This is the default camera in the game and my personal favorite, the action cam.

I’m sure everyone has heard about Steam’s massive Indie game sale going on this week. I personally have purchased 3 games from the sale after reading Rev Anthony’s 10 indie games you have to try. I am a huge fan of 2D Tilt bike games like ExciteBike on the NES and the numerous free flash titles such as Max Dirt Bike (my favorite), so I knew I had to give Trials 2 a shot. Anyone else who is a fan of these style games can safely skip the rest of my review and go buy the game (or at least try the free demo).


This is the Headlight cam. Very nice looking but not playable at all

Trials 2 is the most advanced tilt bike game I’ve ever played. The game plays like a 2D game but the graphics are in full 3D. The game even offers several different camera angles, which I have taken screenshots of and spread throughout this review. The game really looks fantastic. The particle effects were especially surprising to me, especially in levels like Fiery Justice, which I’ve included a YouTube video of (it’s not me playing):


This video features the Direct Cam, which is the most like the other tilt bike games out there.

That video is the best I could find but it doesn’t do the game justice, play the free demo and see how good it looks for yourself. But enough about how the game looks, how does it play?

In a word: Awesome. It is not only the best looking tilt bike game I’ve ever played, but it also is the most realistic. The physics do take a bit of getting used to, especially if you’re used to more forgiving tilt bike games, but once you do, the game is a joy to play.


This is the bike cam. It is very similar to the game's 3rd person cam, I find both of them to be nearly unplayable.

Trials 2 does one important thing that other tilt bike games don’t do, and that is it takes into account how your rider is positioned on the bike. If you lean over the handle bars you will be putting more weight on the front tires, thus making it easier go up steep slopes. Alternatively, if you need weight on your rear tires, you can sit far back in the seat. There is also a neutral position. My only complaint about this system is with the controls. The bike and rider are both controlled exclusively by the directional buttons. So if you press the right directional button to make the bike rotate forward, you will also situate yourself over the front tires. This is only a problem when you want to keep your weight over the rear tires (which also ducks your head down, so you can get under obstacles), and still rotate the bike forward to land your jump. I think a better solution would be to map the rider positions to the 1, 2 and 3 buttons, so that your left hand could control that, and your right hand can control the bike with the directional buttons. Other than that tiny issue, the game plays flawlessly.

Trials 2 comes with over 60 levels with the potential to download even more. The levels are very well designed and all of them have checkpoints so when you screw up, you aren’t sent right back to the beginning. Don’t get me wrong, Trials 2 is not an easy game. If you’re like me, you may spend 20 minutes on one checkpoint before passing it. But the payoff is worth it. Other fans of tilt bike games can attest to this, the longer you are stuck on a certain challenge, the better it feels when you pass it.


This is the checkpoint cam. Like the name implies, the camera switches from checkpoint to checkpoint and tracks your progress by rotating. It's great for making the game look good but not very much fun to play with.

The tilt bike fans in the audience have already started downloading Trials 2 and will soon be flipping their way through the game. But what about the rest of you? What more can I say to convince you that this game is worth your time? How about I remind you that the game is on sale this week for only $6.69. That’s six dollars and sixty-nine cents. That’s one value meal at your favorite burger joint. If that’s not cheap enough, let me say again that the game has a free demo up on Steam, so there really is no reason not to give it a try.

I give Trials 2: Second Edition a 9.5 out of 10 on the Destructoid review scale.