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A few weeks ago, Wolfire Games released the highly anticipated 3rd Humble Bundle, known this time round as the ‘Humble Frozenbyte Bundle’. Yet again, the bundle sold well - reaching over $900,000 in 7 days, with Linux being the number 2 platform with an average purchase price of $11.82. Trine is one of the 5 games released by Frozenbyte, and it makes its debut on Linux, after being a successful game on Windows, Mac, and PS3.
Trine is a side-scrolling active platformer in a medieval fantasy setting, the story involves around three playable characters known as the Wizard, the Knight, and the Thief. These characters pursue an artifact known as the ‘Trine’, which - when all three of them touch the ‘Trine’ - they merge into one being. This unified being allows the player to switch between the three characters to be able to complete a challenge within each level. The rest of the story is enjoyable, and involves you finding out about the ‘Trine’ and how they can all be released from the ‘Trine’.
The gameplay of Trine is unique - even though it is a 2D platformer at its core, it has made great additions to this tried and tested genre. For starters, as mentioned, the ability to change your character during each level to solve a puzzle or handle a certain encounter. The Knight is your heavy character - which can take a lot of damage, and is used mainly in combat. Though the Knight is used in puzzles for lifting and moving heavy objects, the Wizard is mainly used to solve puzzles - he can lift objects and spawn platforms to walk across. The Thief can be used for combat, with its ability to fire bows - although she is more useful for moving though the level. She is very agile, and, with the aid of her grapple, she can reach high places. Each level is fairly consistent in its layout, and will all require the use of each of the three character’s skills. The puzzles are mostly easy, and mainly focus around moving and spawning certain objects, and interacting with the physics of the game. The puzzles do become hard, but not annoying to solve. There are plenty of monsters to slay, puzzles to solve, and objects to obtain throughout the lengthy campaign.
Trine is begging for a co-op mode, since three players can take the role of each of the three characters to complete each mission. While co-op was added into the PC and PS3 versions of this title, via LAN and Local Play, it is a huge omission from the Linux version. There is sadly no LAN or even shared keyboard option for co-op action. With only the single player story to play through, there are no other modes to play after you have beaten all the missions. Though there is plenty of replay-ability in the missions, once the puzzles have been solved, there is less enjoyment playing through Trine a second time.
The graphics, sound, and atmosphere are perfect in Trine. Graphically, the game is stunning from varied textures and levels, to the finer details such as the lighting and shadows. The soundtrack, combined with sound effects throughout the game, is stella - a surprise for an Indie to get the music and voice actors perfect. Currently, Trine is the best looking game on Linux. With the high quality graphics and advanced physics engine, it is a demanding title to see Trine in its full glory.
Trine is one of the top titles for Linux gaming, thanks to its excellent gameplay mechanics and stunning graphics. Each level has been carefully designed to have a mixture of combat, puzzle solving, and platforming; with each character being critical to complete each level. However, with the lack of a co-op mode, and a story campaign which has little need to play through again, Trine does fall short in these areas. Trine is very enjoyable, and a different Indie title which I would recommend Linux gamers to give a play through.
Score: 8/10
Good: Stunning Graphics Unique Gameplay
Bad: No Co-Op
System Requirements 2Ghz CPU 512MB RAM 1GB HDD Space ATi Radeon X800/nVidia GeForce 6800 or better
Right is a video showing Trine in action.