Post by Dr. Sheldon Cooper on Aug 9, 2014 15:56:40 GMT
some of you may remember a while back that I did a couple of retrospectives of max payne and timesplitters that were poorly written and riddled with grammatical errors. well, fancy poking fun at my trials fusion review so that I can find out where to improve on that?
I have been chastised in the past for calling FIFA fans out on their desire to buy the brand new edition of their beloved franchise every year, because I was always of the opinion that football games had reached their limit in terms of gameplay opportunity. I figured that the only thing that they could be updating every year was the squad lists and stadiums and so on and so forth. Basically, lots of things that could be released as DLC, something that is usually priced a little cheaper. But no, it's always a full price title.
However, I was informed by some friends that the mechanics of the series are being updated to make it more realistic. I suppose that is good enough reason, and a point that I should probably concede considering I've haven't played a football game in quite a few years.
Trials Fusion, mechanically, feels exactly the same as it's predecessors. If it has changed, I haven't noticed, and if you've played them, you'll know what I'm on about. This game could quite easily have been released as DLC for Evolution. But stick with me, there is more to this.
See, I paid £15.99 for my copy, without the season pass. With the Season Pass, that will be £31.98. That Season Pass will get you six bundles of DLC all to be released before May 2015. Now, that's service. For less than a full price game, you get a game that updates itself with new stuff for up to a year. That, FIFA, is how you do it.
For that price, I suppose we can ignore the almost cloned physics engine because you know what, if it ain't broke don't fix it. You have a Trials bike, and are tasked with getting from point A to point B after somebody has placed a series of incrementally difficult obstacles in your way in the fastest time and with the fewest faults (falling off your bike) as possible. That was the formula that made this series popular and if you started changing it you'd be a fool.
If it is broken however, - and it is - then it should be fixed in a timely manner. Maybe i'm impatient because I recently got Fibre Optic broadband and rarely have to wait very long for anything anymore, but it's been almost a month, which is partly the reason for the late uploading of this review. I was hoping they'd fix it and I could be a little bit happier, but they haven't and Ubisoft have made themselves look like a bunch of sellouts, more interested in pushing out a flashy new game for the Xbox One and PS4 than a company that cares about it's existing fan base.
But lets put all that aside for a moment and look at the game anew.
At its heart it's a physics platformer that takes place on a trials bike. Using the simplest of controls you navigate various obstacles with the hope of getting to the end of the course. You also have FMX tracks, a new addition to this series, where tricks are the order of the day, performed by orientating your bike and right analogue stick to the correct positions. It's a bit fiddly, but it's difficulty curve has been nicely tuned to be about as forgiving as the main tracks. I haven't yet got it, but it's taken me three games to get to the stage I am now. So, take that for whatever it's worth, but considering I usually rank in the top 4000 on the global leaderboards, it probably means it's going to take you a while to get the hang of it too. Making another appearance are the challenge tracks where the object is to wheelie as far as possible or get as far as possible without being able to lean forwards or backwards. This is the barebones of the game and they work just lovely. I welcome the FMX tricks system as a excellent, yet slightly late, addition to gameplay.
What I do not welcome however are the graphics. The graphics are fantastic, using a nice bright colour palette that COD fans might need sunglasses for, considering the grey-brown one they are accustomed to. Unfortunately, this is where the game starts to falter.
Y'see, Trials HD took place exclusively in a warehouse. An impossibly large warehouse mind, but that was all it needed. You're always focused on the motorbike anyway, and are not often looking at anything else. Trials Evolution took you outside, but didn't overdo it. It even made use of it once (but only once) with an extra long track that took even the professionals a good few minutes to complete. Fusion doesn't even have that, just plenty of eye candy designed to show off the capabilities of the eighth generation. The only reason I noticed some of it was because it appeared at odd times, like a bunch of shadows on some wind turbines popping in as I reached the end of a level. That's where this absurd notion that a sequel must contain more of everything regardless of necessity begins to test my patience. Also see earlier comments regarding the unpolished nature of the game.
But damn it all to hell. I can't hate the game. It's one of my favourite distractions, it's charm is simple. But for heavens sake this is a game that does not require you to start drawing in full shadows for background art that goes unnoticed.
So for now, wait and see how the DLC expansions fare, along with a much needed bug and performance patch thrown in, before you bother buying this.
I have been chastised in the past for calling FIFA fans out on their desire to buy the brand new edition of their beloved franchise every year, because I was always of the opinion that football games had reached their limit in terms of gameplay opportunity. I figured that the only thing that they could be updating every year was the squad lists and stadiums and so on and so forth. Basically, lots of things that could be released as DLC, something that is usually priced a little cheaper. But no, it's always a full price title.
However, I was informed by some friends that the mechanics of the series are being updated to make it more realistic. I suppose that is good enough reason, and a point that I should probably concede considering I've haven't played a football game in quite a few years.
Trials Fusion, mechanically, feels exactly the same as it's predecessors. If it has changed, I haven't noticed, and if you've played them, you'll know what I'm on about. This game could quite easily have been released as DLC for Evolution. But stick with me, there is more to this.
See, I paid £15.99 for my copy, without the season pass. With the Season Pass, that will be £31.98. That Season Pass will get you six bundles of DLC all to be released before May 2015. Now, that's service. For less than a full price game, you get a game that updates itself with new stuff for up to a year. That, FIFA, is how you do it.
For that price, I suppose we can ignore the almost cloned physics engine because you know what, if it ain't broke don't fix it. You have a Trials bike, and are tasked with getting from point A to point B after somebody has placed a series of incrementally difficult obstacles in your way in the fastest time and with the fewest faults (falling off your bike) as possible. That was the formula that made this series popular and if you started changing it you'd be a fool.
If it is broken however, - and it is - then it should be fixed in a timely manner. Maybe i'm impatient because I recently got Fibre Optic broadband and rarely have to wait very long for anything anymore, but it's been almost a month, which is partly the reason for the late uploading of this review. I was hoping they'd fix it and I could be a little bit happier, but they haven't and Ubisoft have made themselves look like a bunch of sellouts, more interested in pushing out a flashy new game for the Xbox One and PS4 than a company that cares about it's existing fan base.
But lets put all that aside for a moment and look at the game anew.
At its heart it's a physics platformer that takes place on a trials bike. Using the simplest of controls you navigate various obstacles with the hope of getting to the end of the course. You also have FMX tracks, a new addition to this series, where tricks are the order of the day, performed by orientating your bike and right analogue stick to the correct positions. It's a bit fiddly, but it's difficulty curve has been nicely tuned to be about as forgiving as the main tracks. I haven't yet got it, but it's taken me three games to get to the stage I am now. So, take that for whatever it's worth, but considering I usually rank in the top 4000 on the global leaderboards, it probably means it's going to take you a while to get the hang of it too. Making another appearance are the challenge tracks where the object is to wheelie as far as possible or get as far as possible without being able to lean forwards or backwards. This is the barebones of the game and they work just lovely. I welcome the FMX tricks system as a excellent, yet slightly late, addition to gameplay.
What I do not welcome however are the graphics. The graphics are fantastic, using a nice bright colour palette that COD fans might need sunglasses for, considering the grey-brown one they are accustomed to. Unfortunately, this is where the game starts to falter.
Y'see, Trials HD took place exclusively in a warehouse. An impossibly large warehouse mind, but that was all it needed. You're always focused on the motorbike anyway, and are not often looking at anything else. Trials Evolution took you outside, but didn't overdo it. It even made use of it once (but only once) with an extra long track that took even the professionals a good few minutes to complete. Fusion doesn't even have that, just plenty of eye candy designed to show off the capabilities of the eighth generation. The only reason I noticed some of it was because it appeared at odd times, like a bunch of shadows on some wind turbines popping in as I reached the end of a level. That's where this absurd notion that a sequel must contain more of everything regardless of necessity begins to test my patience. Also see earlier comments regarding the unpolished nature of the game.
But damn it all to hell. I can't hate the game. It's one of my favourite distractions, it's charm is simple. But for heavens sake this is a game that does not require you to start drawing in full shadows for background art that goes unnoticed.
So for now, wait and see how the DLC expansions fare, along with a much needed bug and performance patch thrown in, before you bother buying this.