Lachlan Hornell
Trine 3 takes one step forward, one step to the side, and then one step back.
It's held down by lacklustre writing, terribly boring gameplay, and even a pretty shoddy technical performance. Maybe there's a reason Sunset has shut the blinds for Tale of Tales.
If you enjoy the entertaining torture of Super Meat Boy or Bit Trip Runner, I'd say you should get out there and guard some "colors". Just don't forget which colour is which.
The platforming feels off, the puzzle solving is either too easy or too restrictive, and the humour regularly falls flat. There aren't really any collectables or hidden bonuses to flesh out the experience, and the checkpoints are too few and far between. I actually like the artstyle and puzzle ideas, but it's disappointing that the rest of the game really rubs me the wrong way.
Company of Heroes 2: Ardennes Assault is out now and I'm glad it is. The World War II RTS adds something new to the series with the meta-war going on. The persistence across campaigns makes you feel like you're really participating in an active war. How well you hold up against the Nazi forces proves you as an adept officer of war. The voice acting and in-game chatter adds greatly to that experience. It's only a shame that the PC is left with so few graphical options. Ardennes Assault makes up the difference with excellent campaign structure and the interesting quirk of the meta-war.
It functions as promised but there's nothing spectacular. It's difficult to say what could be done to make the game better – this genre just doesn't entertain like it used to.
For those waiting since the original Wasteland, good on you for keeping your hopes up this long; it's finally paid off. To everyone else, while it might be a little too old-school RPG for some of you, I'd say give it a try anyway. The involved writing and story design more than make up for any shortcomings in graphical fidelity. See you in the desert, ranger.