It must be said, we’ve been treated to some rather decent downloadable content offerings from RedLynx and Ubisoft with the recent Trials Fusion DLC. Can the latest pack, Fault One Zero, keep up with its predecessors?
Well, without beating around the bush, I’m afraid not because the latest pack just doesn’t cut the mustard.
Set in a modern self-regulating metropolis, where man and machine are distinguished by their medical records alone, Fault One Zero takes you gliding through holographic cityscapes, past some advanced robotic engineering and down the pipes into a world full of retro gaming. But other than the odd joyful moment, we’re mostly left wanting more. Much more.
The last pack to drop for Trials Fusion was a bit of a rarity. Filled to the brim with some of the best tracks available for both the novice and experienced Trials rider, Fire in the Deep contained enough joy for all and aside from a disappointing skills game would have probably been one of the best ways to experience Fusion. So what has gone on with Fault One Zero leaves us a bit downhearted.
Because Fault One Zero and nearly all the tracks it contains are instantly forgettable.
Starting off with a mega easy course, Megalopolis is over in less than a minute but does at least introduce us to the only real new inclusion…that of teleporters, although it’s not like they turn out to be much of a talking point. It’s nice to have an easy track to get us back into the swing of things but a gold medal round the neck after only a couple of minutes play means that we’re basically already one track down.
And then what is to come really doesn’t help add any enjoyment to the pack. Docking Bay, a medium skilled track plays out much harder than it initially looks and may just bring more annoyance than enjoyment to all but the best riders out there. Full of small jumps, there is very little space to get a rhythm or flow going and as immense amounts of precision are needed to make it through to the end, it’s not something that you’ll want to go back and hit time and time again.
The second medium track, Restrospective, whisks us away to the arcade cabinets of old, seeing Trials get mashed up with a bit of Donkey Kong, Pac-man and a Lunar Landing clone. Whilst it’s tricky to begin with, the sheer retro feel that it brings will ensure you have a good number of attempts at it and practice really does make perfect in this case. I would love to have seen more of the arcade feel brought to Trials but it seems like RedLynx have decided that one track filled with retro-action is enough. I beg to differ.
The rest of the timed tracks that are available, the medium skilled ‘Glitch in the System’ and it’s harder brothers, ‘Clone Facility’, ‘Farcasters’ and ‘Mech Unleashed’ are full of the usual jumps that already fill the vast majority of the Trials Fusion world, so they bring very little new to the table. Any enthusiasm to keep repeating the tracks over and over again (something which usually is a key draw for Fusion), just doesn’t materialise. The extreme course ‘Robot Wasteland’ is far past my skill levels and remains locked – no doubt forever more.
And then we find an FMX track that, teleporters aside, plays out exactly like that of any previous FMX course. It’s full of big jumps and plenty of space to pull off those high scoring super stunts but is over before you really get time to start enjoying the air that you get to achieve.
Thankfully, Fault One Zero ends on a high. A real special high in fact as the medium difficulty skill game that has been included is pretty damn neat. ‘Field Trip’ sees you take your bike on a trip across a tight course filled with blue and red magnetised platforms. You’ll quickly find that your bike will stick to the red and get repelled by the blue, flinging you skywards as you do so. The level has been cleverly designed, so much so that you’ll need to go slow – and at times go upside-down and backwards as you think ahead in an attempt to navigate your way through the puzzle in front of you. Speed isn’t everything in Field Trip and it’s nice to be able to go at a slower pace than normal.
So, aside from the usual inclusion of track editor items and another skin for the Pit Viper, that’s about it and neither of those things are really worth the time and effort.
It may be bright and colourful but Fault One Zero is seriously disappointing with only two tracks of note, ‘Retrospective’ and ‘Field Trip’, turning out to be the ones you’ll bother hitting time and time again. The rest are unfortunately nothing more than fillers.
If you’ve only got the cash for one pack, pick up the previous one, Fire in the Deep and prepare to wallow in all its glory.
