Troll and I is an incredibly ambitious game when you consider the team behind it comprises of just 14 people. Due for release on PS4, Xbox One, Windows PC and Nintendo Switch on March 21, 2017, the newest action adventure on the block is inspired by such triple-A classics as Tomb Raider and Uncharted, and you can see how the team at Liverpool-based studio Spiral House aimed to make something just as epic, albeit with a mere fraction of the budget.
“We’re a small team and can’t create on that sort of scale”, Creative Director Kevin Oxland told PlayStation Universe when referring to Troll and I’s comparison to two much loved franchises, “but we aspire to it.” That much was evident during a recent visit to Spiral House, where we were not only surprised to discover that this small studio has created a decent looking game with its limited resources, but also how the lovingly penned story of a boy and a giant troll’s mission of survival combines rather nicely with a variety of game mechanics to pull you right into its game world.
A boy and his beast work as one
In the depths of a Scandinavian forest, a young boy called Otto has his world turned upside down when a wicked Billionaire sets his sights on tracking down a giant troll that has apparently been spotted roaming through the trees. Sending a team of renegades off a mission to find the beast, Otto’s simple life, where he lives with his family of hunter-gatherers in the woods, turns into a journey of survival.
Split up from this mother following a large explosion, Otto’s first scene is a cinematic one as he runs through the woods leaping over logs and cascades down a steep ravine as you frantically push the DualShock 4’s thumbsticks left and right to navigate past protruding rocks. We immediately made the comparison with an action sequence that you might experience in an Uncharted game, and though this specific scene certainly didn’t boast the high production values of a Naughty Dog budget, it was a dramatic start to an adventure that is very well paced through its first three or four hours, and full of surprises.
As Troll and I progresses, the ambition of the developer becomes more and more apparent as gameplay switches pace and multiple mechanics- from puzzle-solving and crafting to combat and platforming – combine neatly to deliver a complete adventure game package. First off, Otto can hunt, tracking down the footprints of wild boar before piercing them from a distance with his homemade spears that he makes from collecting resources in the environment. The dreadlocked youth collects other items too as he forages around to gather enough resources to craft health items, bind weapons and create better axes, stone clubs and spears to help him in combat.
“There’s a lot of resource management, which takes people by surprise,” explained Spiral House. “It becomes very important in the game, and you’ll end up backtracking just to get the stuff you need. However, if you don’t want heavy resource management there are three game modes. In the hardest mode, the durability of weapons fades faster so you need to craft more.” So, the experience can be tailored depending on the type of challenge you wish to face with the emphasis on action and puzzle solving on ‘Easy’, or an RPG-lite option on ‘Hard’ for those seeking a tougher challenge.
Dual-protaganist and couch co-op gameplay
The story and gameplay opens up with the arrival of the Troll, and the unlikely pair team up and bond together in their common goal to survive. Solving environment-based puzzles, taking down Orc armies that enter the Scandinavian forest through mystical portals, and working together to destroy the impending threat of human hunters becomes part of the course. Throughout our gameplay session it’s clear that the bond between Otto and the Troll will continue to grow throughout the journey, but already it’s apparent how much work has been put into creating a connection between the characters that players should enjoy.
Though the Troll never speaks he shows that he cares for the boy through his actions as the pair work together, protecting and helping each other by puzzle solving and getting pass some challenging life and death situations.
Impressively, you can switch between Troll and Otto seamlessly at most points in the game, which becomes crucial for progression. Playing as a dual protagonist brings a new dynamic to a game that adds a surprising amount of depth. The small frame of Otto, in comparison to the big bulky frame of Troll, complement each other well. Troll, for example, can lift Otto with the palm of his hand onto otherwise unreachable platforms, and pick up heavy objects. In one section, you control Troll and find an aeroplane wing which he lays across two stone columns allowing Otto safe passage to the next area.
Both main characters have their own strengths and weaknesses, but their skills combine impressively. In combat, Otto is agile and able to attack from a distance or sneak around encampments, perhaps to find a vantage point for an attack, while Troll’s lumbering frame immediately gives the game away. He makes up for his inability to stay out of sight with his massive hairy fists that he pounds into the ground, his side swipe that casts away multiple enemies, or his devastating foot stomp which makes light work of enemies.
The pair split up on occasions too and reunite once you’ve worked out how to bring them back together. This might involve Otto sneaking around an encampment to find a mechanism to open a door, for instance. It’s a dynamic that works well and, for the most part, makes Troll and I a fun experience in its opening stages. “There’s a cave system later in the game, a troll cave, and only the troll can move the walls of the cave for Otto to navigate through it,” says Kevin, giving us further insight into another situation where the pair get split up. “And then there’s smaller areas that only Otto can go through.” Troll and I is about working together as a team, and with some fairly open and multi-tiered locations offering various paths to explore, we found it quite challenging during some sections and ultimately rewarding when we worked out what we needed to do to progress.
The shifts in gameplay prove to be a welcome change of pace too. One minute you’re enjoying the relative serenity of exploring an area trying to work out to get from A to B utilising the environment around you, and next moment your caught up in a gun-fight, or stumble upon an Orc camp. Smaller areas, where you appear to have no choice but to throw spears frantically and thrash away with the Troll’s fists, give way to wide open areas. In one instance, we discovered a huge military-looking base with wooden walkways connecting buildings, which took the battle inside with Otto and outside with the Troll. Switching between the two to clear the area of enemies became quite tactical. While we used Otto to hone in on the snipers that were out of reach for the Troll, we’d switch back to the Troll to clear out the ground enemies that otherwise might over-power the boy. All the while, we’re searching for a way out so the two can progress safely.
Troll and I features discussed
Impressively, you can do all of this in split-screen co-op, sitting on the coach with a friend taking control of either the Troll or Otto. We tried this out, and it was a blast as we shouted out directions to each other and gave each other encouragement or tips on what we should do next in order to progress.
There’s a skill tree system too where you can choose to focus on certain skills such as crafting. Some are very handy too, such as the ability to turn the Troll invisible for a short amount of time. It’s ambitious stuff for a team of this scale, though the cracks on the small budget did occasionally show. Playing on a PS4 debug, Troll and I is rough around the edges. Animation occasionally crashed to a standstill with Orcs “doing the running man into rocks” and a few frustrations with the hit detection mechanic for Troll’s meaty fists proved to be literally hit-and-miss. Other glitches too proved to be as ugly as the Troll itself, and without a day-one patch we understand this is the finished article.
Nevertheless, it’s difficult to be too critical when you realise what a team of this scale has managed to achieve. Even without the crafting, resource management and skill tree system, Troll and I has the makings of a solid action adventure game with a narrative that has left us keen to know what happens next and whether the unlikely friends make it to the end of their journey as one. If the Troll dies, we might shed a tear.
Troll and I is due for release on March 21, 2017.