Review: Trials HD
Game: Trials HD
Format: XBox 360
Developer: RedLynx
Publisher: Microsoft
Hello, Crofterz here again with another installment to the series of reviews on the “Summer of Arcade” titles. And before I start let me just say that “Trials HD” isn’t a game that everyone will love, not by a long shot. In fact if you were considering it or you still are considering buying the game I suggest you download the demo first of all as it will give you a taste of what the game is like and then you can decide whether to purchase it or not.
Essentially just like those little flash games on the internet that you might’ve played, “Trials HD” is one of those motorbike games which has you racing across different courses, avoiding various obstacles, testing you speed control and balance control skills to their limits. Now that is obviously not going to be everyone’s cup of tea and at 1200 Microsoft points it does seem a bit pricey but I can still see why some people absolutely love it as well as why others don’t.
You see the actual “Trials HD” game is made up of 6 different stages each comprising of a number of different courses, the beginner stage which you start on which is very easy to pass as it slowly introduces you to the game, the easy stage which is a little bit harder but still relatively easy to pass through, the medium stage which is where I noticed the difficulty really ramp up however if you persevere they are eventually beatable, the hard stage which most of the tracks are seemingly impossible to get through as the difficulty ramps up again, the extreme stage where all the tracks are impossible to complete and a tournament mode which requires you to do multiple tracks back to back to earn the medals which you collect (bronze, silver and gold depending on time it took you to complete the course and how many times you have come off your bike.)
Now the idea of constantly retrying and retrying over again on one course (which you will definitely do when it comes to the hard and extreme stages) may seem merciless and may put you off, which it is and it may well do however I think the reason that there are so many fans of this game is because, much like in the first “Summer of Arcade” game “’Splosion Man”, the immense pride and gratification of actually sticking at it and getting through some of these just twistedly hard courses is immensely addictive. Couple that with the fact that there’s a bar at the top showing you the times of all your friends that have the game and that have done that course means there’s always big internet bragging rights to be had and ultimately makes you go back over and over again to try and beat them.
Just an example of some of the seemingly impossible courses you have to navigate through
“Trials HD” also packs in quite a few little mini games or skill games as the game calls them. These are unlocked as you progress in the actual game just like the many different bikes you can unlock. These skill games are pretty similar in that you have your friends times or in some cases distances at the top of your screen and you have to navigate different courses to get bronze, silver and gold medals. However these mini games require a lot more skill (hence the name skill games) compared to the actual game as they have you trying to go off a ramp and jump the furthest, trying to break as many bones in your riders body, trying to stay in a moving sphere for as long as you can whilst going over an obstacle course and many more. I’ve found that these skill games work in the same way as the normal game in that they are very hard, however when beaten you get an immense sense of pride and pleasure and I ultimately find the skill games more fun to play than the actual game itself.
The last mode is the user content (or level editor you might say) which at first I was incredibly dubious about as I haven’t really used a level editor that works properly (and no before you say it, I haven’t played “Little Big Planet”) however the one in “Trials HD” works rather well. It’s certainly not refined and polished enough to be perfect but it allows for both simple or more advanced and detailed level creation. The idea of being able to upload, share and download each other tracks is a brilliant idea however my point about it not being refined and polished enough comes into play when you find out that you can only share and download tracks built by people on your friends list which is a bit of a downer and something that really should be looked at and updated because surely if you can share and download boxers made by anyone on EA’s “Fight Night Round 4” then it is surely possibly for this game to do it too.
It seems the game tries to cater towards customizable sluts too as it adds a nice little garage feature, enabling you to choose your favourite bike and create your own colours for it and your riders attire which is nowhere detailed but considering the game, it doesn’t have to be.
Before I sign this review off I better also mention the graphical and sound aspects to the game. In my opinion the develops have done a great job in not only making the game look great but also bringing in some of the people involved in MTV’s “Jackass” to do voice overs add a great touch and give the game more of a comedic value. However I will say that with the graphics, because it’s a 2D.5 game sometimes some of the stuff in the foreground blocks your view of your rider and that can get a bit annoying and distracting sometimes.
Review Round Up
Graphics: 4/5 – Developers have made the game look very pretty, however the annoyance of things in the foreground getting in your way is a little off putting.
Sound: 4/5 – Voice overs are great, soundtrack is OK, maybe could’ve done with some music that is a bit more adrenaline inducing though.
Gameplay: 2/5 – Gameplay for a game like this is fairly limited and you would expect it to be. Why isn’t is 5/5? Because your expecting us to pay 1200 and it isn’t worth that. 400? Yes definitely, 800? Hmm yeah OK I’d say its worth 800 Microsoft points too but 1200 is too much.
Longevity: 4/5 – Game isn’t very long when you look at the number of tracks however by making some of these tracks nigh impossible to actually make it through, you get hours of gaming out of this. Plus the fact that you will also want to gold medal everything and beat all your friends scores, there is a lot of…unintentional longevity in the game.
Overall: 3/5 – Overall I give “Trials HD” 3 broken controllers out of 5. The game is so hard that it will literally have you throwing your controllers at the screen which will put a lot of people off. But it looks great, sounds good and is a solid game even if it isn’t worth it’s price tag.
very frustrating game. >:(