By John Walker on March 21st, 2011 at 11:46 pm.
It’s been a while since we posted any Trine 2 footage, so I think I shall do so now. The co-op indie delight from last two years ago (I wish I had any perception of the passing of time) had us all cooing around collective monitors. And the sequel looks astonishingly lush, with what appears to be some big improvements from the version shown in October last year. It’ll once again see the Thief, Wizard and Knight scroll sideways through physics puzzles, playable by one to three people at a single machine. Well, just look at it – it’s amazing.
There’s still no release date set beyond “2011″, and the website hasn’t gone beyond a holding front page. So there’s likely still a wait until we’re all playing it. But giant snails must take time.
Big thanks to Phill for the tip.
21/03/2011 at 23:51 Adriaan says:
Looks astounding once more! I can’t wait to play this.
21/03/2011 at 23:52 katinkabot says:
‘Trine’ was such a fabulous little game. Perfect for when you just want some simple/platform-y goodness. This looks gorgeous and wonderful and I can’t wait for it to come out. It makes it even better that they made it look like I’m playing on a Lisa Frank trapper-keeper – honestly.
22/03/2011 at 00:42 Vinraith says:
It was the only 2d platformer I’ve really enjoyed playing in something approaching a decade. Well, it was up until that weird difficulty spike of a last level, anyway.
22/03/2011 at 07:19 Wulf says:
Hm. It was good, but I wouldn’t say it was the only one I enjoyed, myself. I personally have much love for VVVVVV and CreaVures. Shame to see VVVVVV forgotten.
22/03/2011 at 09:39 Sam Crisp says:
CreaVures! Does that get any better after the first few levels? That game looked like it could have some potential but I found the first 30 minutes a total bore and haven’t played it since.
21/03/2011 at 23:54 Frools says:
yay!
21/03/2011 at 23:56 Qark says:
Dude that looks amazing.
22/03/2011 at 00:05 skinlo says:
So pretty!
22/03/2011 at 09:53 Lobotomist says:
Wow, if more games looked like this :D
22/03/2011 at 00:07 noodlecake says:
That looks gorgeous. :) Someone lend me £900 for a gaming pc so I can actually play it.
22/03/2011 at 00:30 Calneon says:
The first one was not exactly graphically intensive despite looking beautiful. I doubt you’ll need a monster PC to run this max.
22/03/2011 at 08:11 noodlecake says:
it slows down like crazy on my year old £600 laptop
22/03/2011 at 00:13 Bhazor says:
As has been said. Frickin gorgeous.
Though I’m more pleased by the lack of flying plank exploits. Hopefully that skills been nerfed somehow or at least wont let fly over every obstacle in the game.
22/03/2011 at 00:16 frenz0rz says:
Ah, I loved Trine. Cant wait for the sequel.
22/03/2011 at 00:16 alphasmart says:
While that does look utterly stunning, my eyes were really burnt by all that bloom. And it maintains the same issue I had with the original: there is so much visual noise that the things you’re meant to interact with don’t stand out nearly well enough. I remember the designers of Braid talking about this, how you’ve got to distinguish the stuff you’re interacting with from the background. I got a little frustrated because it just didn’t look right from that perspective…
22/03/2011 at 00:25 fearian says:
I agree, someone needs to take an axe their post processing.
…
Okay, some hedge clippers prehaps.
22/03/2011 at 00:16 Shroom says:
The first game did such a fantastic job of capturing a fairy-tale atmosphere and this looks like it will be 10 times MORE magical. The art direction is just great.
22/03/2011 at 00:30 Saul says:
Any game with giant snails is a game for me.
22/03/2011 at 00:31 godgoo says:
the screenshot looks like what a Simon the Sorcerer reboot should look like. Ah if only!
22/03/2011 at 01:22 JKjoker says:
no!, the next Simon the Sorcerer shall be retooled as a tween porn vehicle for facebook, so says the Spider
22/03/2011 at 00:32 Zwebbie says:
Trine may be unique in that it’s the only game that actually looks better because of bloom. I think it’s because it represents fogginess and damp air, rather than the usual brighter-than-white lighting.
22/03/2011 at 00:33 malkav11 says:
I’ve enjoyed the little I’ve played of Trine a lot, but single machine multiplayer is just so totally the wrong approach for PC. I understand their stated reasons for not having got round to internet multiplayer the first time, but really…by this point it should be on the list.
22/03/2011 at 01:54 Barnaby says:
I second, third, fourth, and fifth this post. Who/what do I have to kill/blow up to get some GD internet based co-op for this game.
Why not? WHY NOT?
22/03/2011 at 11:19 Quirk says:
Different strokes for different folks. There’s a ton of net-based multiplayer games out there.
Trine is one of the few that lets me plug in a second keyboard and mouse and play through with my girlfriend (she loved it).
I agree it would be nice to have net-based multiplayer, but I would strongly dispute the view that their local co-op is somehow unnecessary.
22/03/2011 at 00:33 gritz says:
Any chance this supports 3D? It looks like it would be perfect for it.
22/03/2011 at 00:34 Serenegoose says:
Yay, more Trine! I am so in love with how this game looks. I tried to marry it but you can’t marry unreleased games unless you pre-order them. True love, dashed on the rocks of bureaucracy. A sad, cautionary tale.
Also, I’m going to play most of this game with the thief, just like the first one, because I don’t see the point of having a ninja rope and not using it all the time.
22/03/2011 at 00:34 swarmster says:
Really? Giant spiders? Forget it.
All that creativity and seemingly hard work and that’s the best they can do? Did they give the intern that level or something?
Dev: “Crap, we need this game to be a bit longer. Does anyone have time to whip up some extra levels? Throw in a new badguy type, too, so it doesn’t look like such obvious filler.”
Dev 2: “Just have the intern throw something together. He took ‘art’ or something in high school and has tested a few levels before. …Right?”
Intern: “Gee, I’ll need to think of something really uniquely clever and interesting to impress these guys. I know…let me check the Maya sample projects…”
(later)
Devs: “Giant spiders? Brilliant! Ship it! And hire that man.”
^The conversation I picture every time I see a spider dumped in a game for no reason. Which is to say, basically every game. (Seriously, I think they’re the most commonly included enemy type in games today. They’re apparently a requirement for RPGs.)
*terrified of spiders*
22/03/2011 at 01:31 skinlo says:
I feel you may have a bias against spiders.
22/03/2011 at 01:59 Barnaby says:
If you hate spiders (which I do) then getting the opportunity to slay them in a video game should be a welcome task. Die spider scum!
I can think of much shittier creatures they could have included, like a waste paper basket or a stapler. Nobody wants to fight a stapler.
22/03/2011 at 02:25 gritz says:
Nothing is more tedious than the guy who complains about spiders in video games.
22/03/2011 at 07:27 Wulf says:
Well, in all fairness, there have been more creative things. And I can think of fantasy games that don’t even use spiders as a foe (shock!). In fact, I usually prefer my villains to be more sapient, because when I see a giant spider boss, all I can think is great, I’ve spent the last 20 minutes kicking her eggs around in her nest without realising it, and now I have to kill her just because she’s a pissed off mom, and that’s what heroes do.
Yeah, I definitely prefer my villains to be more sapient – or at least not to look like a critter that happened to just be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
22/03/2011 at 01:03 Sarlix says:
I enjoyed Trine quite a lot. But whilst playing as the knight all I could think was how cool it would be if this was a Diablo style game. The loveliness of the knights combat seemed wasted on a 2d platformer.
22/03/2011 at 01:06 Soon says:
Oh my goodness.
22/03/2011 at 01:12 stillwater says:
I hope it’s better than the first one. Trine was gorgeous, but the level design was totally forgettable, the puzzles were way too easy, and the brainless, respawning enemies were tedious beyond belief.
22/03/2011 at 02:27 gritz says:
Yeah skeletons got old quick. This game would be damn near perfect as a “MetroidVania”, with seamless level transitions and an emphasis on exploration.
22/03/2011 at 01:17 JKjoker says:
uuuuuh, niiiice, always exited for something other than manshooters, loved playing the mage in the first one
22/03/2011 at 01:53 Fumarole says:
That looks positively delectable.
22/03/2011 at 01:58 Rii says:
It should be illegal to look that pretty.
22/03/2011 at 08:10 Wulf says:
CreaVures is unusually pretty, too, but sadly is being criminally overlooked. (To keep up the legal theme.) It’s a shame because it’s a very similar sort of game to Trine.
22/03/2011 at 03:40 milkkart says:
bloom 2: the bloomening. funny how we spend money on high res displays to look at a load of blur.
looks like a fun game though. agree with the guy who said it would be better in 3d though, like a platformy diablo.
22/03/2011 at 05:38 Shadowcat says:
and dark! why is it so dark?! is that a side effect of the bloom or something?
22/03/2011 at 12:35 cmi says:
“and dark! why is it so dark?! is that a side effect of the bloom or something?”
just a wild guess: bloomed lights look spectacular in dark surroundings
22/03/2011 at 03:49 Big Murray says:
I never quite forgave the original for taking the essense of Lost Vikings and turning it into a bog-standard platformer. Shame.
22/03/2011 at 04:23 mkultra says:
Ugly people hate on bloom because they are jealous of its beauty.
22/03/2011 at 06:05 D3xter says:
Needs moar bloom.
Aside of that, I really, REALLY want Online Co-Op on this… I think I still haven’t finished the first cause we stopped in about the middle and didn’t get around to finishing it.
22/03/2011 at 07:03 Armante says:
that looks amazing
22/03/2011 at 07:41 Zanchito says:
Yay! The original game was extremely beautiful, charming and fun! Good news!
22/03/2011 at 08:08 Longrat says:
Such a colorful game! I’m so happy to see that color is rejoining the gaming industry after about a decade of brown and grey.
22/03/2011 at 08:40 Ondrej says:
Lovely looking stuff. Makes me want to replay Trine again and finally collect everything there is to collect. And achievements! Will be getting Trine 2 just because of that adorable snail.
22/03/2011 at 08:54 cmi says:
Woah! Eyecandy!
22/03/2011 at 10:39 Stevostin says:
If I were Blizzard I would buy the company and make sure their AD is working on my next titles. There aren’t a lot of people worldwide able to produce such “universally enchanting” visuals !
22/03/2011 at 12:06 Navagon says:
Well it’s definitely pretty. Hopefully it will also be pretty good.
22/03/2011 at 20:29 Cirdain says:
<3 Trine