Trinity: Souls of Zill O'll Impressions

Have you ever wondered how a lone hero could possibly save the world? With no one to help in combat or to talk to when you get bored, it would make the task of ending the life of some all-powerful threat much harder. Trinity: Souls of Zill O'll does not answer the question that has haunted philosophers for eons, but it does provide a companion or two to make your travels more endurable. As the name implies, this action/role-playing hybrid squashes three would-be heroes together in an attempt to do something noble for a society that doesn't even appreciate their sacrifice. We saw an early stage in this PlayStation 3 exclusive today and came away with profound thoughts of what it means to be a hero.

The level we saw took place in the Cave of White Sands, but the pure image that name conjures clashes wildly with the evil threats lurking in this treacherous land. The three heroes travel together at all times, with three unique abilities that make it worthwhile to switch between them midbattle or to overcome an obstacle that stands in your path. The expected archetypes are represented here: the only woman is fast and agile, one man wields a sword, and the other man is huge and brutish. Ordinary enemies can be killed with a few quick strikes from any character, though it's smart to switch to the best one for specific jobs.

During one scene we saw, a lake was in the middle of a battlefield, with enemies slinking through the water to attack your crew. But you can switch to the sword-carrying hero with the push of a button and cast a freezing spell to turn the water to ice and the enemies to ice sculptures. In another section, hidden goodies were placed on a high ledge, so you need to switch to the woman to double jump and nab the rewards. This dynamic forces you to mix things up so you can't rely on just one character to make your way through the game.

At the end of the demonstration, a giant boss stood menacingly in our path. It looked like an amorous snake bred with a horrific crab and somehow had an ill-tempered baby 30 times the expected size. Its four heads flopped about like toothy noodles, and you have to slice off the three smaller heads to get a chance to take out the big one hovering high above the earth. In the end, it died, but it put up a fight worthy of its forsaken parents.

Trinity: Souls of Zill O'll isn't set to be released until next year, so it still has quite a lot of time in the oven. But it does have promise. The three unique characters and the interesting-looking enemies could lead to something cool if the rest of the adventure matches them. Keep reading GameSpot for more information on this upcoming action role-playing game.