Rating of
3.5/5
Trine 3: The First Part of Something Greater
Chris Kavan - wrote on 11/27/16
Trine 3, naturally, follows the events in Trine and Trine 2. Frozenbyte has carved out a nice little niche in this title, especially when it comes to multiplayer, though they manage to keep coming up with improvements and tweaks to keep things fresh and interesting.
Presentation: While the overall presentation hasn't changed much, Trine 3 has gone from a side-scrolling game to a fully 3D world. This makes the game so much better - even if the camera doesn't always cooperate (when does it in any open world type game?). In any case, I found it much easier to navigate, even tricky areas. The voice acting and music continues to be
competent. It's not going to give AAA games a run for their money, but, for what it is, it does it well.
Story: We catch up, once again, with our three heroes: the robust warrior, Pontius, unrepentant thief, Zoya and cautious wizard, Amodeus each out living their lives until, once again, called by Trine as the wizard stronghold is under attack. Once defeating this golem, they learn that Trine is but one out of three artifacts of power keeping an ancient evil king in check. Our heroes, lamenting the fact they are eternally bound together, seem to have their wish granted to be free when the Trine is scattered into three pieces. But the heroes realize that Trine must be made whole or evil will spread out across the land. Unfortunately, the game ends just as it seems to be beginning - with the heroes finding the first piece of the Trine only to get the dreaded "To Be Continued".
Gameplay: With the switch to 3D, also comes some changes to the game. Each player can now freely switch between each of the three heroes at will - meaning there can be three of each hero at a time at any given time. There is no longer leveling up, as each character has every ability off the bat. This means some things are taken out - the wizard can only create boxes, not planks (and can also no longer freely levitate characters at will). Zoya no longer has fire arrows, either. This means experience spheres are out, replaced by the Trineangle collectibles. These work to unlock more levels and, if you miss any, the game also gives you easy access to find them.
Levels still have checkpoints, but these are no longer the respawn points when you die. In fact, only the first player really has to worry about dying, as the other players can simply hit start twice to respawn. The checkpoints only serve as access points to re-enter a level at that point - mostly to find the missing Trineangles you may have missed. These changes make things much more steam-lined but players wanting a challenge may be sorely disappointed as they almost make things too easy.
Replayability: Really, the only reason to go back is to test yourself in single player. The collectibles are easy enough to find - the boss battles could be a challenge, however.
Overall: Trine 3 is great improvement over the first two titles, in my opinion. If only it was a full game instead if what feels like a tease, it would be even better.
Presentation: 4/5
Story: 3/5
Gameplay: 4/5
Replayability: 3/5
Overall (not an average): 3.5/5
