There’s a fine line between frustratingly difficult and challenging fun. Too far to one side and your game becomes a chore that nobody wants to play. To far the other side and it becomes a mindlessly easy game making player’s wonder what could have been. Getting the right balance is key to success and its one RedLynx have visited before in their previous Trials games. So let’s see if they make it a hat-trick of success with the newest game in the series, Trials Fusion.

Trials Fusion is the latest in the massively popular physics-based puzzler meets racing series, following on from the success of the critically-acclaimed Trials Evolution which itself built on the original Trials HD. While Evolution was a massive step forward from HD, Fusion is more about building on that new engine with performance tweaks here and there while adding very few new elements.

The core Trials experience remains largely unchanged in Trials Fusion. It’s still a game of trial and error. Trials veterans may find themselves blasting through the first few difficultly levels, but newcomers to the series will be let in gently as they progress through a series of increasingly difficult courses, learning how to lean their rider to keep their bike balanced over obstacles, hills and making jumps all while racing against your friends progress which is again shown on the course your attempting with a ghost giving you added pressure of not wanting to be bringing up the rear.

 

Don’t be too dismayed if you keep faulting. Each error and crash acts as a learning experience and the frequent check points will make sure you can quickly retry. Now you know you need to try a new tactic. Are you learning the wrong way? Do you need more traction? Maybe you need to learn how to pull off quick bunny hops or take more momentum into the next hazard to clear a jump. For the most part you’ll fail knowing that you were so close to making it. This is where the “just one more go” element comes in to play. Practice makes perfect and you’ll soon be flying past those areas that once troubled you before crashing headfirst into a new challenge. Just believe me, it’s addictive.

I’m happy to say that the track designs are excellent once again. RedLynx really have a knack for creating unique courses and you can really see the evolution of their skills since Trials HD. Tracks flow perfectly with different themes for each area, but also ensure each track stands on its own with unique looks, obstacles and styles. Some levels even feature branching paths or cheap shortcuts that can only be found through exploration and experimentation. Often the ghosts of your friends will also provide a hint when you notice you’re way ahead of them until suddenly their name flashes past you and you spend the next half hour trying to find that shortcut.

Earning medals will guide your progress in Trials Fusion. You’ll earn Bronze, Silver and Gold medals from the start, with Platinum unlocking later in the game. Medals are award depending on how fast you completed the track and how many fails you had. Earn a certain amount of medals and you’ll unlock the next stage and difficulty. Trials Fusion provides a steady difficulty progression which makes the early game far more accessible than its predecessors. Veterans may believe the difficulty has been toned down, but after unlocking a few more stages they’ll soon realise the tough, relentlessness of the previous titles is still here.

New to the series are challenges. Each level also has its own set of three challenges specially crafted around each track giving you new ways to reach the finish. You’ll be seeing challenges ranging from simply finishing without crashing to doing a set amount of back-flips and up to the more extravagant of finding warp zones, playing a game of tennis or playing the track on fire. Completing these challenges will earn you additional XP to level up your rider and unlock new bikes and clothing.

Another new addition in Trials Fusion is a trick system called FMX. You can use these in any level but there are a few specialist FMX levels to show off the feature. Doing these tricks are controlled with the right analogue stick, holding the stick will allow the trick to go on longer, but you’ll need to let go in time to control your landing. The tricks work well but there’s no reason to use them in the normal tracks and there are far too few FMX tracks to allow you to get used to them. At the moment they seem a little tacked on, but they could be a feature the Trials community take advantage of with the user created tracks.

The level editor in Trials Fusion builds on what we were given in Trials Evolution. If you’ve ever played some of the user-created tracks from that game then you’ll know what is possible here. The level editor allows players to create everything from their own trials courses to a first-person shooter, a Tetris-clone and much more. You’re almost limited only by your own imagination. Trials Fusion has only been out for a few weeks and already the community have created some incredible impressive games to try out for yourself. Just imagine what they will be doing 12 months from now.

Unfortunately downloading tracks is the only real online feature. Online Multiplayer has not yet been implemented though it is expected to be included in a future patch. For now your multiplayer needs will require you having friends willing to come over and play with you on your console. 4 racers will start on the same basic track with the sole aim is to be the first across the finish line. Get too far away from the leader of the pack and you’ll automatically crash and will have to wait to respawn at predetermined checkpoints throughout the level. It’s great fun, but very little has changed since Trials Evolution.

There’s also a small feature that takes advantage of the Trials Frontier game, the mobile version of Trials. It’s nothing too deep though. Simply completing 3 predetermined levels on each will unlock a special costume. It seems a shame they waited to release both Trials titles around the same time, but didn’t really implement any kind of cross-play between them. It’s a missed opportunity.

Trials Fusion doesn’t make as huge of a leap forward that Trials Evolution did over Trials HD, but what it does do is tweak and perfect on what Evolution introduced making it a worthy entry into the Trials series and probably the best Trials game yet. While the introduction of a physics-based trick system does seem like it needs more fleshing out, the new level challenges really add another layer of replayability to an already addictive formula. However missing out with the online multiplayer could be a mistake as early buyers of the game could go on to other games by the time that feature is rolled out.

If you liked the previous games then consider this a must-buy. If you’re looking for a way into the series then this is the perfect entry for you with enough of a learning curve to keep you addicted, but able to provide a challenge once you’ve got the basics down.

Trials Fusion is out now for PC, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

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