Trenched Review

One of the things I sometimes dislike about reviewing a game
is that I'm not given as much time as I'd like with it. Not that I don't get to
finish it, just that I'm not allowed to play at my own pace. But with developer
Double Fine's Trenched I just couldn't help myself; within two days I had
completely blasted through the campaign, grinding levels over and over again to
max out my level and collect that oh-so-precious loot. I'm just going to say it:
I love this game. Trenched takes place in a alternate world, where 1940s-esque
soldiers pilot giant anthropomorphic machines called Trenches in an effort to
fight a madman and his army of constructs. Part third-person shooter, part tower
defense, Trenched challenges you to fight wave after wave of enemies in a
variety of stages. Sometimes you're defending one position, other times you're
defending multiple, but the goal is always the same: deploy turrets and use the
guns on your mech to blast the holy hell out of anything you see. Collecting the
"scrap" the enemies drop when they die allows you to deploy additional turrets
(or emplacements), which look great as they fall from the sky before they drill
into the ground.

A big part of the fun in Trenched is figuring out the right
mech for the level at hand. Picking a chassis changes the amount of guns and
emplacements you can bring, so once you've figure out your play style you have
to decide what armaments suit the enemies ahead. If you want to play it like a
shooter, pick a chassis that allows you to take a host of guns , supplementing
your combat weaknesses with one or two emplacements. If you're more the sit back
and watch type, you can take an engineer chassis with hardly any weapon slots
and a bunch of emplacements, to create a network of turrets to hit your foes.
Sometimes it's fun to bring an assault mech outfitted with six shotguns, while
other times I felt like a badass when I'd manage to construct a mech that could
fight long range, short range and everything in between.

It makes for a lot of replayability, as you can play levels
super aggressively one time, or more strategically later. The best part about
playing any stage, though, is collecting "loot boxes."There are simply few
things better than the thrill of getting randomized loot that allows you to
min-max your stats and damage output. I'm a nerd for constant tweaking and
customization of my trench. It's downright addictive, and makes me replay stages
over and over in hopes to get a shiny new gun or chassis. Besides a couple of
boss battles, all the levels boil down to the simple goal of staying alive and
defending a point. The reason it never gets old is due to the sheer
entertainment that comes from utilizing your mech against a variety of enemy
types. One second I find myself firing an artillery round into a crowd of
enemies at long range, the next I'd be swarmed by tiny enemies that forced me to
utilize my machineguns while falling back. You can never sit on your laurels
while playing Trench, because just when you think you're ready for anything
you're forced to adapt to a new combination of enemies. Not only that, but
unless you've brought the right emplacements, it's up to you to go out there and
collect the scrap they drop. Every stage becomes a dance between shooting and
looting, and the few seconds between waves become precious. The gameplay is
really well done, but what makes Trenched more than just another tower defense
or shooter title is its well-developed atmosphere. The campaign story isn't that
important to the levels themselves, but the writing is every bit as witty as
I've come to expect from Double Fine. Between levels you return to a hub world
on top of an aircraft carrier. Here you can inspect and customize your trench,
choose your level, and invite friends to join you in your hub before taking to
the field. The setting is just really well done, perfectly capturing the feeling
of the alternate mid-20th century. Inviting some other players to join you in
your hub is worth it too, because multiplayer makes replaying levels even
better. It's a little too easy to play through stages with four players (despite
more enemies or tougher mini-bosses), but with two to three players you can
really experiment. One player can take on the role of a tank, leaving the other
players to use weaker engineers or exotic combinations of weapons they wouldn't
normally take. The best part, though? You get loot every time. Trenched is a
pretty short game, but that doesn't really bother me since you can replay levels
for more loot and experience. The things that do bother me are minor gameplay
choices like the inability to destroy your own turrets. It sucks to take up a
prime piece of real estate (turrets have to be placed a few feet apart) with the
wrong type of turret cause you weren't paying attention. I could nitpick just
about any game, but Trenched is fantastic despite any minor flaws it has.
Closing Comments Trenched is the best downloadable game I’ve played all year.
Its skillful blend of witty writing, fun shooting, and tactical tower defense
makes for hours of replayable gameplay. Take into account the loot grind that
Trenched inspires, and the online coop, and Double Fine’s created a title I hope
turns into a franchise. IGN Ratings for Trenched (X360) Rating Description out
of 10 Click here for ratings guide 9.0 Presentation Great writing, art direction
and an awesome hub world make Trenched a pleasure even when you’re not firing
guns. 9.0 Graphics Trenched looks great, and there’s a lot of attention to
detail paid to destructible pieces of terrain, cool looking enemies, and awesome
animation for turret deployment. 8.0 Sound The voice acting is great, but music
is a little bit underwhelming during the missions. Still, the explosions and
weapons sound good, and the enemies each sound unique. 9.0 Gameplay Loot, tower
defense and third-person shooting are combined into an addictive and joyful
experience. 9.0 Lasting Appeal I’ve beaten it almost twice now, and I know I’ll
play it again and again. Multiplayer adds a lot of extra reason to keep doing it
again and again. 9.0 OVERALL Amazing (out of 10)