Trials HD is one of the “Deal of the Week” games on XBLA this week so I thought it would be a good idea to see if the game was worth it…even at half off. Trials HD is a continuation of the series. If you haven’t played any of the Trials series it’s basically a modern day Excite Bike. The concept is simple. You get a Motorcycle and your objective is to make it from one end of the track to the other. While the concept is simple, getting to the other end usually isn’t. Trials HD are a game of balance. Not only balancing your weight on the bike, but also balancing your power. Knowing when to accelerate, when to brake. When to pull back and when to lean forward.
In the beginning this isn’t too tough, as expected. However, as you progress tracks will get increasingly difficult. It can be frustratingly difficult at times. However, they are not impossible and you get a great since of accomplishment from making it through some of the tougher tracks (at least I did). The game mainly consists of two aspects. One, leaning forward or back. Two, how much gas you’re applying. Like I said above it’s a game of balance, but you also have to take into consideration the physics as well. Coming off of a high jump and landing it the wrong way can sometimes cause your front wheel to pop up. If you’re hitting the gas while that happens you will flip over. Same thing when you’re going up a steep incline. If you’re a bit too gung-ho on the gas you will likely flip over, but at the same time if you don’t give enough gas you will never make it up.
Leaning forward or back in the air will help control the angle at which you land, which is very important if you want to get the top time for the track. There were several times that I landed a jump but because of the angle I came down I slowed down significantly, or sometimes just came to a complete stop. It’s not all about making jumps either. Sometimes you need to get under certain structures. This gets harder as you progress through the game because they will have you come off a jump that required a lot of power and then have the next structure something you need to get under quickly. Once again, balance is required to get the right speed and the right lean so that you can make it under in time.
Success is tracked in medals; bronze, silver, and gold. As you collect medals you will unlock higher difficulties, this is how you progress through the game. You can also play tournaments by unlocking them. To unlock them you need to have raced in all of the tracks in that tournament in the normal race mode. In a tournament you have a few tracks that are preselected that you have to race straight through. No do over’s once you finish the track. Tournament mode is scored by how many faults (crashes) you have and how short your fastest time was. Gold medals usually require low times and 0 faults.
As you unlock medals you will also unlock other bikes to use. Usually these bikes are more powerful, but because of the type of game this is, more power isn’t always better. You can customize your bike in the garage. Here you can select different components to color. You can also customize your character. His skin color, boots, shirt, gloves, etc. You can also customize different bikes different ways. If the tracks aren’t challenging enough they throw some distractions in there by making things blow up, fall apart, crash, etc. The graphics for this game are no joke. While you’re stuck on a 2D plane, the game is rendered in full 3D. I haven’t had any frame loss which is great for this game because almost anytime of frame loss in this game would be game breaking.
If you have any friends that play you will see their scores for each track. One really cool feature in Trials HD is that as your racing through a track, you will see a marker at the top telling you exactly where you friend was located at that very second as you’re racing. While I found that it kept me motivated to keep a certain speed throughout the track, sometimes I felt a little pressured to try to keep up with the marker if it got ahead of me…which lead to crashes. It gives the game a more competitive feeling, even when you’re playing on your own.
Besides racing and tournaments there are other things to keep you occupied. As you progress through the game you will unlock skill tracks. These tracks typically have different objectives than just crossing the finish line with the fastest time. One skill map wants to see how far you can launch yourself after a crash. Another wants to see how long you can ride inside a big ball while it’s moving before crashing. And yet another makes you ride on top of the ball while it’s moving to see how long you can stay on top of it. Those are just a few examples, but you get the point. Either way they are fun and they track your friend’s stats along with yours just like in regular racing.
They have also included a pretty robust track editor. You can create tracks of your own and share them among your friends. You can select lights, planks, cylinders, cubes, stones, plates, structures, scaffolding, and ramps. Under each of those headings you have a multitude of items to choose from. You can place them literally anywhere and at any angle. It actually reminds me a lot of the editor in Tony Hawk. I thought the editor was advanced… but then I found the advanced mode and realized it was REALLY advanced. Advanced mode gives you even more options in dealing with the objects including adding different properties to them. If you like creating maps that will piss your friends off then this is for you.
Overall, I enjoyed the game and felt it was worth the money even if I didn’t have a discount on it this week. The game is DLC enabled so you will get additional content over time. There is already a pack that adds 35 new tracks to the game. If you’re looking for a challenge, then I would say Trials HD is for you. Just make sure you are or you may end up with a broken TV for no reason.
*All images taken from Trials HD Game Detail page
