GamesRelay

Name: Trials HD

Trials HD is motorbike racing game with a highly realised physics engine in place, it's an odd one to play at first, but once you get the hang of its controls you'll be well and truly hooked. It's based on a series that's been around on the PC for a while now, this isn't just a simple port though, the developers - RedLynx, have brought a whole new bag of goodies to this one.

The game is set on a 3D playing field with 2D controls; you've only got control over your acceleration, brakes and your movement forwards and backwards. Travelling across thin platforms or pipes, thankfully there is no danger of falling off from side to side, your only objective to the game is to get from one end of the track to the other.

Stopping you from just accelerating through each track are various obstacles that must be navigated in order to get your bike through safely, these range from simple ramps to trickier situations which you must accelerate or decelerate to traverse successfully, this is where the physics engine comes into play. It's almost a puzzle game once you're into the main core of the game, how to get your bike successfully through some of the different sections will become a challenge you'll come back to time and time again, some of the sections will demand you throw yourself in at breakneck speed in order to perform a loop the loop stunt while others will force you to slow the bike down to a crawl with only the minimum of acceleration allowed.

You start the racing part of the game with simple objects to negotiate, a series of ramps which you must accelerate through quickly, it seems easy enough, and to be fair it is, not a great deal of thought required, but you learn soon enough that some of that grey matter is going to have to be used along the way. Before long you're learning that to keep the bike on a usable angle you have to lean into the ramp or else the bike will upend itself and you're rider will be crushed under the bikes weight probably breaking several bones in the process. Once you've learnt that, you'll be asked to learn something else until eventually you'll be asked to string them altogether in one fluid move across the course. As you progress through the game you'll unlock faster and better bikes to race through the courses, these in themselves bringing about their own new skills to master, returning to an earlier course with a better bike to improve your score isn't always as easy to do as you might think and a whole new set of challenges will show themselves.

From the outset the unique physics of the game will bring you a tremendous amount of fun, and tears, the biker will often face plant himself or back flip into a neck crushing manoeuvre which will have you wincing in pain as you try to ignore the ragdoll mess he's ended up in this time due to your inability to control the bike. It's not just the situations you put your biker in either that will have you scrunching your eyes up, it's the end of track surprises that do it as well, the developers of the game must have had a laugh thinking of some of the painful ways you could end your run, you often end up in flames or crushed, with a possibility of both sometimes!

Progression through the game will also open up different challenges to complete; these are like little mini games in themselves for you to test your skills on. These include things like having your bike inside a giant ball and negotiating through a track on rails, not the easiest thing to get to grips with but a lot of fun figuring it out. The mini games aren't totally bike related, there's another game where skis are attached to your bike and you throw yourself off a ramp, once you reach the top of the ramp you 'bail out' by pressing a button and hurtling your helpless rider through the air trying to go the furthest distance you can, other times there are no ski's, you just throw yourself off the bike and see how many bones you can break, again, the developers really have a sadistic streak but you can't help but have fun with them.

Although a simple game, nothing has been overlooked, the graphics in the game are superb, detail is second to none on the bikes, the rider and the background details, everything looks just as it should. Likewise the sound in the game, although sparse everything sounds as it should, the sound of the motorbike revving its engine is spot on, the thuds of the biker are sickeningly real and again it's just what the game needs and nothing more.

If that wasn't enough then you'll also find nestled away in the game is a fully functional track editor which enables you to create your own levels for you to race on, and, if you're feeling particularly happy with your creation you can upload it to Xbox Live and allow others the pleasure of trying to beat your score or crash trying, of course, there is always the option of downloading others courses so you can try your luck on those as well. You can create tracks from all the objects you would find in the game, every piece of scenery is included; you can manipulate them to your hearts content to create the course you have in mind. There's a simple mode which allows you to do most things you would expect, you place the objects down, select which angle you want it to be, which way it's facing and how far it is off the floor, then you can choose where you want your check points to be. There's also an advanced mode included which you have to select, this allows manipulation of the physics, the lighting and other technical details. You can of course check that the course is possible to negotiate at any time you want and make alterations based on your testing. It's not hard to imagine that you would be able to eventually come up with a course that's up to the developers standards with enough practice.

Although there is no multiplayer in this game, you do get to see your friends scores for each track or challenge they've completed and this does offer some competition for you to go up against, the best score is used at against the track progression meter at the top of the screen in each race so you can see exactly where your rival was at the same time as you for better or worse.

The game is 1200 Microsoft Points which translates to £10.20 / $14.99 in real world money, and for that you can't knock this game, it's an addictive game once you're used to the controls and one I've no doubt you'll get your moneys worth from.

As always with XBL games there is a free trial for you to download before you commit, if you think this game is for you then download it and check it out first, if you find the controls a little finicky at first, persevere with them, it's well worth the effort to learn the nuances of the physics engine.

At the time of writing it is known there is going to be some additional DLC for this title, although little is known as to what you can expect from this, possibly different environments, probably more tracks, you'll just have to keep an eye out for it arriving on the Xbox Live Arcade and grab it then.