Trials of the Blood Dragon Review

Set in the distant year of 2019, two enhanced twins head to the 4th Vietnam War with one mission: Victory. Trials of the Blood Dragon is the merging of the popular Trials Franchise and the over the top sci-fi setting of Far Cry Blood Dragon into a glorious mess. With 30 missions across 7 different worlds, there is plenty to keep you busy.

The game is first and foremost a Motorcycle game much like the Trials games before it, however, this iteration brings new features such as alternate vehicles and whole sections off of the Bike. Fans of the Franchise will feel at home with the Motorcycle sections. The controls are precise, fun and require a lot of skill to get the fastest times on each of the levels. I do not have this level of skill but still had plenty of fun with these sections. The dismounted sections, however, are a different 80’s fueled mess. The shooting uses simple twin stick shooter controllers in which you simply aim and shoot with one stick and move with the other. The movement in these sections is the main issue. It is very floaty and I felt I had little control over my character. You also (much like the Bike segments) can only take one hit from anything and you die. I died to the same turret several times because the target was just off the screen when jumping for it which made for some frustrating times. This gave me mixed feelings about the game as I liked the bike segments but hated the shooter segments.

Gameplay aside, the setting of the game is worth your time alone. An over the top 80’s fueled, neon sprinkled visual treat. The whole game looks as though it is being displayed on an old camera that makes everything look more visceral and brighter. All of the cutscenes use a comic book style but are interrupted frequently by live-action infomercials which made for some great comedy. The music is fantastic and fits the tone of the game very well. Fans of Far Cry Blood Dragon will feel  very at home with the setting and will even get the subtle references to Rex Power Colt, the protagonist of Blood Dragon. The voice acting is cheesy and over the top which would normally be a negative for me but with the theme and tone of the game, this fits so perfectly.

Trials of the Blood Dragon is currently priced at £11.99 on the Xbox Store and is also available on PC and PS4.

Code was supplied to us by Xbox.