Trials Series Returns To PC Roots

[Steve_OS]

Almost five years have passed since RedLynx's Trials franchise jumped from the shadows of PC gaming into the spotlight of Xbox Live Arcade. Finally, on March 21, 2013, the two sequels that helped rocket the Trials series to over four million units sold -- Trials HD and Trials Evolution -- are coming bundled together in a PC "Gold Edition."

Every map, mode and feature from the two Xbox Live Arcade games will carry over to the PC's Gold Edition. All courses from Trials HD have been recreated using the superior physics and graphics engines of Trials Evolution. Publisher Ubisoft promises that the PC update will feature increased optimization and enhanced graphics, presumably eliminating the pop-up and stuttering issues that plague Trials Evolution on the Xbox 360.

Trials Evolution: Gold Edition is being developed by Ubisoft Shanghai with "supervision" from RedLynx, making it the first Trials game developed outside the company's Helsinki, Finland headquarters. A private beta group has been chosen to test Trials Evolution: Gold Edition, but due to a non-disclosure agreement, Operation Sports is unable to share any beta impressions.

The Trials series, which spent its first five years (2000 to 2005) as a free-to-play, browser-based Java game, last appeared on the PC platform in March 2008, when Trials 2: Second Edition introduced gamers to RedLynx's compelling brand of 2D motorbike mayhem.