Trine

Trine is a side-scrolling action platform and puzzle video game, available for the PC and PlayStation Network. It was developed by the Finnish company Frozenbyte. The game was released on PC on July 3, 2009. The PlayStation Network version was to be released in July 2009, but last-minute bugs discovered in testing caused a delay. It was released on September 17, 2009 in Europe and on October 22, 2009 in North America. A version for Xbox Live Arcade was being developed by Atlus, but "most likely won't happen." according to Frozenbyte.

Frozenbyte is developing Trine 2.

Gameplay
The player controls and switches between three different characters (a thief, a knight, and a wizard) to try to complete levels. There is also a cooperative play feature, whereby multiple players can join in at any time to control different characters simultaneously.

Each character has their own health and energy meter. Energy is used for certain weapons and abilities, and is replenished by blue-colored bottles found throughout levels. Health is replenished by collecting heart-shaped containers, which result from destroying certain enemies.

The player also has a single experience rating that is shared among all characters, and is incremented by acquiring green-colored bottles found throughout levels. Every 50 experience points, each character is given one point towards the purchase of upgrades to their abilities.

Treasure chests are also spread throughout levels, each containing a charm that offers the bearing character new or upgraded abilities. The player can transfer these objects between characters, though some will only have an effect on certain characters.

Checkpoints are spread throughout levels, in the form of silver orbs on pedestals. Upon crossing a checkpoint, any deceased characters are brought back to life, and any characters below a certain amount of health and energy are replenished by that amount. The amount of energy and health replenished is dependent upon the difficulty setting chosen by the player.

When a character dies, the player must choose another living character to continue playing the level. If all three characters die, the player is sent back to the last checkpoint crossed, and all three characters are resurrected.

Enemies primarily include walking skeletons and bats, along with boss characters, like giant skeletons and other large creatures. Some skeletons are armed with swords, others with bows and arrows, some spit fire, and some have shields. Skeletons are capable of scaling walls. Other dangers include lava, fireballs, giant sharp pendulums, and various other booby traps.

Trine uses Nvidia's PhysX physics engine to provide objects and characters with full physics interaction.

Thief
Zoya the thief is voiced by Vicky Krueger. The thief's weapon is her bow and arrow. The bow can be "charged" by holding down the fire button before releasing, and longer charges make for farther, straighter shots. The thief also has a grappling hook which can be fired at wooden surfaces. Regular arrows and the grappling hook are unlimited, and do not diminish the thief's energy. At some point during the game, the thief acquires the ability to shoot flaming arrows, which do diminish her energy. Flaming arrows inflict more damage on enemies, can break certain objects, and can light torches found in certain dark areas of the game.

The thief's possible upgrades include shooting more arrows with each shot, faster charging of the bow, and more damage inflicted with the flaming arrow.



Knight
Pontius the knight's initial weapons are his sword and shield. He acquires a flaming sword during the game, which inflicts more damage and can light torches. The knight also acquires a sledgehammer. The knight has the ability to lift certain objects and hurl them. His shield can be used to deflect enemy attacks, as well as falling objects and projectiles.

The knight's possible upgrades include additional sword damage, charging attacks, and additional sledgehammer attacks.



Wizard
Amadeus the wizard has the ability to use sorcery to move objects remotely, as well as conjure new objects into existence. Initially, the wizard is only able to conjure a cube-shaped object. At some point in the game, he acquires the ability to conjure an oblong platform (called a "plank" in the game). The cube and plank behave as normal objects, obeying the laws of physics and gravity. The wizard later acquires the ability to conjure a floating object shaped like a square pyramid (called a "triangle" in the game), which remains at a fixed point in space unless the wizard moves it. Conjured objects are primarily used to help overcome obstacles and reach difficult areas. The plank, for example, can be used to bridge gaps. All conjuring and remote moving drains the wizard's energy.

The wizard has no traditional attacks, however he can crush certain enemies by hurling objects into them. He can also block attacks by conjuring or moving objects in their path.

The wizard's possible upgrades include the ability to conjure more than one cube or plank into simultaneous existence (whereas initially only one of each could be on the screen at once), changing future conjured triangles into wood (so that the thief can attach her grappling hook to it), and making the triangle into an explosive that the knight or thief can trigger.

Plot
Trine takes place in a forsaken and ruined kingdom. After enjoying a period of great peace, the king died without leaving an heir, plunging the kingdom into political instability. Taking advantage of the chaos, an undead army suddenly appeared and attacked, forcing the inhabitants to abandon the realm.

After an unspecified amount of time, Trine begins with a thief searching for a legendary treasure in the Astral Academy, a derelict institution of magical studies. Unknown to her, a wizard remained at the academy to study the skies, while a knight arrived there to protect the academy. The three meet at the chamber of the ancient treasure and, touching the object at the same time, disappear.

The wizard recalls that the treasure is actually an artifact called the Trine, which has the power to bind souls. This results in only one of them being able to physically exist, with the other two being forced to remain inside the Trine. The wizard also remembers that the Trine was connected to the legend of a guardian, whose tomb could be found under the Astral Academy.

Searching for a way to free themselves of the Trine's effect, they explore the catacombs under the academy, finding the guardian's tomb. The wizard deciphers some inscriptions on the tomb, discovering that there were once three artifacts: one for the soul, one for the mind and one for the body, each protected by a guardian. The guardians used the three objects to maintain peace throughout the kingdom. The wizard believes that reuniting the three artifacts might undo the spell binding their souls.

The inscriptions suggest that one of the artifacts was guarded in the castle of the old king. The trio searches the castle, finding the king journal's, which describes how the artifacts of mind and body can be found at some ruins, the home of the three guardians and where the three relics were originally created.

Exploring the ruins, the three learn at the burial place of one the guardians that the Trine, the artifact of the soul, was separated in an earthquake from the artifacts of mind and body, which became tainted. This gave birth to an evil tower from which the soulless undead first emerged. The trio ascends the tower, avoiding the obstacles created by a gargantuan undead and combines the Trine with the two lost artifacts, unbinding their souls. The undead are cleansed through the kingdom, allowing it to eventually recover, with the wizard, the thief and the knight proclaimed as its heroes.

Reception
Trine has received generally favorable reviews, with a Metacritic score of 80% and 83% for the PC and PlayStation 3 version, respectively. Trine won Gamespot's Editor's Choice award at Electronic Entertainment Expo 2009.

PC Format magazine praised the game's "stunning attention to detail throughout", and added that its "beautifully fluid game mechanics are impossible not to appreciate."

IT Reviews gave the game a Recommended award, and concluded: "Trine is an aesthetically pleasing and well executed puzzle platformer, with a distinct addictive streak when it comes to fully exploring the levels in order to upgrade your characters to their maximum power. When you're done with single player, the multiplayer mode adds extra life to the game, as the experience is genuinely different."

IGN was more reserved, saying that "a lack of enemy variety, disappointing conclusion, and the wonky multiplayer keep Trine from greatness, but this is still a highly recommended puzzle platformer."

The Australian video game talk show Good Game's reviewers both gave Trine 7.5/10.

Sequel
As of June 2010, Trine 2 is in development.