Trials Frontier is a great game. No really it is, don't believe all those "hate reviews" out there in the wild. Trials Frontier offers a satisfying experience and it gets more Trials-y the more you play.
There is no point on hating a game that is free. Yes Trials Frontier is a free game which everyone can download. Sure it has a freemium aspect to it, but more on later. By now you might have read other "critics" reviews for the game, but just don't believe them. I've read them and I have to tell you that most of them didn't even spend at least an hour with the game. I have played it for more than 15+ hours and I enjoyed it quite a bit.
On the Appstore there's a ton of Trials knock offs, some are good but some are just plain awful. Trials Frontier is what you would expect a true Trials game on iOS to be, if you spend some time with it. All of the elements that made the original and Evolution great are present in Frontier, but again you need to spend time with it. I know, I know I've used "spend time with it" quite a few times, but that is the case with Trials Frontier. You'll have to play for some while to get things going. Once you reach that point, the game is quite fun.
Hardcore Trials players will feel totally at home with Frontier and the same can be told for the newcomers. Four buttons: gas, brake, lean right, lean left and that's it. The controls are super responsive and you really need that to get that gold medal or beat that "boss" or score that perfect landing. Great physics also help a lot. The tracks are short and the early ones are relatively easy, so you'll not get that Trials "fail a gazillion of times before winning" vibe. But later in the game, 7+ hours in, you'll unlock tracks that are difficult and oh boy, you'll feel that Trials vibe! In the end Trials Frontier is extremely close to it's big brother, Trials Fusion, you just have to keep playing for a while to get to that.
Trials Frontier has also some sort of a story running in the background. But it's not really that important even though the dialogue is funny at times. It only serves as a way of explaining the challenges you are tasked to do that range from just finish it to finish without failing or collect a specific part or pull off X number of backflips/frontflips in under Y time. Once you complete the mission or challenge, there's a wheel of fortune mini-game where you have to spin it and if you are lucky enough, it will stop on the part you need to complete the challenge. Completing challenges earns you XP, cash, blueprints and sometimes gems.
The more you play, the more stuff you unlock. New tracks, new bikes, new upgrades, new quirky characters and new challenges. There's a ton of content already in the game and I believe more will be added in the future. It also ties in with Trials Fusion where completing tracks in Frontier unlocks cool stuff in Fusion and vice versa. Another fantastic thing is the iCloud syncing meaning that you can have the same save on your iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch which is an amazing feature.
Now here's the part you might not really like, the freemium part. First, it has what I like to call the "bullshit energy mechanic" (trademark pending :P). Yep, to race a track you'll need up to 7 fuel and maybe more as you progress along the way. That sucks, we all know that. Sure your fuel slots expand as you level up and you can buy more slots using gems, but still, it sucks. Second, be prepared to play the same tracks over and over again, not just because many challenges take place in the same tracks, but also cause you will have to get that specific part needed for a challenge in the wheel of fortune and you'll have to be really lucky to get it in the first try. Third, the upgrade system well, it takes a lot of time to upgrade the bikes, up to 8 hours and maybe more as you progress.
Fourth, the IAP or the in app purchases. Yes the infamous gems are present in Trials Frontier, but luckily enough it's not a "in your face" situation. Yes, you can buy gem using real money to speed up your progress, but you can also earn them in game. Later in the game, if you complete challenges given by the characters, you'll earn up to 10 gems which may help shave some time off the upgrade time. But you also have the chance to win 5 or 7 gems everytime at the wheel of fortune, you just need to be extremely lucky! I wish there were some other ways to earn more gems, like share a stat once a day and earn some gems or I just wish Ubisoft gave us gems for free every day, I don't know, I'm just spitballing.
Presentation is fantastic. Trials Frontier has a cartoony artstyle that works extremely well with the whole Wild West/Frontier setting for the game. The tracks are beautifully designed, with vibrant colors, great textures and fantastic parallax backgrounds. It also runs really well, no issues whatsoever and surprisingly enough it hasn't crashed once for me.
Bottom Line
Trials Frontier is a great game. It has a ton of content, even though you'll have to grind through the same levels many times, still it is an extremely pleasant experience. It plays fantastic, controls perfectly and looks really good. The freemium stuff sucks... a lot, but hey the game is free so there's no excuse to not give the game a try! Thanks for reading
