Is it a puzzle game? Who cares, it's AWESOME!
| Platform | OVERALL |
|---|---|
| Xbox Live Arcade | 9.00 |
| Overall | 9.00 |
|
Brevity is good. Less is more. Easy to play, but difficult to master. These all sound like contradictions but they're very true when you apply them to great game design. Trials HD is just that. Simple, easy to play, yet challenging. In other words, it's a great game. Did I mention it was addicting? Well, it is...and much more than that! I guess it's fair to say that Trials HD is a modern-day ExciteBike. And no, I'm not talking about the cool new ExciteBike remake for WiiWare. No matter how cool and fun that is, Trials HD is what a modern-day ExciteBike type of game should be. It's not just about going through obstacles from point A to point B. Like Gamespot says, this really is a puzzle game because every obstacle requires some serious timing and skill to complete them. The game is separated into five modes: beginner, which is like it says it is, for beginners and noobs. Than there are easy tracks, which takes the tutorial sessions out and makes the tracks a bit more complete. And than the fun comes in with the medium level tracks, which has crazy jumps, amazing airs, and just a blast to play! Than things get harder as you progress to the harder tracks where it becomes less about jumps and racing through the tracks, but more about skill and know-how if you want to complete them. Than finally, there are the extreme tracks where impossibility becomes a reality. Some of the obstacles you have to clear are absolutely insane! Your hands will cramp, you'll give up while letting out a long sigh, and you'll even cry! But that's the addictiveness of it. You just convince yourself that all it takes is one more try and you can do it. And once you do, the rewards and accomplishments you feel are like no other. And finally there's a tournament mode where you advance through all the tracks you finished in sort of a endurance challenge. The rankings are separated into medals where platinum is the highest. If you get golds you unlock new bikes, achievements, and bragging rights. That's Trials HD in a nutshell, even though the challenge of the game does drive you, well, nuts...but in a good way! There are also leader boards, fun little skilled mini-games you do with the bike, unlockables, and a ranking system where you can see your friends' scores and times. And like ExciteBike, there's an incredibly deep track editor where you can build your own insane tracks and share them with your friends. You can only share them with your pals, though, so if you don't have any friends who have this game I guess you'd be out of luck. And having friends compete with you does make a difference. The game is just more fun that way, like every other cooperative game. When the XBL Summer of Arcade thing was going on this past summer, this game caught my interest among the other titles like Shadow Complex, Marvel VS Capcom 2, TMNT Re-shelled, and Splosion-Man. I got Marvel VS Capcom 2 but wanted to try the Trials HD demo. And after I played the demo, I regretted spending my 1200pts on MvC2 because I should've gotten Trials HD instead! That's how surprised I was on how awesome this game is! It's a incredibly designed game that's simple to play but difficult to master. I think that this is my favorite download game for this current-gen so far. It's the top download of the year and I highly recommend it to 360 owners. So is it a racing game or a puzzler? I don't know and who cares. Just get it! That's all I can say! |
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Posted by ASK_Story Wed, 30 Dec 2009 09:19:30
I forget where, but one of the major pubs/ websites gave this the Best Game No-one Award. It's a shame that there are so many quality games that get missed these days.
I think that it is an XBLA game (or rather a DL only game) that hurts it. DL games still have that "it's not a real game" stigma. I don;t think that will change for another generation yet.