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Trials Developer
Trials 2 Second Edition review links
This thread is a collection of links to Trials 2 reviews around the net and in magazines. If you find a review in the net or in a magazine that is not yet listed, please send me a PM.
Ace Gamez:
http://www.acegamez.co.uk/reviews_pc/Trials_2_PC.htm
Full 10/10 award. Very good start here!
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Although plenty of attention has been devoted to getting the gameplay and level designs spot on, the graphics haven't been overlooked - they really do look like they belong on the Xbox 360 or PS3. From the physics of the bike to the light from its headlamp, everything looks great. There are occasions when the front or back wheel gets stuck in part of the scenery, but this very rarely happens. There are several different camera angles available to view the action while you're playing, such as third person view and the first person headlight view, although you will mainly want to use these for watching the replays of your runs and stick to either the default action cam or the direct cam during the game. This really is one slick-looking game, and if Microsoft and RedLynx were willing to partner up, this would be one of the best games, if not the best game, on Xbox Live Arcade. The game even has achievements already, something you don't really see in many games for PC, and although I already own it, I would definitely spend my precious Microsoft points on it again - it's that good!
Although there is no multiplayer in Trials 2, you have the option to team up with a group of other players, but if you don't create your own, you will have to know the name of the team and the password in order to join. I myself am a member of the Flyers! There's also an online scoreboard, which automatically stores your times and places you among all the other players in the world. Another great addition to this is the option to watch other people's ghosts while you ride yourself, in order to observe their riding style and even steal a few of their tips and tricks and eventually beat them to the finish line, placing you above them on the scoreboard! Last but not least is the option to press tab and bring up the chat screen, so you can talk and ride at the same time, which is good for teams.
If you're a fan of the actual sport of motorcycle trials, or you're just up for a challenging, addictive and lovingly crafted arcade game then Trials 2 is for you. Redlynx have come up with one of the most compelling and fun games of the year, and if this does manage to make its way onto the Xbox Live Arcade, Microsoft will have yet another hit on their hands. Anyway, I must get going - I need to have another go at finishing Inferno!
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Trials Developer
Rock Paper Shotgun (quick preview and discussion):
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/?p=1409
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Trials Developer
Rock Paper Shotgun (review):
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/?p=1416
They seem to really like the game! Awesome review from this awesome site!
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Okay, we blogged about it yesterday before we had a chance to actually play it. Now, I have and can only concur with the excited people in the comments threads. This is brilliant, and a perfect example of how a modern approach can rejuvenate even the most venerable of arcade games. But before I talk about that, something about my bladder.
Now, I tend to go and piss a lot. Not a weak-bladder in a leaking urine on my seat kind of way, but in the pub, I wander toilet-wards more often than most. Now, crawling out of bed at about one - I was up until five, as is a freelancer?s wont - I started playing Trials 2 again. Despite consuming the usual endless cups of tea that Jim provides, I don?t leave my seat - or, indeed, my dressing gown - for three hours. At which point I realise I probably should do some work. And get dressed. And eat. And - hey! - probably do something about this sense of fullness in my abdomen. It?s that compulsive.
(As an aside, ignoring of bodily needs is something which characterises genuinely great games for me. Most recently, Armageddon Empires has a similar effect. I live in fear that one day a game?s going to arrive that?s so brilliant that I?ll be trapped, and Jim will wander down in the morning to find me lying dead in my room, body horribly ruptured from gut-pressure.)
Anyway - RedLynx Trials 2: Second Edition scores high in aceosity.
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Obvious changes to the formula are the embracing of modern technology - as you can see, it looks great. More relevantly, it lobs in a load of real-time physics, which both elevates the control of your bike and the resulting bone-crashing impacts. Expect your first fifteen minutes to result in the most real-physics-powered laughs since Sumotori Dreams. Alec, over at our place for an RPS-lunch and Munchkin game, ended up playing with it in turns, laughing at each others constant errors. And, really, there?s nothing but constant errors when you play.
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Which kind of shines a light on one of the pieces of really precise, genuinely brilliant design. The problem with this sort of game is that, inevitably, it?s a game of trial and error. A slight loss of balance, head meets floor and you?re back to the last checkpoint on the course (Actually, in passing, they place Checkpoints particularly well too). Hammer back-space, and you?re instantly back in the world. And the instantly is important - there?s many arcade games which put a delay between the failure and the start. For something like - to choose the first example which comes to mind, even if it?s console one - Stuntman: Ignition, it?s just as trial/restart, but the loading pause breaks the rhythm. Not so here. In tricky bits, that hammering becomes part of your rhythm of play rather than a break of it.
Or, in short, it?s an arcade game. You?re playing it to play it, and anything that stops that reduces it.
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Actually, the user video leads us to another of its stronger points. That is, how it works with its users. Following on from Audiosurf, this is really reintroducing high-scores to PC gaming, by embracing the whole internet age. Everyone who buys the game has a username. All of the 40 levels has its own leaderboard, logging everyone in the world?s best score (Which is based on time, number of errors, tricks and similar. I think). Which is great, except it goes further. Beside everyone?s score, there?s a link you can press which immediately shows you a replay of their run, with the key-presses visible in the bottom right. This allows you to i) Admire the crazy skills of those ultra-players immediately ii) learn from them, so acting as an ever-expanding tutorial. More so, there?s another button which drops them into your course as a ghost for you to compete against. I stress, this isn?t just the top players. This is everyone in the world. The main problem is that wihle you can form a team, and narrow down the full list to anyone who joins your team, there?s no separate friendslist function. In other words, as far as I can make out, it?s really tricky for people outside the team to play a rivalry. Which is something of a shame.
Bar that, this is awesome. Basically.
(In fact, so awesome that I wonder how its servers are going to hold off when this inevitably takes off more than it has already)
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Trials Developer
Gametrailers!
Not review but they are putting videos now on gametrailers! 
http://www.gametrailers.com/platformlist/pc/index.html
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Trials Developer
Evo-Gamer:
http://evo-gamer.com/2008/03/26/achi...river-is-dead/ (preview)
http://evo-gamer.com/2008/03/29/tria...dition-review/ (review)
Evo-gamer reviewer seemed to like the demo version a lot.
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So I have just got an achievement in a game. I broke every bone in my body and my driver is now dead. And that got me an achievement. Wow! What game is this, well this is Red Lynx?s Trials 2 Second Edition.
Wearing helmets certainly seems advisable. In my short testings of the trial version of Trial 2 I think I killed my drive outright twice and knocked him unconscious at least twenty times. This is the most fun I have had with a demo for?well I think ever!
Packed full of achievements, multiple courses, online high score tracking and loads more this is one action packed, physics fuelled game. For more information head over to Red Lynx.
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Trials Developer
Darkzero independent gaming coverage (reviewed demo version):
http://play.tm/wire/click/1812816
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If you are not familiar, bike trials is where a rider navigates their bike over obstacles, and tries to do so without their feet touching the ground. The game takes that idea to the extreme adding loops and crazy jumps into the fray, and changes the feet touching part to head meeting concrete. This is combined with a quality physics model and some really nice looking graphics to make a rather impressive game. You are also given points depending on how well you do, and the games official site even keeps track of rankings so you can compete worldwide!
Of course. you are not going to believe me, so why not go get the demo and play it for yourself. Or maybe check out the trailer on YouTube.
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Senior Member
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Trials Developer
Resonance Gaming:
http://resonance-gaming.com/review.php?gameid=50
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Trials 2 SE contains everything a good casual game does. The amazing graphics tied together with the gripping game play offer something that even some full price games can?t, it offers pure fun. The game is all tied together with great community features and despite its minor shortfalls it excels at being one of the best casual games I?ve played so far!
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Trials Developer
Gamereality.org
Finnish game site gamereality.org gives 4,5/5 stars and editor choice!
http://www.gamereality.org/peliarvos...c_trials2.html
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Trials Developer
Peliplaneetta gives 92!
http://www.peliplaneetta.net/arvoste...econd-Edition/
"Trials 2 Second Edition is a strange beast. More often than not I find myself driven to frustration and nearly reduced to tears by its merciless learning curve. Yet I keep playing, because at its core the game is extremely well crafted and damn good fun."
92/100!!!