Back in 2013, the original Blood Dragon roared its way into gaming legend. A spin off of Far Cry 3 and using its game engine, it served as a tribute to every 80s action film and science fiction pop culture reference and simply won over all who played it. With a kick ass sound track and lead hero, Rex ‘Power’ Colt, a Mark IV Cyber Commando Super Soldier, voiced by the icon that is Michael Biehn, it built a huge following that each year since has pestered and begged Ubisoft to do a sequel to it. At E3 2016 during the Ubisoft Briefing, a surprise announcement was made that answered those prayers….well almost. Fans were gifted with the immediate release of the sequel, but it was not what fans had expected yet, Trials of the Blood Dragon was born!
Trials of the Blood Dragon is a merger of Trials Fusion and the tone, style and universe of the original Blood Dragon. I like many fans was left scratching my head at the above trailer as the first was a FPS and played like a Far Cry game. So the notion that the sequel would now use the Trials game series as its basis was unexpected. But it was the sequel so I was genuinely keen to get my hands on it despite not being a huge fan of the Trials series.
Trials of the Blood Dragon (or ToBtBD from now on) is a single player story campaign that uses Trials gameplay to tell the story of Roxanne and Slayter, the teenage children of Rex Colt and Dr Darling, who at the end of the first Blood Dragon became an item. Set years after the first events and now in 2019, we learn that Dr Darling went missing during their childhood and that Rex Colt was slain in battle in Vietnam 4. The kids are Mark VI Cybernetic Super Soldiers themselves and following in their father’s footsteps, jump straight into the war to avenge their father.
The story campaign consist of 27 story missions set in different locations from Vietnam, Miami, Space, Mars and even Hell itself. Each location has a different theme and uses the Blood Dragon style of visuals, power rock soundtrack and cultural references which has now shifted to the 90s to tailor for the age of the twins. It all certainly has the look and feel of what made the original Blood Dragon such fun but the change in gameplay is still the main focus of this sequel.
As you can see from the gameplay above, you take turns in controlling each of the twins who have very different styles of gameplay. Whilst both have riding skills, it is Slayter who is the main specialist rider of the two with Roxanne the stealthier on foot action hero twin. The riding is very much of the precise Trials mechanics where navigating course full of hazards and obstacles against the clock and dominates most of the gameplay in TotBD. Utilising many of the techniques found in Trials Fusion, the levels can range from very basic and easy to manage tracks to very complex tracks later on which I found to be very frustrating and at times broke me out of the game experience but after plugging away and being patient I was able to complete the track, even if the number of faults I triggered were embarrassingly high for that completion.
The use of Trials to base TotBD on will be off putting to many as Trials is really about skill in being able to manage control of the bike both in positioning it into and out of hazards and mastering throttle control and knowing when to use speed and power for the level you are on. Trial and error really is the key to learning the different levels and for his reason each track has a generous checkpoint system and pressing B will reset your position to the last checkpoint you passed or you can press select and restart the whole mission. You are graded and scored for how well you complete each level and your results are placed on an online leader board to compete with the community or friends. The compulsion to improve your time, score and grade will have you repeating the missions or at least returning to them later to see if you can do better and with 27 story missions alone, that is a lot of gameplay to have. But the world of Trials is not as accessible as the FPS style of the first game, so it was a really nice surprise to find that TotBD also mixes this up for the player.
Switching from bike riding to the platforming and shooting gameplay does help to keep the levels fresh. The platforming feels less precise than the bike riding and often can be a little clumsy as you make your way through the level in stark contrast to the precision needed when on the bike stages. They never feel as difficult so can end up having the sense they are more of a mini game to the bike sections but I feel they break up what at times are very frustrating riding levels and should you have a bad grade and sore in one bike section which perhaps has left you feeling a tad rubbish, these non bike stages act as a pick me up to keep your play and the story progressing.
The story is told via cut scenes before, after and during the levels and use an animated visual style keeping in tone with the Blood Dragon presentation style that won over so many. The voice acting is corny but very much in the 90s theme this sequel uses with my main criticism being that the character of Rex ‘Power’ Colt in the first game was created and executed so close to flawlessly in the first game, that the kids never really pick up that mantle in the sequel. They are fun characters, my favourite being the bras Slayter, but both lack the impact that Rex has as a controllable character. The story itself is actually longer and has more depth that the original Blood Dragon and it unfolds at a great pace as you move from the different locations and level set within them. The different gameplay styles come together fluidly to make this sequel interesting enough for fans of the original but the infusion of Trials will still put many off I fear.
I really enjoyed TotBD, I found it challenging but accessible enough with its different gameplay styles to make it fulfilling to play through out. The 90s references all work really well in introducing Roxanne and Slayter as the children of Rex Colt and the story has really clever twists and moments in it. I do wish however that the sequel had followed the FPS route, and it would have been more appealing to fans just because of the nature that Trials is as a game. I would say that TotBD is well worth giving a go for fans of the first and if you have any intrepidation over the Trails element, there is enough around it to make this game highly playable. With collectibles, bonus levels and secrets to discover and unlock, Trials of the Blood Dragon offers so much to be a good sequel but it just never delivers the same experience as the first Blood Dragon which is disappointing but not a reason to hold back on a really fun follow up.
Now I am very much looking forward to and hopeful that a third game will join and take the Blood Dragon saga forward to new heights.
