I have given a name to my pain, and it is Trials HD!
This almost slipped past my radar. Almost.
After an hour of trying to load Left4Dead (Xbox drive has died again), I grew bored and went browsing the Marketplace to see what was new. Came across Trials HD, recognised it as something I had seen played by a few people on my Friends List, and grabbed the demo. 10 minutes in I was adding some MS points to unlock the full game.
At it’s core, it is a simple concept. Controls are minimal, Gas (R-Trigger), Brake (L-Trigger), Lean (L-Stick).. the aim is to get from start to finish with as little checkpoint restarts as possible, in as fast a time as you can, while pulling off some crazy stunts. Sounds easy? It is at first, deceptively so in fact.
Beginner & Easy modes sucker you in with fast, fun courses that are fairly easy to Gold medal.. Intermediate ramps up the difficulty like a slap to the face, and Hard/Extreme modes will make you want to congratulate RedLynx for riding the line between fun and frustration so well, whilst crushing your controller into a fine white powder. Trials HD balances on a tightrope of excellence and morale breaking gameplay that will keep you coming back again, and again, and again.
The checkpoint system works so well for this game, restarts are instant.. no loading, no menu’s to navigate.. B will restart from the last checkpoint you passed whilst select will restart the whole level. And when I say instant I mean instant, no pause, no interruption, just right back to the action. I cant stress how integral to the game this system is. The amount of restarts you will be doing on the harder levels, even a few seconds load time could mean the difference between continuing and throwing the pad at a wall. The game is set up to give plenty of checkpoints and you will normally find them right after tough obstacles, acting as the ‘virtual carrot’ to keep you trying. This system is partly what makes the game so damn addictive. It’s so easy to restart a checkpoint/level you will find yourself almost drawn to do it without thinking.
The levels are 2d technically but all the visuals are in stunning 3d, in fact I’m somewhat surprised to see an Xbox Arcade title look so damn good for such a small download. With something like 50+ levels spread across the different difficulty levels/mini-games/tournaments, there is more than enough content to give great value for money. At 1200 MS points it may seem a little steep at first, but give the demo a whirl and see how you feel 10 minutes later. For me, it was worth every penny.
I’m yet to try the level editor but as far as I’m aware it’s the exact same set of tools that RedLynx used to create the games many courses, so its entirely possible to make levels of equivalent quality or even better if you spend enough time. Yet more value for money. The user generated content is unfortunately limited to the people on your friends list for some reason which is a shame if you have no friends playing the game. Perhaps this will change in the future.
All in all, I would highly recommend this game to anyone thinking of splashing out on an Arcade title. It’s worth every penny and is packed with fun and challenge, plus the ability to generate your own content will keep you coming back for more long after you have cleared all the existing content.
