One false step and the player loses a character outright. Indeed, there is a lot less room for error when negotiating the hazards and puzzles in Trine 2. The DLC also includes incredibly unstable platforms, which can, fortunately, be manipulated by Amadeus (although it is not immediately clear how this is so). Instead, the player will need to observe and learn about using light sources which are built into/grown from the environment. The player will discover that all of the three protagonists’ abilities, while colourful, do not double well as light sources. Newer hazards include pervasive darkness, which is encountered within a specific, very fleshy stage. (Some chasms can also be overcome with composite bridges which are made using Amadeus’s magnet spell – which also has to be purchased.) The chasms in the DLC are also substantially longer, either requiring greater swings with Zoya’s grappling hook or Pontius’s charging and floating powers (both of which must be purchased). Other humans are finally seen in the series, though they are mostly unimportant characters. In the DLC adventures, the pendulums are generally ended with fast-moving, sharp and massive blades, which outright kill any player character whom they hit. However, those ended with flails which while painful, are not immediately fatal when they do hit the player characters they could even be used for puzzle solutions. There were swinging pendulums in the original adventure. What sets the puzzle-based challenges in the DLC apart from those in the original adventure is their difficulty. Soon enough, the trio gets caught up in more trouble – trouble which is a lot less visually charming than those in the original adventure, though no less astounding. Ever mysterious, the Trine is curiously silent on their ordeal (and the rather distraught Amadeus, in particular). Threatening the wife of the wizard Amadeus, Wheeze the goblin chieftain tricked the trio into being marooned on a faraway land. Apparently, the goblins which were seen in the warped forests of the original adventure are actually the vanguard of the army. Apparently, they were not aware that the city was about to be put under siege by an unexpectedly well-armed and –equipped army of goblins. The DLC includes cutscenes which show close-up views of the character models.Īfter the conclusion of the original adventure, the trio of protagonists returns to their home city, only to find it curiously deserted. The expansions for Trine 2 will provide this reason, and more besides, especially on the lore behind the fantastical world of the Trine games. Throughout the story of the original adventure of Trine 2, there were goblins, the reason for the presence of whom was not particularly well elaborated. They are actually part of the “Complete Story” edition too, but research on the inclusion of the DLC in this edition does not yield anything which suggests that they have been changed for the sake of this edition. This review is about the Goblin Menace and Dwarven Caverns DLC, which appear to offer a puzzle-platforming experience and aesthetics which are different from those in the original package. By Gelugon_baat | Review Date: September 24, 2015