"Live, Die, Repeat"
Do you enjoy playing games that make you tear your hair out or throw your controller at the TV but still have you coming back for more? If so you're going to love every single minute you spend playing Trials.
Physics based arcade games were all the rage a few years ago but the majority of them have long since disappeared. But since 2009 Trials has proved to be the exception to the rule and deservedly so. It's jump in and jump out style of play makes it ideal for passing away ten minutes or several hours. It's also one of those games that absolutely anyone can play although mastering it is a different matter entirely.
Before you can take on any of the games real courses you must complete the games training mode and this is a challenge in itself and this is where you will get your first taste of must-have-another-go-madness. From there you're going to be tackling courses in all kinds of settings including skyscrapers, canyons and deserts. The graphics are always on point and offer something different from one level to the next. But with a game as addictive as this the graphics are barely a talking point.
A new trick system called FMX Trick System has been developed for Trials Fusion. When you become airborne or grab some air as the book kids call it you can use either joystick to perform a multitude of tricks. These slowly but surely add up during your game giving you more points and race bonuses. This may seem like a throwaway feature but it just adds to the already addictive just one more go mentality.
Another great feature making a welcome return is the Trials Track Editor. I am not the biggest fan of these build your own whatever tools because I lack the creativity needed to make anything half decent and I found the tutorial to be very, very basic at best so this isn't something I would use. However the big draw is what the Trials community have done with the tools they have been given. And let me tell you that there are some sadists out there. Some of the tracks border on insanity. There are thousands upon thousands to choose from and this alone adds an insane amount of replayability to the game. Online multiplayer mates it's debut as well with up to eight people in a lobby. I did struggle to find games at certain times of the day but when I did it was always a good laugh with a lot of coarse language thrown in for good measure.
The big question you have to ask yourself is does a third game in the Trials series differentiate itself enough to justify it's existence. The huge amount of content on offer here like the medal system, tricks to pull off, challenges, insane amount of user-created levels, customization options for you and your bike, online and offline multiplayer and that sweet, sweet must-have-another-go-madness all point to yes and I couldn't agree more.
Review copy supplied by XCN.
Game: Trials Fusion.
Genre: Platform, Racing.
Developer: RedLynx.
Publisher: Ubisoft.
Platform(s): Xbox One.