Trials HD

When Peter asked me if I'd do a review on the new XBLA title Trials HD I wasn't terribly excited.  It's not really the style of game I'd usually play.  I'd already downloaded the very limited demo and had a little play around and had pretty much already decided that I didn't like it.  According to the developer's website (redlynxtrials.com), Trials HD had "full 3D HD graphics" but the game is played, more or less, in 2D. I initially thought the game concept was too simple. It reminded me of all those cheesy flash games I usually find myself playing in moments of extreme boredom at work, like bash the crazy frog as far as you can... But I was wrong. Very wrong. True, It's a simple concept but there is real depth and replay value to this game.  The more I played, the more I became addicted.

Trials HD is the newest game in the "Trials" series of physics-based motorcycle racing games from the Finnish developer Redlynx.  The game features two different game modes with the ability to create and share tracks with your friends online.  In Race Mode you navigate your rider through the series of jumps, ramps, track obstacles and hazards in a race against the clock on 35 tracks across five difficulty levels. The "Skill Games" mode is a compilation of  12 mini-games that you unlock during your progression through the race mode. The objectives range from doing as many flips as you can in 60 seconds; to riding as far as you can on top of a ball; to bailing off your bike and smashing yourself against obstacles to break as many bones as possible. While they're called "Skill Games," some of these mini-games rely a lot more on skill than others. Other features include unlockable bikes; limited character and bike customisation; online leaderboards with replays; and in-game friends scores.

The physics engine is really good and functions just as it should.  While the driving physics are not exactly real world, it's close enough. It is realistic, predictable and consistent, but isn't that what you'd expect? I mean, what use would a game like this be without a decent physics engine?  The driving physics aren't the only good thing about RedLynx's engine though, the ragdoll physic are great.  This provided some much needed comedy when I continuously messed up and crashed on the more difficult tracks. Watching my character's arms flailing about while flying through the air was quite entertaining and a relief in some of those more tense situations. This type of attention to detail can only add to replay value.

The control scheme is simple to pick up and play but difficult to master. You control the rider's lean forward and back, throttle, brake and you also have a bailout button that doesn't seem to have much use outside some of the skill games except for some comic relief and maybe to gain an achievement or two. The first three difficulty levels in Race mode gradually introduces you to the subtleties of the game controls well. These tracks are a lot of fun and tend to flow quite nicely allowing you to make huge jumps with smooth landings. The Hard and Extreme levels are very appropriately named. In these levels, the learning curve is steep and so is the track! I found these levels challenging to say the least.  While I enjoy a challenge, the extreme difficulty is intense, unforgiving and at times very frustrating, if you're anything like me, you will find yourself yelling obscenities at the TV. That being said, the sense of accomplishment you get from finishing one of these levels or even passing some checkpoints is tremendous.

Those of you with lots of friends online will really like the "in game friends scores" feature.  This gives you a little bar at the top of your screen during the game that shows how you are going and ranks you compared to all your friend's best times. You can literally lose hours trying beat your friends, I know I did. Another added bonus is the ability to view replays of the top 5000 riders on the leaderboards for each track.  I found this feature to be extremely helpful because during the replay you can watch every movement of the controller the player used to control the rider in the bottom right corner of the screen. Whenever I was really stuck I could always take a quick peek at a replay and have a look at how the pro's do it.  These simple online features really made me want to keep going back for more.

The track editor is very powerful allowing you to create a huge variety of incredibly intricate tracks.  Unfortunately, these can only be shared amongst your friends.  A central server allowing you to upload your own tracks and download and rate other gamers' tracks would have made this game one of the must-have titles on XBLA.  To really benefit from the track sharing feature you'll have to hunt around in online forums to find some good track editors to add to your friends list.  Adding User generated content adds to the longevity and is another reason this game has fantastic replay value.

Lastly, this being a review and all, I should probably throw in a few words about the sound and visuals.  Visuals are crisp and look great.   A nice variety of sound effects have also been used.  The only real criticisms I have of the sound are that it can get a little repetitive and the voice over "talent" from CKY or Jackass fame could have been used a bit more to add a little more humour.  Humour, I might add, that the developers clearly have! (Or am I the only one who bothers to have a look at the credits??)  Neither the graphics or audio are outstanding but both are really solid. You can't ask for much more from an XBLA game.  The real story here is the simple and addictive gameplay that will have me playing Trials HD again and again for a long time to come.

Story N/A

Gameplay 9/10 -  Simple to pick up and play and hard to master. Loads of fun and addictive as hell!

Graphics 8/10 - Crisp, clear graphics with some great explosions and ragdoll physics

Audio 7/10 - Great sound effects but I wish there was a little more variety to the music and voice overs.

Replay Value 9/10 -  The track sharing, online leaderboards with viewable replays and in-game friends scores all add up to give this game tremendous  replay value.

Overall 8/10 - Beautifully simple, addictive gameplay and fantastic replay value make this a game one of the better downloads on XBLA.

Reviewed by Dieter