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Trials HD
Why today's XBLA release, Trials HD, is well worth the 1200-point outlay
Written by Chris Schilling, 12 August 2009
Trials HD is a real dichotomy, serving up some pretty retro challenge-based gameplay with extremely simple controls, clad in physics-enhanced clobber. It's comfortingly old-school in mechanics yet thrillingly new in presentation and scope. It's a game that makes you think as you play, even as your hurl your rider down a flight of giant stairs to a soundtrack of Jackass whoops and hollers. It's a curious blend of elements that shouldn't work, but somehow, gloriously, they do.
Explosive barrels and crates to add to the danger and excitement.The setup is as basic as they come. You're given a bike and a course with bumps, jumps and ramps - the objective is simply to reach the finish. Do so and you'll get a bronze medal. Do so with a small number of mistakes and a decent time and you'll get a silver. A perfect run at speed will net you the gold. Tutorials show you the basics in diagram form on signs in the background, but after that you're on your own. It's about figuring out how to stay aboard your ride while overcoming the obstacles between you and the finish line. Simple.
The Down The Stairs minigame sees you actively trying to break your rider's bones - as opposed to accidentally in the challenge levels.Or so you might think. Despite the controls consisting of nothing more than an accelerator (RT), a brake (LT) and the left analogue stick leaning your rider forward and back, there's nothing straightforward about Trials' fiendishly difficult courses. It's all down to the physics - you need to approach each jump, ramp, plank, girder and rock at the right speed and in the right position. Fail to do so and you'll fall off - often spectacularly as explosives and huge drops up the ante. Beginner level shouldn't offer seasoned gamers many problems, but even on Easy you'll be falling off quite a lot and struggling for those gold medals. By the time you reach Medium, you'll be muttering profanities at every stage...but you'll always keep coming back for more. The instant restart ensuring you don't have to wait to get back on that metal horse plays a key role here - lending it that just-one-more-go appeal to keep it walking that tightrope of addiction above that net of controller-hurling frustration. Your 360 pad's back button will never have seen so much use.
And even when it does get a little too exacting, there are plenty of other diversions to let you simmer down a touch - a comprehensive level editor lets you piece together some remarkably elaborate courses filled with moving platforms, loops and yes, plenty of explosive barrels. A suite of unlockable minigames give you the chance to break your rider's bones by design rather than accident, to ride atop or inside a giant rolling ball, or to be bounced around by huge pinball flippers. 1200 points might initially seem a lot, but boy do you get your money's worth here.
One of Trials HD's most curious achievements is that it manages to simultaneously pinpoint everything that's good and bad about physics-based gaming in one neat package. It proves that physics alone can make for a spectacularly enjoyable central mechanic, while also showing how the nature of realistic movement can frustrate with the precision and perfect timing required to succeed. It's a game you never feel like you can truly master - even if you somehow manage to gold every level in Extreme mode, your next run can see you fall off yards from the start line. In that sense, it's not going to be to everyone's tastes. But whether or not you fall for Trials HD like we - and seemingly quite a few others - have, what's undeniable is how brilliantly-constructed and wonderfully playable this game is. It might get a little too fussy for some in its later stages - especially compared with the freewheeling fun of the Easy levels - but when you nail that no-fault run, smash your friend's seemingly unbeatable record time, or break every bone in your rider's body in a cathartic bout of revenge, you'll be left breathlessly gasping for more. Not bad for 1200 points, eh?
