Trials HD

Remember the first time you played the original Tony Hawk Pro Skater? The crack addict like sensation of passing the controller back and forth with the feeling of MUST-TRY-JUST-ONE-MORE-TIME only to find yourself restarting the challenge countless times to top that high score. That’s what Trials HD does to you.

It’s not surprising that the buzz surrounding Trials HD coming out of E3 this year was more or less nonexistent.  Being tucked away at a single kiosk on the outskirts of the Microsoft booth with a couple other “Summer of Arcade” games didn’t help.  I happened to catch it out of the corner of my eye while making my rounds and knew within 30 seconds of play time that this was a true gem.   Who knew that Finnish based developer RedLynx, who’s past claim to fame was “Reset Generation” noted on their own website as “The best N-Gage Game Yet”, could pull out such a winner?  It’s concept is simple, like Line Rider, Jelly Car, Bike or Die or any of the other hundreds of  physics-based racing simulators: your goal is to get to the finish line as fast as possible while doing crazy stunts, and most importantly, not crashing.  Where Trials really stands out is in the degree of physics being calculated along with an insane amount of polish on the graphics.  In talking with one of the developers at E3 I was stunned to find out that they built the whole game from the ground up on it’s own proprietary engine for the 360.  We’ve come along way since Hexic HD.

What really increases the addictive hook is that Trials HD gives you such an easy way to retry a level or section that it almost compels you to do so.  Pressing the “Select” button at any given time instantly throws you back to the beginning of the level; hit “B” and it sends you to the last check point, all with absolutely no load times.  It’s pure crack!  Download now, you’ll be passing that controller around like a glass pipe; but I promise you won’t be on the corner looking for a date any time soon.