Trials HD

It's not just been football for the past week, there's a clearout going on over on the Xbox Live Arcade. I've snapped up three in total; 'splosion Man, Zombie Apocalypse and Trials HD. The third of which has engrossed me the most. Trials is simple in it's design. Accelerate, brake, lean forward and lean back. That's all you need to know. Well that and the instant restart button (B) or even level restart if you're going for medals (back button). The aim is equally plain: get to the end of the course. That's it. But what sounds like a shallow experience confounds to be completely rewarding. The levels slowly increase in complexity, requiring precise accuracy and timing. This obviously leads to moments of screaming frustration but those depths are overcome by the dizzying heights of passing the section. The instant restart button (which if you're anything like me will have your finger constantly hovering over it) will become your best friend and has no loading to prevent added frustration. Trials just nails that rare balance of frightfully challenging gameplay and disturbingly addictive playability meaning that you will easily sink up to 45 minutes on one section without realising you've made 400 failed attempts. It's been lorded everywhere as one of the best on XBLA and for me it easily is up there and for 560 points it's a steal.