Beat the whole game to get the whole game
When Ubisoft announced earlier this month that it was running a skill-based promotion where players could win a copy of Trials of the Blood Dragon, it seemed like a neat idea. Don’t get me wrong — Trials of the Blood Dragonisn’t a very good game, but free things have a certain allure to them, especially when you earn them.
Now, the day has come to test your mettle and try to clear the trial with fewer than 15 faults. To see what levels were included and to attempt the feat on my own (despite really not wanting another copy of this game), I downloaded the demo. I was met with this screen:
If I’m reading this right, the entirety of Trials of the Blood Dragonhas to be cleared in fewer than 15 faults in order to win your free copy. You have to beat the whole game to get the whole game. Otherwise, the demo just reverts back to being an ordinary demo. That wasn’t the impression we got upon learning of this offer two weeks ago.
I’m comfortable asserting that almost no one is going to make good on this challenge — certainly no one who hasn’t already played on another platform. It’s not because you’re bad at Trials; it’s because Trials of the Blood Dragonisn’t a tightly-controlled experience like the other Trialsgames. It’s unpredictable and relies more on frustrated perseverance than technical excellence. In many ways, it’s the antithesis of a Trialsgame. You’ll end up with more than 15 faults on either of the two jetpack levels alone.
So stash away any ideas of “Yeah, I’m good at Trials! I can totally do this!” You probably can’t. This isn’t a good-natured, well-intentioned challenge from Ubisoft. It’s a ploy to get the game on your PC in hopes that you’ll like the early levels enough to pay for it.