Backlog Review: Trenched

Owned by Double Fine and Microsoft

I have the biggest man crush on Tim Schafer. The guy is designing genius, and I have yet to play a game by him that I didn't like (despite my complete lack of ability at adventure games). He is also one of the only people that knows how to make a genuinely funny game without sacrificing all other aspects of gameplay.  Schafer's newest project, titled Trenched (or Iron Brigade apparently), keeps the high standard of Schafer quality.
Trenched is, at its core, a tower defense game with WWI giant robot mechs. Just the thought alone of paying for a tower defense game really turned me off to it. Why should I pay 15 dollars for a game that I can play on flash for free? Trenched solves this problem by offering many different ways to play the game in the form of different chassis. There are "engineering chassis" which focus on laying down as many towers as possible, allowing the player to sit in the back and watch the action like a pansy. For men, there are "assault chassis" which focus on bringing HUGE GUNS that shoot EXPLOSIONS!  Friends don't let friends use engineering chassis.

Using a gun smaller than this means you still wet your bed at night

The plot of Trenched revolves around two main characters, neither of which is playable. Both characters were fighting on the same side in an unnamed war, one an apple pie inhaling American family man, and the other a dirty communist. One day they were touched by a strange alien force that gave both of them incredible intelligence. The communist, being evil and all, created a race of television creatures to take over the world called the "broadcast" (continuing Schafer's ironic hated of television). The american created giant mechs to fight them. The player is a random solider fighting in one of these mechs.

Honestly as far as Schafer goes, the story is pretty weak. It doesn't have the depth to it that Psychonauts or Grim Fandango brings; it is also lacking in the comedy department when faced with his previous works. There are some great one liners and subtle jokes, but none of it is as memorable as the off the wall humor in Psychonauts or Brutal Legend. The best humor is found in the subtitles that barrage the screen 60's batman style, unfortunately  reading them all is a challenge, so most of it falls on deaf ears. As a whole the entire game felt dialogue-light, humorous or otherwise. Many times I was just wondering why there wasn't more noise, some levels even felt eerily silent.

The good news is that the gameplay WORKS. Big guns are fun to shoot and each level offers a unique challenge that forces one to think on their feet.  There are tons of different bad guys each with different abilities that may not devastate on their own, are cruel with certain other enemies.  There is a ton of cool stuff to unlock and play around with. The bosses are challenging and go far beyond the ol' shoot-him-in-the-glowy-bit mentality that dominates modern gaming.

Trenched is a overall a "good" game. It is not a classic like some of Schafer's other works, but it certainly is worth its price tag. Fans of Schafer or giant robots really can't go wrong with this one.