So the other day Joe, Mike and myself set up Mike’s brand new PC on the 50″ HDTV. Mike had only played the demo and Joe and I hadn’t seen much of it all. Though, being “Trine” we decided that we’d set aside a night and play through on 3 player co-op. We settled in, got some beers, popcorn and set our sights…

…as god intended! Or so we thought. About 5 hours later we found ourselves beaten and bruised determined to finish the last climb to whatever castle we were supposed to summit. Throughout that 5 hours we had lots of fun. I’d say some of the most fun I’ve had in gaming all year. Though, that may have been due to the fact that we hadn’t seen Joe in over a month and we were jonesin’ for a healthy dose of our “French” friend.

I like to think though, that the high points of Trine emerge out of the imbalanced nature of the classes. Each character has a specific set of abilities, and those abilities compliment others, and in many cases rely on each other to make it past a certain barrier. It works well, and the side-effects of co-couching this game showed themselves through the relationships between each character. For instance, I played as the thief. Mike the warrior and Joe the wizard. “Slippy Wiz” we called him. Though we do like to give Joe nicknames, this came about mainly because the wizard was ultimately the most powerful character in the game. With the ability to draw blocks and platforms, move them about at will and carry friendly characters wherever Joe became the lynchpin. It’s there that roles started to emerge. We relied on Joe’s magic heavily, but once Mike acquired the throwing ability, Joe and Mike had a kind of teamwork system where each would help the other across a gap or what ever danger lay ahead. Of course, that leaves the thief…

I was the odd man out for the entire game. It wasn’t great, but it did make for some fun interplay between the three of us. I’d get across with my grappling hook and then just wait. While I was powerful in the sense of my ability to reach places on my own, it was still… on my own. While Joe and Mike harmonized feats of friendship, I was off in one corner of the screen simply watching. It’s due to this kind of imbalance that possibly made the game a bit more interesting for us. We had some fun role-playing and taking jabs at each other. Soon enough though, it became quite obvious that this game really wasn’t meant to be played 3 player on the couch.

Remember how I mentioned I was often on the side of the screen? Well, we soon realized that the camera had an preference, and that was Slippy Wiz there. No matter what, even if the wizard was falling far behind, the camera would be fixated on him and if we got too far away, we’d respawn near him. Eventually, we just started using it to get the whole group together. If the wiz was ahead, I’d just run off screen and then I’d respawn ahead. Of course, this is an exploit based on a bug which is probably there because 3 player couch co-op was not big on their list of priorities with this game. And it continues…

Beyond the bugged camera, there was the issue of puzzle design. Frankly we never really encountered any extensive puzzles. Mainly due to the fact that anytime we face a large gap, Joe would create a box, then hop on it whilst Mike threw it across the gap. Upon landing Joe would levitate it to where he was and we’d move on. Where was I? Probably just swinging around aimlessly getting green pots [experience] or heading off screen to respawn next to the wiz. We never felt too challenged, but maybe that’s why we had so much fun with it It was gleeful irreverently charging through these obstacles in ways we weren’t supposed to be playing.

That’s the whole idea here with these physics based puzzle platformers. Finding your own way is often much more fun, even if not intended. And while I say that, in the same breath I think it’s important to understand that in Trine while playing 3 player co-op the game gets so easy that it’s clear these are no longer puzzles allowing for creative solutions, but they were meant for a different playing style. A single player style.

It wasn’t really until the end level that this became apparent though. And if you disagree that this game’s design suffers some injury when played in 3 player mode, at least concede that the final level is assuredly a singular affair. It’s also super hard. Though, I liked that. Ascending through this vertical gauntlet of obstacles appearing out of thin air, there’s really only a couple paths to take, and all the while lava is nipping at your heels. This time-based mechanic certainly puts the pressure on, but it doesn’t allow for collaborative solutions while ascending. You’ve gotta run and gun and if someone falls behind, you have to leave them. This level, beyond any other stage in the game, is meant to be played with one character dynamically switching between roles based on the given situation. There was one concession though… The thief shines here! Finally, I served my purpose!

Ok, we’re approaching 1K words here so I’ll wrap it up. My point with all this criticism is really just about couch co-op and the importance of considering it. Nobody considered it more than Behemoth with Castle Crashers and they turned out an incredibly joyous couch co-op experience. I think Trine could have been better than that. Too often do we forget why we really play games. Just recently I listened to the Life Well Wasted episode about “why we play” and I was astounded how many developers don’t really know/think/give-a-shit-about why we play video games.

The truth is, it’s different for everybody. Sometimes I play them to engage with my friends, it’s a medium for socializing. Others, it’s about challenging myself, my will. Maybe learning something, understanding a different perspective or maybe even just-plain-turn-off-your-brain violent-combat to relieve some stress. Every player knows why they play video games, they do, even if they can’t express it. Somehow, game developers have lost track of that though. Or at least the ones that Robert Ashley interviewed.

I’m not saying Trine is part of that cold game developer reality. Trine is great. It’s beautiful too. And I’m not one for realistic graphics, but the water reflections on the rocks made me swoon. But it brought some things up for me that I think ought to go noticed. It also makes me question how I play games nowadays and my role when reviewing these games. I often [over] analyze games while I’m playing them, trying to break them down into bits so I can suss out certain pieces and understand where they came from. I’ll notice things like the terminal velocity of mega man in MegaMan9 or how many frames an animation is. I wonder if I’m being unfair to Trine, and frankly I think I probably am, but I can’t really help it.

I wonder if a game developer can simultaneously review games accurately, or are they too far behind the lines? I like to think it’s an advantage… but more likely, just navel-gazery.