Trials Fusion has recently gone underwater with its latest downloadable content pack, but is Welcome to the Abyss a worthy addition to the Trials world?
In a word? Yes!
By now you have hopefully picked up and checked out the first two content packs for Fusion; Riders of the Rustlands and Empire of the Sky. Whilst both are fairly decent, especially the latter, there was a slight concern that those Trials riders who were a little less skilled than the hardcore (I’m including myself firmly in this bracket), would find both packs a little disappointing due to the inclusion of only three medium difficulty tracks. Well, Ubisoft have seemingly sat up and listened as Welcome to the Abyss not only sees a couple of extra tracks over the norm, but the included extras are more than suitable for the average player.
Taking us deep into the abyss, under the sea and in the search for ancient ruins and a long forgotten civilization, ‘Welcome’ brings a new element of physics to Fusion; one that gives us plenty of fun whilst doing so.
Looking at the tracks, we first dive deep with ‘Depth Disturbance’. A medium level track which is simple enough to complete and takes us beneath the waves with a quick hit from the very first minute, eventually rising from the depths back into the real world before getting a quick soak again as you reach the end. It’s all very simple and is a great introduction to the new dynamics that are planned for you.
The next two courses; The Rabbit Hole and Titan Causeway see a little less of the wet stuff involved, instead focusing on the Trials Fusion basics of bunny hopping, jumping and precision landing across the couple of minutes it’ll take you to complete each. Titan Causeway in particular is a very fast track that, with enough skill, can see you with the finger firmly planted on the accelerator for the vast majority of the course. Both are fairly easy to complete and if you include a fourth medium skill level, Dead Reckoning, then those who are out for a good easy fun time, will be more than happy with what Red Lynx and Ubisoft have given them.
Things do however move up a notch or two after that. The final medium course, the aptly named The Long Haul saw me finish with a personal best of 41 faults in just over five minutes of struggles….and that was after plenty of previous attempts. It may be classed as a middle of the road effort but is much nearer to its harder cousins than the usual medium tracks. It does however have some absolutely superb jumps that will keep you going on and on and whilst the initial pain may seem harsh, the rewards in the long run will be more than worth it.
We then move on to the real hard tracks and as usual, I’m not afraid to admit to struggling big time with both the hard and extreme courses. Enter Atlantis, Ancient Machine and the extreme pain bringer, Deluge will frustrate many but at the same time will bring the challenge that others crave and love so much about the game.
Away from the usual time trialling, Welcome to the Abyss also bring a medium skilled FMX track; Surface Tension, which sees you dipping in and out of the water as you attempt to pull off tricks like the very best of performing killer whales whilst the skill game on offer this time round, Labyrinth Zone brings another cracking test of your expertise to the table. The previous DLC packs, have seen some very good skill games included but the one brought to us with Welcome to the Abyss is by far the best of the lot.
The premise is simple, get as far as you can without crashing….or drowning…..or burning to death! Starting off on fire, you’ll need to quickly hit the ocean in an attempt to put the flames out, but stay too long under the sea and you’ll rapidly run out of oxygen. The level is well thought out and sees you toing and froing between the two rather excellently and as long as you time things right, weighing up the pros and cons of both staying on land or dropping down in to the sea, a gold medal is more than achievable
Of course, each track I’ve mentioned brings the usual Fusion challenges, hidden mini-games and secret locations with each of these bringing hours of joy to those who wish to seek them out. If however you just want to race, pull of numerous insane stunts or just get hands on with the latest editor pieces, then the abyss is the place to do that.
So, should you enter the abyss?
If you have a season pass, then it’s a no-brainer and you should experience everything on offer asap. Those without the Trials Fusion pass will need to spend £4 on the latest pack but this should be the first one you buy. Not only does it give you an extra couple of medium tracks over its predecessors but Labyrinth Zone is very nearly worth the price on its own!
Go and dive deep right now as Welcome to the Abyss brings some lovely changes you really should be taking in.
My only problem with this dlc is the level Ancient Machine, it’s practically pitch black and you have to just do it by memory since you can’t actually see the level, and the game has no brightness settings to adjust to try and make it visible.