Released earlier for the Nintendo Switch to critical acclaim, Urban Trial Tricky now comes to PCs and other consoles with a Deluxe Edition. We tried it out on a PlayStation 4.
Urban Trial Tricky was developed by Tate Multimedia, who previously gave us Steel Rats, which we consider to be an underrated title that you should definitely have another look at. While that game also featured a 2D perspective, motorcycles and a fair bit of daring stunts, their new game is much closer to the likes of OlliOlli, Joe Danger and, of course, Ubisoft’s Trails series. Games we still enjoy booting up to see if we can push ourselves to go that little bit faster or to just have fun experimenting, so we were curious to see if this one could ignite that same kind of spark.
One area in which Urban Trial Tricky is different from the titles mentioned above is that you’re not just tied to going left-to-right, but you can also turn around and nab some more points by going the other way. This is something that (without emphasizing the trick aspect) was also in Steel Rats, and it’s nice to see the feature in a Trials-like game.
Scoring points is more important than getting a good time, and doing so involves performing combos so that you can string different tricks together. Levels often have side challenges that you want to go for as well, so if you want to unlock everything it’s not a completely freestyle experience. We brought up OlliOlli earlier for a reason though, because just like that 2D game this one also feels inspired by the Tony Hawk games with its tricks, combos and objectives. And yes, you’ll wipe out a lot, but the challenge level is mostly just right.
One area in which Urban Trial Tricky does borrow from Ubisoft’s example is rider and bike customization, letting you unlock and purchase a wide range of sometimes silly outfits. If you’re into that kind of thing then you’ll also be happy to know that the deluxe edition also gives you a number of these items right from the start as well.
Urban Trail Tricky’s audiovisual style is much closer to games like Joe Danger than to the Trials series, with a cartoon-like style that tricks you into thinking this is more casual a challenge than it really is. As with Trials, the toughest challenges here are ones we might not ever master – and that’s no problem, because we have the same issue with the Trials games and still adore them. The controls could be a little tighter in places though, but perhaps that’s just because we’re still getting used to a control scheme that focuses more on button presses and timing than on balancing.
One area where Urban Trial Tricky could have definitely been better is in its lack of multiplayer options. This is a single player experience, where it would have been a blast to play in a split screen multiplayer setting. Not being able to play with a few friends in a local multiplayer setting is a shame, and taking turns to see how well you score doesn’t really count. As a single player experience, however, this is the most fun we’ve had in the genre since Joe Danger 2 was released.
Score: 7.7/10
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