Red Lynx became household names on the Xbox 360 with their smash hit XBLA games Trials HD and Trials Evolution. Sequels to the original Trials games on PC but to many these were the first they knew of the 2.5D racing/platformer. So around two years after the last major entry to the series, Trials Evolution, was first released on Xbox 360, we finally get the much anticipated 14th entry to the franchise (Yes, there are 14 trials games if you count the flash based & mobile ones) Trials Fusion. But does Fusion burst onto the new generation with the same bang as its predecessors?
Though there is no immediate storyline to Trials Fusion, there is setting and a couple of characters. The year is 2042, technology has advanced at a rapid rate due to an A.I construct falling from the sky. Samsara Industries hosts a Trials tournament for newly recruited riders to compete in, whilst being accompanied by A.I SynDI. As you progress through the game SynDI informs you about what happened to the world after the A.I fell from the sky and about herself, another A.I named George and most worryingly, you.
The story is simply there to provide a little more depth for those who wish to pursue it, the game is still very much about what it has always been about, making you ride across ridiculous obstacle littered tracks.
Much like the games before it, Fusion is a 2.5D racing/platformer. Though the world is fully 3D, you can only travel on a 2D plane and your rider is viewed from side on. To progress through the 6-7 hour campaign you must unlock enough medals to unlock tournaments to play tracks. Each track has three possible medal positions (Bronze, Silver & Gold) which are earned by getting fast times and faulting as few times as possible. New to Fusion is 'Track Challenges'; these challenges offer up XP and money which you use to level up and unlock and buy new gear for your bike and rider. Each track has three challenges, all of which will push not only your skills but your patience and determination.
Fusion is the most difficult Trials game in a long time, not only will you want to strive to get a gold medal on every track but you will also want to finish the challenges and be the fastest out of your friends on the leaderboards. The difficulty curve is also significantly increased from Trials Evolution (which had been lowered compared to Trials HD), with bike unlocks being less frequent and making you rely on less powerful bikes for longer periods of time. By doing this the game encourages you to go back when you unlock a new bike and get a better time, higher medal position or finish the remaining track challenges on older tracks.
Also new to Fusion is 'FMX', FMX gives you the ability to perform tricks such as handlebar grabs, seat stands and Supermen whilst in the air. These tricks are controlled by the right stick whilst you flip the bike with the left. Though the FMX events themselves are fun and help mix up the formula, using these tricks in normal races is pointless as they take time to pull off and will most likely make you end up faulting due to the track not being outright designed for their use.
Skill Games also make a return but this time are integrated into the tournaments instead of being sidelined to their own category. These skill games get progressively more difficult as the game progresses and require even more skill and precision than most of the normal races.
Fusion also has a welcome return to the Track Editor and Track Central mechanics used previously. Track Editor allows you to create tracks in Fusions large open world map, offering up even more opportunities than Evolution gave you thanks to some new tools (such as being able to create tunnels in the landscape) and an even larger map.
Track Central is where you download all user created maps, with thousands added each day it becomes hard to sort the good from the bad. Luckily Fusion combats this with several search filters allowing you to find the right tracks you want. You can search through difficulty, most downloaded, highest rated by community, Red Lynx's favourite community maps and several more. Fusion's track central is a lot more streamlined, and more advanced than the one featured in Evolution.
Fusion is the best looking Trials game to date, thanks to it utilising the next gen hardware, however there are still some presentation issues that have been seen in previous titles that you hoped would have been fixed. These problems include texture popping whenever you go back to the last checkpoint or restart the race (especially evident on Xbox 360) and some major physics glitches on the bike and rider if they fall from a great height. Other than that, Trials Fusion runs at a smooth 60FPS at 1080p across all platforms. The Xbox 360 version of the game obviously lacks some of the visual flair that the PC and next gen versions have, however it still looks good and is equally as fun to play.
The sound in Fusion is good, the sound effects are extremely sci-fi and the voice acting from SynDI & George are reasonably well done. The bikes roar and the explosions boom but it seems to have less of an audio flair this time around, perhaps because it focussed so much on the visual upgrade.
The soundtrack also isn't as interesting this time round, mostly electronic music to fit the futuristic setting but nothing truly memorable unlike Evolutions rock & metal soundtrack.
As a whole package Trials Fusion is an excellent game and a great start for the series on the new generation of consoles. At this moment in time it feels a little light on content compared to Evolution but that is set to chance with more user generated content and several DLC packs released over the coming year (which are free to retail versions of the game).
Also if you own an iPhone/iPad then you can download the Trials Frontier companion app to gain access to extra content and to keep the experience going on the move.
With all the significant gameplay changes to give more lifespan into what are normally relatively short games its hard to not say that Trials Fusion is better than its predecessors, also with the inclusion of a story to the game makes it feel that much more interesting and I hope to see this continued in the coming DLC or future games.
For anyone that loves racing, platforming or games where you can create things, Trials Fusion should be one of the highest games on your priorities list as of now.
Trials Fusion – 9/10
+Infuriatingly Difficult (In A Good Way)
+Track Challenges
+Improved Creation Tool
+Gorgeous Graphics
-FMX Only Worth Using In Specific Events
-Uninspiring Soundtrack
