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'Trine' is a 3rd person, horizontal platform scroller, which I downloaded through 'Steam'; the cost...$29.99
However, don't let my opening statement regarding 3rd person scroller, put you off; this is an interesting and addictive game. In fact it won the 'Best Downloadable game' by 'Gamespot's' 3E Editor's Choice Awards.
The Game:
Three characters (a wizard, a thief and a knight) are physically joined into one person by a magic object called the 'Trine'. They must travel (all the while using their collective skills of conjuring, jumping, swinging and fighting), an evil-laden labyrinth to escape, and thus return themselves into their individual persons.
Each character has different 'skills'. The wizard...object creation and levitation; the thief...a powerful bow and grappling-hook device; and the knight...a fighters sword and shield AND a hammer. Only one character can be activated at a time so you must determine which 'skills' are needed to accomplish the task/puzzle before you.
As you proceed along you will find 'treasure chests' with upgrades and bonuses; there are also experience points gained while fighting, with which you can upgrade your characters abilities and skills. And this is were the game really becomes interesting, because sometime these chests and bonus vials are just visible at screens edge, so you need to figure out a way to get to these precious objects, in order to obtain the bonuses contained within.
The only annoying thing about this game is the game-save method; games are automatically saved at game-generated checkpoints; if all characters die, you restart back at the last checkpoint reached...and this is OK because this checkpoint is usually not too far back, The problem is if, for some reason, you must exit the game and restart at a later time (without having finished the last level you were on)...because then, you must restart from the very beginning of the level. So a restart at the beginning of the last level is not only quite repetitive but also very irritating, because some of the levels are quite long.
Conclusion:
This is not a particularly long game...maybe 8-10 hours if played continuously, but it is addictive and it's one of those games that just keeps you coming back. It does have some replay value as you'll probably not find all the 'bonuses' on the first time through. Lack of full, anytime game saves is a minus...and thus the loss of 1/2 star. 4 1/2 Stars.
BTW, the ending is quite tricky.
Ray Nicholson
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First of all, I would like to mention that I have NEVER before had problems with DRM protected games not working on my PC, or DRM messing up my PC. I am not one of those people who go around writing bad reviews for everything that has DRM on it, this is the first time I even decided to review a game on here.While I am AGAINST DRM (the idea of it, and the principal) this is the 1st time I have had a major issue with it. I bought this game (TRINE) at BEST BUY (the store... not online). I physically went down to the store, and purchased the actual game. I did NOT buy the digital download, or order it online.
I have an external USB DVD RAM Drive, and no CD / DVD drives inside my PC. I WAS able to install the game from the DVD, however, my drive was making all kinds of crazy noises (I swear, I thought my drive would take off and fly out of the room under it's own power it sounded like a freakin' helicopter LOL), and the install went VERY SLOWLY, for a game of this type.
After installing, I tried to play the game and immediately got an error from the SecuROM CD verification check. It told me to insert the ORIGINAL CD, not a backup. Well, I never made a backup, and only used the original. I went to their website and checked for patches. Updating to the latest patch at the time (1.05) did not help either. I tried to register on their forums to get help, but after waiting for hours and hours, I never got the e-mail verification email from them (it's been 24 hours already at the time of this review).
The publisher's site had some generic (BS / non-helpful) information about the error, and I didn't get anywhere with their "support" either.
So after a lot of frustration I decided finally to return the game the very next day. Unfortunately, no one lets you return "opened software" anymore, but the supervisor at BEST BUY was in a particularly good mood, and decided to let me exchange it for another game of the same price.
There is absolutely NO WARNING on the box WHAT SO EVER That it is protected by SecuROM, nor that even has any DRM on it. For this very reason, I wanted to warn people to be AWARE that if they buy it they do so at their own risk. The game MAY or MAY NOT WORK... as SecuROM may interfere with certain drives / driver configurations.
Since I never got to actually play (and enjoy) the game, I can not give it any stars. I am strictly just telling my (short-lived) experience with the game, and wanted everyone to know: IT COMES WITH SECUROM DRM.
A pity, it looked like it would have been a neat game. I recommend getting the STEAM version, or another digital download version as those do not have the SecuROM protection.
Best Deals for Trine - PC
These are the years of PC gaming that will be known as the Underdog Era: full of indie masterpieces and megapublishers flops. World Of Goo, MOUNT & BLADE, iFLUID,CRAYON PHYSICS, DEFENSE GRID, all released by small independent companies, were rewarded by much better financial returns than overhyped behemoths of the likes of RED ALERT 3, ANNO 1404 and SPORE. It was not unexpected; after all, just like Limited Installations, greed only pays for a limited number of turns.TRINE is an excellent physics action/arcade game. You control three interchangeable characters (a thief, a wizard and a warrior). Each has his/hers special abilities, from shooting griping hooks to levitating objects and smashing things up. At any point, you can select which one suits you best. Obstacles have to be turned, balanced, jumped over or simply smashed. Enemies have to be wiped out. And vials have to be discovered and collected before reaching the goal.
Between levels there are checkpoints but, annoyingly, no regular saving is possible (hence the star withheld). If a character dies you are only left with the other(s) to finish off the level. If it is impossible without the missing character(s)' abilities you can always revert to the last checkpoint.
The graphics are just beautiful! If you have seen the DIABLO III trailers, they are comparable. PhysX is required however, so nVIDIA gamers rejoice.
The sounds and voices are nicely done and clearly add to the enjoyment of the game.
Overall, I have been playing this gem for almost a week now and apart for the checkpoint saves I can only say good things about it.
TRINE comes with STEAM (in fact it was released first on that platform) and you will need to be online to post accomplishments but there are neither limits on the number of installations nor any RootKits of the likes of SecuROM.
RECOMMENDED!
Honest reviews on Trine - PC
The graphics in this game are gorgeous. A bit too glossy, and with over-saturated colours for for my tastes, but still gorgeous. Traversing its levels is like hopping through a sumptuous, lovingly crafted fairy tale land. In terms of gameplay, it's essentially a two-dimensional game, but everything is constructed in three-dimensions which, together with the subtle camera changes that this allows, helps give it a nice richness and depth. I think that's why I was already two-thirds of the way into the game before I realised that I wasn't actually having that much fun.The premise of the game and the basic mechanics are great. You can switch between three characters who each have different skills, many of which are inherently very fun. For example, the thief can swing around the place with her grappling hook, while with the wizard you can draw a square with your mouse to make a solid block appear out of thin air. The movement mechanics are very good too. Your characters feel fast and responsive, even when swimming underwater, and despite the fact that each of the three moves in almost exactly the same way, the animations are good enough that they each have a personality of their own.
So, the game looks great, the animations are great, and the core mechanics are great. Why then isn't it as much fun as it should be? The answer, in my opnion, is the level design. With all of the emphasis placed on physics and object manipulation in the game, I expected all sorts of interesting puzzles and problem-solving along the way, but these never really came. Sure, there were lots of obstacles to overcome in the game, but most of the time, the way to overcome these was just too obvious. There are usually at least two different ways to get across an obstacle (for example, to get to a higher ledge, you might grapple up there with the thief, or build a stack of blocks to jump from with the wizard), and you're almost always likely to figure out at least one of them without much thought. In the end, you seem to spend most of the game doing the same type of things over and over. Sure, there are a few slightly trickier moments here and there, but very few of them really felt clever, so I rarely had a significant feeling of achievement when I got somewhere.
What does make the game somewhat more difficult is the enemies, though this isn't necessarily a good thing. There are only a few enemy types in the game, and though they're all well animated and pretty dynamic, they get old really quick. The problem is that they keep respawning. It's so unsatisfying to skillfully fight off a horde of skeletons, or to crush one in a meticulously constructed trap, only to have new ones respawn in the same place. It nullifies whatever feeling of achievement you had for destroying the first batch. Pretty soon, rather than feeling challenging or ominous, the enemies just feel pesky and unwanted.
I think it's telling that even though I finished this game very recently, I can't say which was my favourite level. In fact, I honestly can't remember any of the levels properly; they all somewhat bleed into one another because they all felt kind of the same.
I seem to be in the minority, as everyone else seems to rave about this game, and not just on Amazon. But I wonder how many of the reviewers were so charmed by the game's excellent visuals and impressive production values that they never fully noticed its mediocre level design and repetitive gameplay. I don't think that Trine will remain in people's minds for years like so many other platform games of the past have. But if they can make a sequel with more diverse level design that takes its audience a little more seriously, then maybe they will have a classic on their hands after all.
I'm giving this 4 stars, but only just, and probably only because it's an indie production. It's still worth a play though, especially as it's not very expensive.
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