Trials Fusion - Let Me Try One More Time

What happens when you put physics and trial-and-error together and make a game out of that combination? Trials Fusion, that's what, an excellent sports game with highly believable physics and responsive controls. RedLynx Studio fused together the elements of platforming, physics-based puzzles and motorcross into one neat and beautiful package that is Trials Fusion.

In Trials Fusion, you maneuver a bike along strategically and smartly constructed courses from left to right. If you ever played the ever-popular mobile game Hill Climb Racing, then you'll get the idea. This sports game features the same physic-based mechanic, except that it's much more advanced and accurate, and your character's body movement is also separate from that of the bike. In order to understand how things work, you'll need at least the very basic understanding of physics principles such as inertia, momentum, center of gravity and weight distribution. 

Welcome to Trials Fusion.

Trials Fusion's physics is highly believable. Understanding how its concepts is easy enough, but applying what you've learned is the hard part. For instance, if you land hard vertically, you'll quickly lose your momentum and the impact might knock you off-balance if you don't watch out. When climbing uphill, you'll have to apply backthrust and forwardthrust smartly, or else you'll flipped over and crash. You'll have to preserve your momentum when making jumps over to short platforms; lose your momentum and you'll not going to make it to the next platform.

The game is divided into 8 sets of levels; called Events; each containing 6 to 8 numbers of Tracks. Each track has 3 medals to win: bronze, silver and gold. Winning a bronze gives you 1 medal, Silver gives you 2 medals and Gold gives you 3. Scoring Gold unlocks new body kits, while medals are collected as points to unlock Events, each with its own specific theme. Once you unlock an Event, you're free to try any Track you want from that Event. Hence, there is no need to unlock each Track in a sequence, lowering the chance that you might give up the game entirely just because you are unable to progress thanks to particularly hard Tracks. You can always try different Tracks and later on get back to the Tracks that you failed to nail earlier.

Riding against the element.

You start with the Baggie, which is of course the basic bike. Then as you progressed and obtained medals, more bikes will be unlocked. Thankfully in Trials Fusion, you do not need to go out of your way to unlock bikes the way you do in racing games. They're automatically unlocked when the need to use them arises, keeping the focus on the gameplay. All of the vehicles in this game are the default vehicle in their respective category. The Roach has powerful engines and is your number one choice for Trial events. On the other hand, the Pit Viper is a trick itself to master, as well as extremely light and precision-focused. The Foxbat, as the name implies, is the ideal vehicle to pull off acrobatic moves and impressive tricks. Meanwhile, the TKO-Panda; the only quadbike; is heavy and powerful.

Each bike has a distinct feel and weight to it. The Pit Viper is so light that even when it is idle, you can flip it over with just a quick forward thrust, breaking your neck in the process. The TKO-Panda is obviously the heaviest; being a quadbike (ATV). You'll need to properly understand the concept of weight distribution when riding this vehicle as it requires tricky backthrust and forwardthrust maneuvers to keep it balanced when landing jumps. If you can't land it properly, chances are the quadbike will land flat on top of you instead. In fact, there is actually an entire set of levels dedicated to the TKO-Panda. Anyway, I think I should stop elaborating on these bikes and let you figure them out yourself for the fun of it.

Riding the quadbike during sunset.

The main and classic type of game is Trials. The goal is simple: get to the finish as quickly and with as little (to none) crashes as possible. Typically each medal that you earn rewards you with different amount of XPs and money. There are also challenges that will reward you extra XPs and money to level-up and purchase cool new looks for your character. The challenges can be as simple as completing the track without letting go of the gas to as creative as discovering a new path or winning the track whilst pulling off 5 flips.

Another type of game is the FMX, which gives you the opportunity to showcase your acrobatic skills by pulling of sick tricks and stunts. Then there are the Skill Games, which are specific to each Event. The Skill Games include: Krank, which goal is to keep your adrenaline metre from running out by performing tricks; and Hard Wheeling, which goal is to ride as far as possible while on wheelie. There are other equally interesting Skill Games for you to find out yourself. Also, it worth noting that your character is one crazy adrenaline junkie who sounds like the psycho from Borderlands.

Vibrant, responsive and rewarding.

I haven't played a game with a world so vibrant and surreal since Mirror's Edge. Luckily, the futuristic world of Trials Fusion brings back that immersion I had while running along ledges and jumping across rooftops 3 years ago in the shoes of Faith. Besides that, the tracks in Trials Fusion also have a living aura. Sometimes planes hover by into the backdrop, which by the way doesn't feel like a backdrop at all, but instead a real place. The environment seems very alive, hugely due to the fact that it's so detailed. In the industrial levels, you can see turbines and other machineries operating. Meanwhile, in the cities, you can see train networks and buildings covered in neon lights in the distance.

But "futuristic" does not only cover skyscrapers and factories. There are also beautiful tropical tracks with great weather effects. There are panoramic deserts tracks, too, presented in a way unlike in so many games where deserts are just a plain and seemingly endless field of sand. They're so beautiful that you can't help but somehow wish that it was possible to divert the bike off of its course and throttle away into the background and ride around the rocks and climb the hills you see in the distance. In short, each track delivers an actual sense of place.

This is not as easy as it looks

Keep in mind though, the latter tracks are really difficult. The rise of difficulty also feels so abrupt. There you were nailing those courses and pulling off huge jumps in the previous levels, and now you can't seem to get to the end of this one. I mean, it really is that difficult, especially on the first attempts. Prior to the latter levels, I never had more than 10 retries, but the next thing I knew, I was pressing the retry key repeatedly over just one obstacle that I couldn't seem to pass.

In fact, there was one course that I struggled to pass. Most of the time, I retried due to crashes. The game keeps track of the number of retries. But for this track, I kept flipping over and missed the platform and landed back onto where I started. I didn't crash though, but I had to retry everytime I missed the damn platform. The only difference is that it was not due to crashes so I did not have to press the retry key, thus the game does not keep track of my "retries".

I'm missing the platform for the 15th time already! That's 48 retries already!

Fortunately, the control is extremely responsive. No, I'm not kidding, it really is very responsive. Press the backthrust key and your character will backthrust that instant. Press the throttle key and your bike will move forward that instant. There is absolutely no delay, as if the game already knows what your next move is and will time its action on the press of your button. Seriously, I have never played any racing or sports game as responsive as Trials Fusion.

In a game like this, you'll need to act quickly. But human cognitive responses are a few milliseconds late. See how frustrating it would be if the same goes with the control responsiveness? The delays will stack up! Hence, Trials Fusion's responsive control is not only brilliant because of its efficiency, but also due to the fact that high responsiveness is truly vital for a physics-based platformers such as this. It is necessary in order to accommodate to the needs of pulling off precise moves such as the bunny hop. Not to mention the need to escape crashes and faults that may happen in the blink of an eye if the response is 20 milliseconds late.

If he won't make the jump, at least he can enjoy his fall.

Trials Fusion is a game of trial-and-error. You'll have to retry plenty of times before you manage to complete the track. It is a challenging game, but not stupid kind of challenging. Trust me, completing a hard track whilst achieving Gold feels extremely rewarding. Once you're hooked, you can never get enough of it. As a matter of fact, even half a second can make such a huge different between either resting or trying all night long on the track that you nearly nailed. It's always "let me try one more time," but "one more time" never feels enough. I myself once got obsessed with a particular track just because I was 3 metres away from my goal but due to my failure, I had to retry almost 20 times before passing it in flying colours.

All things considered, Trials Fusion is an excellent sports game that requires as much precision as persistence. It is tough as nails, but thankfully very responsive. It might not appeal to a wide audience but those who are willing to try it will fall in love with it. That's why it's such a rare gem. You don't see a lot of games like this these days. The latter stages may seem very torturing but Trials Fusion is a beautiful, responsive and rewarding game that you won't want to miss.

So, have you played Trials Fusion? What are the hardest tracks? Let me know what you think!

Oh, this one is entirely up to you but if you're from one of Google+ communities, please put your thoughts down in the blog's comment section below instead of the Google+ post, so that it's easier for me to keep track of the feedback. I'd appreciate that!