Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy

Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy is the latest game in the co-op puzzle-platformer series from Finnish Frozenbyte. After a failed flirtation with 3D gameplay in Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power, the series returned to the beloved and excellent 2.5D gameplay with Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince, and thankfully Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy continues in the same vein.

Once again, you take on the roles of the thief Zoya, the knight Pontius and the wizard Amadeus, with the latter involuntarily staying at a spa retreat as he's still having problems with his wife Margaret. She has asked him to find somewhere else to stay, and fortunately, he can stay at the spa for free in exchange for them using his name in their marketing. With this break in mind, the three heroes must come together again, this time to take on an army of mechanical knights who have replaced the country's regular knights, and behind them are evil forces that want to take over the country.

The story is not the main focus of these Trine games, but simply a good excuse to embark on a beautiful adventure with lots of physics-based puzzles. As always, you take control of the game's three characters, and if you play alone, you can switch between them at the touch of a button. If you play with up to three friends, you each control your own character.

The keen reader will have noticed that it is also possible to play with four players in co-op, even though there are only three characters in Trine 5. If you choose to play "Unlimited", up to four players can choose the character they want, so there can be two Zoya's and two Pontius's, for example. If you play "Classic", there can be up to three players, each with their own character. And both modes can be played either locally or online.

There are lots of physics-based puzzles to solve, and any remaining brain cells you may have are often put to work solving the various puzzles. The characters each have their own strengths and abilities that need to be utilised - preferably in combination with those of the other characters. Pontius the Knight is a formidable warrior armed with a sword, a shield and a large hammer. His forte is of course his strength and combat abilities, and he can use his shield to, for example, redirect water jets or send projectiles back at flying mechanical enemies. His sword can also be thrown hard into walls so that it sticks and acts as an extra platform.

Zoya, the female thief, can use her bow and arrow and rope to hit enemies from afar and use the rope to pull platforms or swing from them. She can also reach places that none of the other characters can by stretching her rope between two anchor points to create bridges. Her arrows can ricochet off walls, and if they fly through a torch of fire, they automatically turn into fire arrows that can, for example, make barrels of gunpowder explode.

The wizard Amadeus has magic at his fingertips and can move objects around in the environment or conjure large metal boxes, planks and spheres out of thin air. These can then be used to activate pressure-sensitive plates on the floor or create stairs so he can reach high platforms and more. Later in the game, each of the three heroes' abilities can be upgraded and chained together, and you also start to play with gravity - the further you go, the more confounding the puzzles become.

One of the hallmarks of the Trine games has always been the beautiful, colourful and adventurous graphics - and thankfully that doesn't change in Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy. Our three heroes pass through some of the most stunning and adventurous areas on their journey. The backgrounds are wonderfully detailed and atmospheric, and you'll often stop to savour the beautiful graphics before moving on. The animations of our three heroes are also great, and the whole visual side is almost like a collection of beautiful illustrations from a storybook. It's all backed up by a great soundtrack with nice sound effects and good voices.

Frozenbyte doesn't take many chances with Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy. It's another game based on the now familiar Trine script - there are a few new puzzles, new properties and the like, but basically it's much the same as before. That's actually fine with me, even if you can miss a bit of innovation here and there.

But if you're into puzzle games where even the smallest can be a challenge, Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy is a really good game to pick. It's beautiful, there are plenty of good puzzles, and it works well both alone and with a few friends on the sofa.