‘Trials of the Blood Dragon’ — ride, die, repeat

Trials of the Blood Dragon was first announced at Ubisoft’s E3 press conference this year with Redlynx announcing their fusion of the legacy that is Trials, and the stand-alone expansion to the Far Cry 3 series – Blood Dragon. Surprising as this sounds, that’s precisely what was delivered when the game dropped last week.

Trials of the Blood Dragon will relentlessly test your mettle as you advance through each new track. Chaos, carnage, and often baffling circumstances are presented for the player to overcome. Although the level design is cleverly put together, most obstacles can be painfully repetitive to master in order to progress. Trials of the Blood Dragon induces stress further by adding a timer to each of its tracks. This seems to be purely for online leaderboard purposes, as the game will still let players advance through its levels, even though the timer has run out.

Trials of the Blood Dragon features a cast of lacklustre characters that aren’t incredibly fleshed out. Within the game, players will be constantly switching from twins Roxanne and Slayter in different levels. Trials of the Blood Dragon does a good job of not taking itself too seriously. The game constantly parodies itself with its tongue in cheek humour. The story in Trials of the Blood Dragon isn’t all that stimulating but that’s not the point of the game. What Trials of the Blood Dragon lacks in narrative, it makes up for in visual design.

The art style in Trials of the Blood Dragon stays true to the Blood Dragon expansion’s roots. Neon washed landscapes and polished animated cartoons make a heavy appearance in this game. Accompanied by an appropriate soundtrack of 80’s synth wave madness, Trials of the Blood Dragon is a retro roller coaster.

Even though in Trials of the Blood Dragon the bike is the featured star of the show, the game is awash with different gameplay elements. These include guns, platforming, and puzzle solving that are introduced in each level. While these instances were welcome at first, they became overly tiresome. The controls are mapped out poorly in correlation with jumping and shooting, and often feel clunky and mismanaged. Although these sections keep the gameplay fresh and unique, these components do not translate well into a game like this.

Trials of the Blood Dragon has some faults but it can be fun at times. Once the frustration and anger die down, nothing beats the sheer satisfaction of landing a perfect track. Trials of the Blood Dragon is a short game, taking a little over 2 hours to complete the main story. There is replayability value in mastering all the tracks and finding ‘secrets’ that are scattered around the levels. Retailing at 14.95 USD, Trials of the Blood Dragon is an affordable romp that will challenge and amuse its audience.