Lonely Mountains: Downhill - Effective in its Simplicity

      Lonely Mountains: Downhill is surprisingly effective in its simplicity. You start at the top of a mountain and you downhill bike to the bottom. It’s simple and uncluttered both in its graphics and user interface and the controls are intuitive and responsive.

      What I really love about it though is the sense of inertia as you really feel the difference in momentum when accelerating or braking, freewheeling downhill or dropping a short distance. You skid when turning suddenly at speed, a short sprint is necessary to cross some gaps and you thud painfully when hitting an obstacle.

      The ‘Explorer’ mode when you first unlock a new trail feels very relaxing to play – you descend the mountain at your own pace getting a feel for the environment. Surrounded by calming depictions of nature and employing the use of a purely diagetic soundtrack (the whistling of the wind, chirping of birds and spinning of your spokes accompany your ride) you enter an almost zen-like state whilst playing.

      Later on you are given various challenges to complete whilst descending which forces you to make more risk versus reward choices: do I sprint more to get a faster time or ride more carefully so as not to hit an obstacle and have to restart from the last checkpoint? Do I go for that cheeky off-road shortcut at the risk of dropping too far down or smacking into a tree?

      The way that the viewpoint is set up does sometimes mean that you are riding towards the camera and can’t see what’s coming until it is too late (be it a sharp bend or an obstacle), however if anything this encourages you to learn the course a bit more rather than just purely rely on your reactions. Pro-tip: liberally use those brakes!

       Lonely Mountains: Downhill is a game which keeps what it does simple and in doing so manages to do it extremely well - making it a really fun experience to play.

3rd June 2020