Trials Evolution: Riders of Doom Review for Xbox 360

Trials Evolution: Riders of Doom Box Art

System: Xbox 360
Dev: RedLynx
Pub: Ubisoft
Release: December 19, 2012
Players: 1-4
Screen Resolution: 480p-1080p	Mild Violence

There are also variations on the core gameplay, such as a race with a nitro-boosted bike that overheats quickly and a coin-gathering track in which half a dozen carts full of monkeys trail your motorcycle. The most comprehensive of these, however, is an infinite obstacle challenge, which consists of almost impossible platforming jumps one after another, the player’s goal being to complete as many as possible without restarting or faulting. They’re both absolutely brutal and somewhat randomized, making for a stiff challenge; you’ll want to be an expert at the game before you even attempt it.

Trials Evolution: Riders of Doom Screenshot

The most enduring element of Trials Evolution, though, that which provides theoretically endless enjoyment, is its track editor, which allows one to create and share Frankentracks that fulfill one’s deepest Trials Evolution desires. Riders of Doom introduces a few hundred more parts and effects to the track editor mode, as well as a new lot on which to build them, but there doesn’t appear to be anything in the parts list that will outright revolutionize the way people design their tracks, and navigating to those new parts involves selecting the “Burning Sands” category and then navigating through various sub-categories for the various themes and part types included therein. Certainly you can add some extra visual panache with what’s on tap here, but it isn’t a comprehensive upgrade to the track design capabilities of Trials Evolution’s editor.

The word “comprehensive” keeps coming back to haunt me, because it’s what kept nagging at me while I was playing the Riders of Doom content. I was having fun, yes, but it’s really just an extension of the base experience with well-designed levels that are in no apparent way connected to one another. Given the tremendous variety of downloadable tracks available for free, courtesy of both the players and RedLynx itself, charging five dollars for a smattering of content without some serious sort of hook seems almost disingenuous.

By
Shelby Reiches
Lead Contributor
Date: January 2, 2013

RATING OUT OF 5

RATING DESCRIPTION

4.0

Graphics
Looks just as good as the base game, where spectacle abounds, but it tends to take a second to load in high-resolution textures.

5.0

Control
The controls are still incredibly precise and excellent, as is absolutely necessary for a game like this. A pleasure to handle.

2.5

Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
The sound is still there, I guess. The rider screams and there’s occasionally music of note, but the sound is typically the last thing on my mind.

2.5

Play Value
There really isn’t a lot here for five dollars that you couldn’t have found, in some capacity, for free through the game’s user-created tracks.

3.5

Overall Rating - Good
Not an average. See Rating legend below for a final score breakdown.

Review Rating Legend
0.1 - 1.9 = Avoid	2.5 - 2.9 = Average	3.5 - 3.9 = Good	4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
2.0 - 2.4 = Poor	3.0 - 3.4 = Fair	4.0 - 4.4 = Great	5.0 = The Best

Game Features:

New Tracks and New Bike: Riders of Doom features 40 new tracks set in a new environment – The Big Sand Lands. Along with the new tracks, a new bike known as the Banshee brings a middle ground offering between the Phoenix and the Scorpion.

Additional Editing Items: RedLynx has added hundreds of new items to the Track Editor allowing gamers to create even more insane tracks.

New Skill Challenges: The newest DLC pack also feature ten new Skill Games.