Review: Trine 2 (XBLA)

I’ve noticed an issue with reviewers using words like “beautiful” and “stunning” to describe anything ranging from the truly beautiful and stunning to the simply above average and well executed. I am far from innocent of this practice, but it’s a practice I’m trying to adjust and do away with. Why is this relevant? Overuse of a word like “beautiful” or “stunning” waters down the impact of the word. If everything is beautiful and stunning, then everything is pretty much on par with everything else. This is not always the case, and sometimes games that are vastly superior visually get lumped in with games that, while visually appealing, are not visually stunning. I say all of this because I’m about to say, “Trine 2 is stunningly beautiful,” and I want to make sure that statement has all of the impact it deserves.

Trine 2 is stunningly beautiful. (Bet you didn’t see that one coming.)

Visually, the colors are just so unbelievably vibrant. Other games have had vibrant colors (Bastion, Braid, Barbie Horse Adventure), but the depth and vibrancy of the colors used in Trine 2 overshadows anything else that I can think of. I would gladly frame in-game scenes and hang them on my wall (real life wall, not Facebook wall). But you know, it’s not just the backgrounds and foregrounds that give this game its beauty. The characters move so smoothly and with such grace that you wonder just what dark god Frozenbyte made sacrifice in order to create such fluidity and beauty. From the environment to the grace of movement, Trine 2 exudes beauty.

Trine 2 is a physics based puzzle platformer. It has combat, but that combat is secondary to the puzzle platforming, and it feels like it. More often than not, it simply feels like an interruption of the appreciation of the game’s beauty and the thought process of solving puzzles in order to progress. That being said, the rest of the gameplay was wonderful. When playing alone, you are able to instantly cycle through all three playable characters at the push of a button, giving you all of the abilities and skills you need in order to make your way through the entire game world. When playing multiplayer with two additional friends, either online or locally, you get the full benefit of three minds working with three skillsets to solve puzzles and defeat those annoyingly obnoxious enemies.

If for no other reason than to appreciate the start to finish beauty of Trine 2, I highly recommend buying this game. On top of a wonderful visual experience, you get a wonderfully fun single player or multiplayer physics puzzle platformer. You also get unimpressive combat, but you can turn down the frequency of enemies to minimize the interruptions and focus on the puzzles and environment. At $14.99/1200MSP, it’s a great value for the quality game you’re getting.