Little Big Planet on wheels
Trials HD is the console iteration of Redlynx's successful PC series bringing the realistic physics from trials 2 and focusing on a more arcade style gameplay and a bigger emphasis on the puzzle element than its predecessors. Gameplay takes places place along a 2d line but the game is rendered in full 3d much like little big planet.
The goal is simple, get from the starting point through the checkpoints to the end as fast as possible. Unfortunately between you and your goal stands some of the trickiest obstacles ever created, bombs, sea saws, rocks on ropes, massive gaps and probably a kitchen sink. As the Driver of the motorbike your goal is to use balance and momentum to get over these. The game then awards you a medal based on your time and how many times you fell off the bike.
Controls are simple your left analogue stick controls your balance and left and right triggers control your throttle and brake. The game is simple to early tracks get you quickly into the swing of things with simple puzzles requiring little more than basic balancing to navigate. Later tracks however require more strategic planning, control of your speed and use advanced techniques such as preloading your suspension to help you get more elevation. The old adage of easy to learn, hard to master springs to mind when playing this game and Trials certainly does a great job of helping you get into the swing of things, the learning curve is just right with each subsequent set of levels introducing you to different situations and a tutorial level that gives you a brief introduction to the various techniques required.
There are around 50 levels to go through in total and though it doesn't sound like a lot, the game offers a lot of replayability by pushing you to attempt to beat your friend's scores or even to push for the next medal.
Get bored of all the professionally designed levels and you can use the in game editor to design your own, the tools are robust and are capable of producing some spectacular levels, the editor is hard to use though and requires some perseverance to produce anything worthwhile. What really disappointed me most about this though is that there is no way to search for other players tracks you can only download tracks from your immediate friends list, if you don't have any friends with the game that can be a little frustrating. The games lack of a social aspect is one of its biggest let downs, it feels poorly implemented the closest the game comes to multiplayer is a little bar on top of your screen that displays how far behind or how far ahead of your fasted friends time you are. It would have been nice to see side by side races or something of that nature.
Graphics in the game are amazing for an XBLA title they are spectacular to look at, riders and arenas are thoroughly detailed and the game has some spectacular lighting and particle effects and it certainly does more than enough to warrant its HD moniker. Unfortunately though each track has its own individual feel the backgrounds all have the same warehouse look and occasionally when the action on screen gets hectic the frame rate drops and the rider can become difficult to control.
Sound in the game can be pretty grating at times but considering the subject matter the noise is exactly what you would expect, trials bikes engines sound as they would in real life and the beeps of the starting lights all mimic the noises of their real life counterparts adequately. My one big complaint is the soundtrack, heavy rock though suitable to the games fast paced gameplay won't be too everyone's taste and after a while you may feel like turning it off even if you are a fan of the genre.
Small problems aside I would have no problems recommending this game to anyone, fans of fast paced gameplay or puzzle aficionados will each find something in this game that will satisfy their gaming related cravings, the game is worth buying just for the rag doll physics alone, it may sound sadistic but watching your rider get squished by a brick or fly round the screen after a crash is as funny even now as it was when I first got the game.