I will press the Back button as many times as it takes in order to do a clean, gold-medal-winning run-through of the track, and even though I expect Fusion to get just as frustratingly challenging as its predecessors (I was only able to play long enough to unlock medium-tier events), I need that perfect run. I'm masochistic enough with this series that I can't seem to accept a silver medal - which means crashes are a no-no. Restarting checkpoints or entire runs remains an instant press of the B or Back button, respectively.

Courses are grouped by difficulty, with license tests at the beginning of each teaching you a new bike-riding skill you'll need to survive that cluster of tracks. Structurally, Fusion is set up similarly to Evolution. Art direction, meanwhile, seems like it'll continue to be a Trials strong suit, as tracks range from pretty to downright gorgeous - highlighted during my hands-on time by 'Sunrise Dash,' a low-lit course reminiscent of Evolution's memorable 'Ridinghood' run.

The PC build I played was in dire need of some anti-aliasing, but since the game is still in the polish phase (it's due out in April), I won't hold it against RedLynx just yet. The robot/cyborg thing is just one of many goofy outfits you can customize your rider with (others include an Evel Knievel-style jumpsuit, a hazmat suit, and even a giant squirrel head), and there are in fact more ways to abuse your helpless avatar.įusion's debut on the Xbox One and PS4 allows for some much prettier visuals than we've ever seen in the series, all while maintaining Trials' usual 60 frames per second. Fortunately, it's nothing to worry about. What about the game's sadistic humor, I thought, which gets us laughing at our poor rider as he gets comically tortured at the end of each track (and oftentimes during it)? Robot riders would ruin that fun. I admit I was concerned about the 50-years-in-the-future direction they were taking the series in, particularly given how the game's key art - which was about all we've seen since it's E3 2013 reveal - showcased a robot riding a dirt bike. I immediately fell right back into my old Trials habit (which I'll detail in a moment), and for good reason: Fusion doesn't miss a beat. But I couldn't say no to an invitation to see Trials Fusion - the first in the sadomasochistic physics-based dirt bike racing series for the new-generation consoles - and I sure as heck couldn't resist when I was handed an Xbox 360 controller plugged into a PC build of the game by RedLynx co-founder and Fusion creative director Antti Ilvessuo.

I'd been free of Trials' pull for nearly two years since Trials Evolution hit Xbox 360.

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