Way, way, way back in the day – when motorized vehicles only had two wheels instead of four – Trials 2 got a ringing endorsement from an earlier incarnation of the RPS hivemind. Praises were sang, odes were composed, and tiny ragdoll men were flung into infinite abysses for the entertainment of their cruel masters. But then – just like that – the physics-based slice of motorized mayhem rode off into the sunset. And off a cliff. Consoles, is what I’m saying in this painfully overwrought metaphor. But now, with Trials Evolution: Gold Edition, the series is finally back. But is it better than ever? Haphazardly fling yourself into the break’s infinite abyss to learn more.



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So yes, there’s a lot here. A whole, whole lot. Basically, we’re getting every bit of Trials content we’ve missed out on since 2008. Here’s the rundown, straight from Ubi’s abruptly PC-friendly (or at least, less PC-hostile) shores:

“Trials Evolution: Gold Edition will feature all of the original game’s content, newly optimized and enhanced for the PC, including all the features that made the original a success: online multiplayer, global leaderboards and player-created content. The Gold Edition will also include everything from Trials HD – the XBLA predecessor to Trials Evolution – doubling the amount of content being offered in the return of Trials to the PC. Altogether, Trials Evolution: Gold Edition will contain more than 120 tracks, skill games, and multiplayer levels.”

There’s also a map editor that’s based on the very same tech RedLynx used, so expect this one to have a healthy shelf life – sustained, of course, by absurdly frustrating deathtraps and recreations of World 1-1 from Mario. But there are worse fates in this world.

Right then, I’m pretty excited about this one. I have to confess to having my first Trials experience by way of console-playing friends, but now I can pull off nigh-impossible feats of wheelie dexterity without the specter of crippling guilt weighing me down. Hooray! Oh Ubisoft, you’re the best fairweather friend ever.

Adam spoke with Red Lynx while poking his fingers and eyes into Ubisoft’s various PC offerings yesterday, and has just wandered into the post bleating like a lamb in a blender: “When asked about the release date, 2013 is as small a window as anyone would commit to. There’s a new set of DLC coming for the console version of the game, which our Eurogamer chums have shaken a wordstick at. As the development team is still small, work on the PC version won’t have resources dedicated to it until that DLC is finished, so that it can receive plenty of attention. Sometime in 2013 then, but we might well receive a more exact timeframe once work begins in earnest.

It’s also not entirely clear if the Origin of Pain content will be included with the PC version. I think not but, again, verification will probably come later.”

He’s gone again now, muttering quite excitedly about the new Call of Juarez game, which you should probably expect him to write about later today.