Archive for the ‘Game Reviews’ Category

For those who don’t know, Trials is a type of 2D motorcycle stunt game which takes inspiration from Elasto Mania (2000) and was released on various online game sites all over the net. They were designed using Flash and were often free to play, although sometimes players would need to pay a small fee to get additional levels. Now RedLynx has released a very attractive looking version for the Xbox and it’s available to download from the Live Arcade. It’s already been said to be one of the favourites for the best Live release of 2010 so lets run through what you can expect.

Trials is a 2D game in 3D environments. Your bike is limited to travelling in a straight line and you must navigate many complex and difficult terrains to cross the finish line. These range from simple straightford levels to tracks so difficult that they were possibly designed by Satan himself. To get going, you must be careful with the throttle, applying power when it’s needed and using the left analog stick to balance your rider. Precision is the key to this game and players must be careful not to accelerate or brake too hard and smash the poor rider’s face into the ground.

Each track is like a puzzle filled with various objects such as barrels, jumps, loops, massive drops, see-saws, tyres, bombs, giant metal cages called the Ball Of Death etc… Essentially, the levels are designed to kill you. Not that you actually see your getting his arms torn off, but one of the funny parts to the Trials games was watching the horrible falls being inflicted on the poor chap in the saddle. Trials HD continues that tradition and there will be many a time when you will see your rider being thrown through a window, or falling down a huge jump or sliding on the ground on his head. There are over 35 of these tracks in total and they range from beginner to extreme and can be played in a Tournament mode where players must try and achieve the fastest overall time. There are also skill games where the player needs to demonstrate various stunts to be awarded medals.  Natually, your scores are recorded and you can compare them with frends, and point and laugh at them when you beat them. To keep Trials HD interesting, the developers have also included a track editor which is extremely simple to use and new tracks can be made quite quickly. These can be shared and others can be downloaded provided people keep playing.

This is a great looking game, it’s got quality lighting effects, detailed maps and environments and it’s surprisingly fast paced when you practice a bit. There is enough here to keep a casual gamer happy. It’s also a nice price on the Live Market as well, at just 1200 xbox gamer points. AND there was an expansion pack released in December for another 400 points. All in all, very nice stuff from RedLynx.

You can download this game now from the Xbox Live Arcade for only 1200 Microsoft points