Trials Evolution

Yes, we know. Stick with us though, as we'll explain everything in due course.

Red Lynx is going big with Trials Evolution. In all honesty, the game should have been laboured with the extended subtitle usually afforded of a Street Fighter sequel: Evolution seems far too modest. Hyper-Evolution HD Genre-fest? Bit of a mouthful. But truer to what we see in our first hands-on with the digital title.

The new Trials offers triple the track number, double the bike selection, a brand-spanking new multiplayer mode, and a full-fledged map editor as well.

The meat and potatoes of Trials remains: high-octane motor-cross action seen in the easy to medium tracks offers speed freaks the chance to experience massive jumps and even bigger explosions. Tricker obstacle courses await the daring few who'll venture out to test their limits on the hard and extreme tracks.

Thanks to the nearly tripled number of courses riders get to improve their skills gradually while hunting for medals to gain access to new and more challenging events.

Skill Games mode is one such sideline, that'll teach you the techniques needed to master courses, while driving you to distraction with its own brand of challenges asking you to have perfect control over throttle, brake and balance.

For example one challenge threw me on an obstacle course with a bike that had only one setting: full throttle. Oh, and no brake. Another had me riding a minibike that had a tank size to match, forcing me to be gentle on the gas to make it to the next refill. Somewhere else, our trusty two-wheeler was replaced with a pair of skis. And don't even get me started on the UFO track.

Whereas we've seen the solid single-player tracks and silly mini-games before in Trials HD, the multiplayer is a completely new feature. Up to four riders can race for eternal glory and bragging rights simultaneously on one console.

Each rider's track runs parallel to the others which makes for a lot of neck and neck finishes and friendly rivalries. Even players with less experience can join in on the fun, because falling behind and out of the camera's view or bailing teleports you to the next checkpoint where you'll re-join the action -- with a point deduction, mind you -- once the leading player reaches it. In ranked matches there's only a single line track and the opposing racers are represented as ghosts to prevent camera issues.

But best is left to last: I'm talking about the editing tools, which have been revamped for the better since the last version. The track editor takes the players out of the monotonous warehouse backdrops and into the great outdoors.

Trials Evolution provides master crafters with a huge sandbox complete with bridges, train tracks and a baseball field among others. While the "Lite" version is there to familiarize newbies with the complex tool-set, the advanced version holds nothing back. According to the CEO of RedLynx Antti Ilvessuoi it's practically identical to the one that the dev-team used in building the game.

Probably the craziest thing about the Editor is it's versatility. I got to take a quick look at a developer's workstation that revealed the mode's true potential. Suddenly we had gone from neat custom-made Trials tracks to a top-down racer, a flight simulator and a Splosion Man-esque platformer.

"We can expect anything and everything when the Editor is released at launch", Ilvessuo laughed. Unlike the previous installment, Trials Editors will be able to show and share their creations with everyone.
A search engine will allow players to find the newest and most popular creations from all over the world.

Trials Evolution is shaping up to be a huge game, especially for a downloadable title. Based on everything I've seen, it's not only going to contend for a downloadable of the year, but game of the year as well.