or pals.

More fundamentally, having three players with their powers divided, instead of one player swapping between the powers as he sees fit, means that progress that could only previously be made by one of the characters now has to be accessible for all three. Frozenbyte has addressed this in two separate ways. The first solution was to buff the Wizard: he can now levitate items that he’s standing on or eventually lift enemies and hurl them around—he’s definitely the most useful character throughout the game.

A preferable and more elegant solution is Unlimited mode. Tucked away in the “host a game” options, it allows multiples of each class to be onscreen at any time. It’s more chaotic, more flexible, and more fun, favoring enjoyment over perfect symmetry. For example, the Thief can be a spare wheel in many situations; Wizards can just avoid a boss fight, instead hanging out by the partner-regenerating checkpoints while an endless stream of Thieves and Knights dispense with a boss. (A reprehensibly cheap tactic, and one that works wonderfully.)

Trine 2 may retread a lot of old ground, but it’s gone through puberty and blossomed into a real beauty, while fixing many of the first game’s problems. It’s as if Frozenbyte is saying “Oh, did we make Trine? We meant this.” It’s got the same moderate puzzling challenge, the same characters, the same charm, the exact same feel.