Let it never be said that I don’t like a challenge, it should also never be said that I can drive a motorbike very well! So you mash motorbikes with ridiculous challenges and ladies and gentleman I spend my evenings fighting every fibre of being trying not to hop my Xbox One controller off the wall! It should be noted that this is really my first experience with the Trials series, I’m not new but I’ve never spent a lot of time with the games! I know what the games are about, the community that has grown up around developer and fan created tracks and challenges has made it all but hard to not know the basics of the series and the fact that they’ve been around for 14 years not only means the name is familiar with most gamers but also that there is merit to the existence.
Even with my lack of experience with the games I can tell you that little has changed from previous games – the controls are simple (that in itself is a lie but we’ll get to that later), you lean forward, backward, accelerate or brake – that’s it! That’s what you’ve had to do in previous games and the old saying of ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ comes to mind because the formula works – now like I said the controls are simple but putting them to practice is a whole other story!
Now I like a challenge, I enjoy nothing more than beating that oh so difficult boss, scoring 100% on a level and refusing to use walkthroughs to complete alternate endings etc. – it’s half the fun of gaming! What I’ve neglected to mention (but if you’re a regular reader you’ll probably have gathered this by now) so far is that I have absolutely zero patience, like doctors believe I may have been born with the ability to be patient about anything!
This condition is only inflamed by my addiction to puzzle games and challenges so you can imagine the scene that ensues after I fail a track – the game affords you the option to redo from a checkpoint or just restart the track from the beginning – I never redo because a redo means my time will be awful and I couldn’t handle that! Trials Fusion has me absolutely hooked, it’s done it’s job and converted me! You’ll need to gauge speed, distance and jump if you want to achieve the best time possible and anyone with even a hint of OCD or perfectionism may suffer from bouts of agonising rage just so they can complete even the tutorial/beginner tracks with the best time possible!
Thankfully Fusion offers a very serene and colourful world in which to immerse yourself into – I’d like to write that this somehow alleviates your infuriation but it doesn’t… It does however make very a beautiful and visually astounding world to throw yourself and a motorcycle around in, I can’t pretend to write about the soundtrack, it’s forgettable and barely noticeable, so it’s at the very least, not distracting!
Fusion currently lacks an online multiplayer mode unless you’re trying to best folk who sit smugly atop the leader-board but ‘Competition’ mode won’t be available for another few months according to Ubisoft.
That only matters if you’re tired of self gratification / depreciation (depending on well you’ve mastered the game!), the Trials series has always been a bit of a niche, it’s entertaining for the casual challenger but really only the dedicated fans can appreciate the extended tracks, the ramped up difficulty and challenge that is Fusion. I don’t think that means the game is bad, I have utterly enjoyed my attempts to best the bike and the ramps but it’s just too much for me and I’ve come to terms with that! I’ve been bested! My motorcycle trials career has ended!
[easyreview cat1title=”The Arcade Verdict” cat1detail=”Challenging and infuriating but oh so very pretty to look at!” cat1rating=”7″]
Trials Fusion is out now for PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and Windows PCs.
Editor-in-Chief, part-time super villain and hoarder of cats. If you can’t find me writing, I’m probably in the kitchen!
