Trials Rising

 Xbox One
Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 15 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 15
  3. Negative: 0 out of 15
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  1. XboxAddict
    Mar 21, 2019
    90
    While new players will surely hit a wall of difficulty at some point, it’s never unfair and simply requires you to learn the appropriate skills to overcome the hurdles. I’m so excited that Trials is back to where it once was and I wish I could count the times I’ve said “only one more try” repeatedly, I just wish the loot boxes and microtransactions didn’t feel so tacked on.
  2. AusGamers
    Mar 4, 2019
    90
    Trials Rising is infinitely better than Trials Fusion and feels like the proper sequel to Evolution. You’re going to get exactly what you expect from Rising, if you’re a Trials fan: crazy course design, a sense of RedLynx just trolling you, some reward, mostly despair but now with added loot boxes for you to open and basically be disappointed with, or not even remotely caring of, their contents. What matters here is that Trials Rising is a game with longevity and challenge.
  3. Stevivor
    Feb 25, 2019
    90
    Trials Rising is exactly what I wanted from a Trials experience. Anybody who enjoys, or has ever enjoyed, a Trials game owes it to themselves to check this out. Folks out there that just really enjoy challenging themselves should probably give it a look too, just make sure you’ve got a spare controller or three on standby.
  5. Xbox Tavern
    Feb 25, 2019
    90
    The “one more go” Trials formula that we all know and love is back, and it’s back at its absolute finest. Rising is the deepest, lengthiest, and most enthralling entry in the series to date. Everything from its refined trademark difficulty and its addictive physics-based play, right up to its epic track design and its truly sensational camerawork, is nothing short of outstanding. That being said, RedLynx really needs to address its screen tearing, and fast.
  6. Vandal
    Feb 27, 2019
    87
    Trials Rising might be a little bit overwhelming at the beginning, but once the smoke clears away, we find one of the purest Trials we’ve played in the last few years.
  7. MondoXbox
    Feb 25, 2019
    87
    Trials Rising builds upon RedLynx' series strengths adding higher variety, satisfying multiplayer and the best track editor around. With its even more refined gameplay, it's suited both to the series veterans and newcomers, who will find in it dozens of hours of challenges and enjoyment.
  8. COGconnected
    Feb 27, 2019
    86
    The gameplay hasn’t evolved too much from previous Trials games, but for fans, that’s maybe not such a bad thing. If you’ve enjoyed previous Trials games, then Trials Rising is highly recommended.
  9. BaziCenter
    Feb 26, 2019
    85
    Trials Rising is the sequel everybody was waiting for. The developers did the right thing by removing unnecessary mechanics of the previous game and adding a training section to get the new players going. On top of that, the innovative level design helps Trials Rising to become a top quality title like its predecessor. The only downside of the game may be the somehow boring and repetitive loot system that prevents it from becoming a masterpiece.
  10. Jeuxvideo.com
    Feb 25, 2019
    85
    Trials Rising on PC, PS4 and Xbox One delivers a great amount of content, with a lot of customization, from character to tracks itselves. That being said, we would have liked some new ideas for the franchise and more interesting multiplayer tracks.
  11. Generación Xbox
    Mar 2, 2019
    83
    Trials Rising is an epic comeback of the motorized platforming saga, with its best game till now.
  12. Official Xbox Magazine UK
    Apr 9, 2019
    80
    Trials at its finest: simply to play it is to have a blast, and you can’t ask for more than that.
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  13. TheXboxHub
    Mar 9, 2019
    80
    Trials Rising isn’t just another Trials instalment. It creates even more incredible fun with exciting and action packed tracks that never cease to both amaze and also infuriate in equal measures.
  14. ZTGD
    Mar 5, 2019
    80
    Trials Rising is a great package for a small price. I really wish the late game wasn’t so grindy, but once I unlocked it all, I felt satisfied. The loot boxes are a waste of time and the customization did little to excite me. I just want Trials like I fell in love with. I come for the tracks and the challenge. Give me that and I need little else. Everything surrounding those things just gets in the way.
  15. Xbox Achievements
    Mar 4, 2019
    80
    Keeping the core fundamentals intact, Trials Rising is every bit as enjoyable and challenging as its predecessors, but is marred slightly by the introduction of a pointless levelling system that only serves to lock off tracks and force you to needlessly grind. That core Trials gameplay is still sensational, though.
  16. Game Over Online
    Mar 1, 2019
    80
    Trials Rising is a mixed bag of an experience that still manages to deliver a ton of thrills in spite of some flaws. The F2P mobile elements feel completely out of place, as does the awful attempt at world-building. The series CAN do plot right, as Blood Dragon showed, with over the top goofiness. This is a series of racing-related events alongside some tricks at times and the game as a whole is a physics showcase. It’s the best-playing entry in the series so far, with a lot of robust tracks, but the experience is marred. It’s a recommended purchase for veterans, but newcomers are better-served by getting one of the older and far less expensive entries to see if you like what the series has to offer.
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  1. Eurogamer
    Feb 25, 2019
    A layer of modern nonsense can't obscure the purest, most entertaining Trials game in an age. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Awards & Rankings

15
#15 Best Xbox One Game of 2019
76
#76 Most Discussed Xbox One Game of 2019

User Reviews

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User Score
5.5

Mixed or average reviews- based on 51 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 51
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 51
  3. Negative: 23 out of 51
  1. Xbox_Alive
    Mar 1, 2019
    10
    Trials Rising provides a wealth of content there’s simply a gigantic amount of it to explore. Each mode was very exciting and fun, bringingTrials Rising provides a wealth of content there’s simply a gigantic amount of it to explore. Each mode was very exciting and fun, bringing with it an almost endless amount of replay ability. The Trials series is a series that I’ve always been a fan boy of and that’s because the fun factor always remains high no matter how much experience you have, there's always something new to challenge you along the way. I’m an average trials player and in regards to my skill level, the game never seems to become frustrating. I had then high hopes for the release of Trials Rising and the game easily exceeded my high expectations already set. It’s hands down, the best the series has produced so far. I’ve never had a problem with the riding mechanics and physics, and once again they shine bright allowing you a huge amount of fun and enjoyment on and off the track. Replay ability is endless when you factor in the amount of content the game has you’re highly unlikely to get bored anytime in the foreseeable future. They also allow you to chop and change things to your heart’s content and the track editor gives more depth than the previous offerings. This game doesn’t have any problems at all and in terms of technical or playability thanks to the gameplay having the correct balance of being fun and challenging at the same time. If you’re a fan of the Trials series then you’ll love Trials Rising with all your heart because they’ve kept everything that was so good about the series and improved upon every aspect of it. I simply cannot recommend this game enough. Two gigantic wheelies up!… Full Review »
  2. gruntly
    Mar 3, 2019
    6
    Trials Rising is a weird entry into the series for me. I've played (semi-religiously) the Trials games since they first hit the Xbox withTrials Rising is a weird entry into the series for me. I've played (semi-religiously) the Trials games since they first hit the Xbox with Trials HD, and dollar per hour ratio it might be one of my favorite and most played franchises of all time (likely just short of TrackMania Stadium on PC).

    Rising is better than Fusion, in my opinion, but I also feel pretty strongly that Fusion was the worst of the four (HD, Evolution, Fusion, Rising) by a pretty significant margin. The tracks feel more involved, better tested, and better designed than much of what I got out of Fusion, but the outside of them is full of bugs, questionable design choices, and annoyances that I don't think should be forgiven lightly.

    For one, the game is a grind. A massive grind. Experienced players will hit Extreme tracks somewhere in the neighborhood of level 70-90, which is hours and hours of play. Why is extra play bad? Because of the way progression works, it's REPLAY not play that levels you. You are forced into repetitive and badly designed "contracts" to gain the XP required to move forward instead of it being based on the number or quality of medals you have like every previous trials game.

    These contracts are ridiculous and half of them reward bad play (the literal opposite of what the neat new University of Trials teaches you) by forcing you to do 12+ backflips and 9+ front flips on the same track that you've already completed multiple times. Unlike the actual point of trials, which is finding a better line to get a better time with less faults and compare on the leaderboard, you have to do things poorly to advance. It's just backwards.

    There are AI issues that plague the game (a lot of people have complained online about the Stadium Finals matching you with nearly impossible people or bots) that honestly reward you for doing poorly first. The better you do your first time around the more you are hurt on Stadium Finals and Challenger Modes, again, backwards design.

    Then there are the loot crates which have no reason to be in this game, are insanely slow and cumbersome to open, and feel like the most Ubisoft decision I've seen in years. They only reward three items per crate, and most of the items you get ARE STICKERS.

    Stickers.

    The stickers for customization (think Forza series) should have just been unlocked. Instead a ton of them are shoved into a terrible crate system that many players, myself included, will ignore by the 2nd time you've opened them. They are clunky, slow, and promote a reward system that is anti player. There are also custom unlocks tied behind Acorns which can be bought with real money. This in itself is dumb but I get it, if Trials were a F2P game that is. It's not, though, so it goes down as another crap design choice shoehorned into this game.

    Lastly, the map gets cluttered and clunky after a few sets of unlocks to the point where progression is all over the place and finding maps you want to do is cumbersome. There are filters, but what was wrong with a LIST of tracks, split by difficulty, that showed your medal and then your time vs. the world and friends? This is the core Trials experience, and that is the part they're messing with for no reason.

    A lot of this might be patched out, but after Fusion my hopes are not high. The soul of Trials from the Trials 1/2/HD/Evolution days is dying faster than cool things are being added so I have little to no hope for the next game in the series to right the ship. RedLynx seems to have let Ubi get a little to much hands on in the process and it's killing what was a brilliant an fantastic franchise.

    The core racing still has a lot of fun components, you just have to spend too much time peeling back all the garbage to justify it.

    6/10 overall, 2/10 for menus/track list/customization, 8/10 for the actual gameplay that seems to take an undercurrent to everything else.    … Full Review »
  3. matrikTH
    Mar 21, 2019
    4
    This is the first Trials game, that makes me really angry. And not in the "good" way.

    First off, the gameplay itself is good as ever. I    This is the first Trials game, that makes me really angry. And not in the "good" way.

    First off, the gameplay itself is good as ever. I play the series since HD. I'm everything but a pro. I can barely finish some extreme tracks. I'm a decent average rider, I'd say.

    Now, in Rising I'm at level 47 and the game just stopped for me after like 6 hours playtime. I can't unlock any harder tracks than "medium". (Unlocked 56 of 117 tracks) I finished most tracks on gold and I have no idea at what level more tracks are supposed to be unlocked. The "hard" tracks unlock at level 52 afaik and I need around ~45.000XP to get there.

    The contracts give like 200XP per race and some stickers and cosmetic items nobody needs or wants. The contracts that actually give a decent amount of XP are borderline impossible for me. In order to fulfil a contract I have to beat another rider, which is chosen randomly I guess, who is like 25 seconds faster than me?
    And the cherry on top is, that if you do the contracts you pretty much forced to lose the race.

    In any case, I'm not willing to grind this stupid contracts over and over again in order to get a higher level. Those contracts are simply not fun. Seriously? Do 15x frontflips and backflip 8x with no fault on a helium? Just unlock the hard track as soon as I have finished all medium tracks. Boom. Done. Progression!

    If I can't finish a track, I have at least a reason to try over and over again in order to unlock the next one. You know, like in every other Trials game before.

    So basically I paid 40€ for a mobile game that locks it's content behind some stupid boring mobile free-to-play mechanic.

    I have no hope, that this will get fixed so I guess is, that I either waste like 10 to 20 hours of my life into tedious grind or write it off as a "learning experience".

    I like to decide for myself how I want to spend my time. I'm a grown up and can totally do that. No need to force me to do the same thing a 100 times because ... reasons.

    Videogames once where a form of entertainment, that was made to... well... entertain. Nowhere in the definition of the word "game" I can find things like "work", "tedious" or "annoying".

    Nowadays everything has to be "life service". To achieve that playtime has to be extended with tedious busywork. It's borderline insulting how the industry disrespects the players time and ruining their products while doing it.

    Maybe this whole industry should be renamed into Videowork-Industry.    … Full Review »
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