I actually tried the demo out for this game yesterday randomly and it wasn’t bad. Crazy maps! Hit the jump to check out the full review.
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Violent, physical comedy often emerges from failure in Trials Evolution, the new motorcycle physics game from the Ubisoft studio RedLynx.
Those who mastered RedLynx’s cult hit Trials HD won’t have much problem leaning and ramping their way through the 2-D paths that slice through Trials Evolution‘s gorgeous 3-D outdoor environments, at least not at first. But even the best players will eventually come off a loop too hard and crash headfirst into a suspended log or unexpected concrete wall. It’s then that RedLynx shows its dark side, gleefully panning the camera to follow the rider’s flailing corpse as it separates from the bike and inevitably tumbles into something ridiculous, possibly a big pile of TNT or a loaded cannon.
In a way, this downloadable Xbox 360 game rewards big crashes, and that helps to ease the frustration of failing a level repeatedly. On my 43rd attempt at a level called “Elevation,†I’d safely navigated two huge vertical drops, a massive leap over a river, and an automated lift that flung my bike hundreds of feet above the ground onto a crumbling bridge. No problem. The end was in sight, and I felt good.
There was just one tiny little ramp between me and a gold medal, which requires finishing a level with no or very few faults. Excited, I gave my controller’s right trigger a tight squeeze and carefully feathered the control stick to the left, pulling my bike onto its back wheel. I launched off the ramp and sailed back down on my back wheel, still clenching the gas. Ten feet from the checkers, my back wheel squirreled forward while the rest of my back went up, up, and backward. I couldn’t believe it. I was millimeters from the end when my rider’s back cracked on the pavement and the game cheerfully sprayed its “CRASHED†message on the screen. With my bikeless rider flopping helplessly, all I could do was laugh, shake my head, and hit the reset button just one more time.
Evolution‘s multiplayer modes –– one of the most highly touted features of this sequel –– aren’t as good as they could be. The ability to race against your friends’ ghosts and download replay videos from top-scoring players is great, but the real-time multiplayer modes are half-hearted efforts that were only added because they were expected.
After waiting for three other players to join your lobby, you’re inserted into one of four lanes on a specially designed track. The match plays out exactly like it would in single player: You race in your lane, and the other racers stick to theirs. The only way to actually interact with other players is by yelling at them through a headset. So what’s the point?
Luckily, players have hours of great content in the single-player campaign, a 60-level jaunt through just as many unique environments. RedLynx gives players the ability to share and download tracks created using an absurdly full-featured level builder –– the one the developer says it used itself. As a demonstration of the builder’s capabilities, RedLynx has posted a few levels to the in-game downloads hub, including a surprisingly functional Angry Birds clone, a jetpack minigame and even a tiny first-person shooter. Of course, users can create regular time trial levels too, but it’s easy to see the appeal of having the game evolve into LittleBikePlanet once particularly creative types get busy with that level builder.
The multiplayer may be a miss, but Trials Evolution does nearly everything else right. Few superior motorcycle games have been produced this generation, and the game will only continue to get better as players contribute to the level-sharing service.
Now please excuse me while I go fail this level for the 44th time.
WIRED Expansive level-building tools, great campaign, physics engine that’s fun to explore.
TIRED Uninspired multiplayer, too few customization options.
