When it comes to biking games, there aren’t a lot of options on current-generation hardware. Until just recently, basically anyone that wanted to play a biking game would need to check out a game in theTrialsseries, and whileTrialsis plenty fun, some may be looking for something a little different.Lonely Mountains: Downhillis a decent alternative toTrialsthat’s just different enough to standout on its own.
Whereas theTrialsgames are known for their intense tracks, platforming challenges, and stiff difficulty,Lonely Mountains: Downhillis much calmer and laidback. The games play similarly in that they’re checkpoint-based and players have to be very careful to avoid wrecking their bikes, butLonely Mountainsputs an emphasis on actually riding a bike instead of just doing ridiculous jumps and stunts.
Lonely Mountains: Downhillplayers have four main mountains to ride their bikes on, with each mountain having distinct paths to follow. The game’s laidback nature is apparent throughout the entire experience, to the point that the game is relaxing on the less difficult paths. The art style is nice, offering plenty of pretty views to look at, and the game runs perfectly fine even when players decide to barrel down a cliff at top speed. Despite the polygonal look of the characters and the game world, the sound effects sound very realistic and the game still does a great job of immersing players.
The main goal of eachLonely Mountains: Downhillmountain path is to reach the final checkpoint, but players are encouraged to stray off the beaten path. Each path has hidden rest stops that players can find, though reaching them will sometimes require serious creativity on the part of the player. Each path is also full of shortcuts that players can utilize to shave time off their runs, though using these shortcuts is often a dangerous endeavor. Figuring out the right way to ride the bike down the sides of cliffs and over dangerous terrain adds a puzzle-solving element to the experience, and mastering all these shortcuts is very rewarding.
Shortcuts are necessary for players to succeed withLonely Mountains: Downhill’s challenges, which are actually the weakest part of the game. To unlock new tracks, customization options, and bike parts, players have to complete challenges that consist entirely of getting through a path with only a certain number of crashes or finishing a path in a certain time. These challenges only become available after completing a path for the first time, so players have to go through the same path repeatedly to unlock new ones.
Tying progression inLonely Mountains: Downhillto completing challenges brings the game’s momentum to a screeching halt. Having to replay the same paths makes the game feel stale before too long, especially if players are stuck on a certain challenge. Not to mention it takes forever to unlock enough bike parts to unlock any new bikes, to the point where it’s virtually a non-feature for the bulk of the game.
Having more variety in these challenges would have gone a long way in making them not so dull inLonely Mountains: Downhill. Unfortunately, players will be stuck doing the same thing on the same tracks so that they can progress to new paths and unlock new content. However, if one were able to just play through the paths linearly,Lonely Mountains: Downhillwould be an especially short experience, as there’s just not a lot of to the game. Even with having to repeat tracks, most players will be able to play through every path at least once within a few hours.Lonely Mountains: Downhillwas partiallyfunded through Kickstarterand doesn’t have a big budget at its back, so its lack of content is understandable, but still worth noting.
The lack of content and the progression inLonely Mountains: Downhillare admittedly big problems, but the core gameplay is fun enough that there will be those who aren’t bothered by the repetition. Mastering the game is rewarding, and players will find themselves speeding through paths that they once slowly rolled through cautiously. Memorizing where the shortcuts are is a fun challenge, and there’s also value in just ignoring the path and exploring each mountain for hidden areas. There’s the bones of a fantastic bike game here, so it would be great to see this concept expanded on in a meatier game.
Beyond completing the paths and unlocking everything,Lonely Mountains: Downhillalso has online leaderboards that players can try to climb. However, we imagine it would be much more fun just competing with friends instead of random strangers. Speaking of playing with friends, there are no dedicated multiplayer options that one might expect from a game like this, though that would have went a long way in boosting its replay value.
Lonely Mountains: Downhillhas great core gameplay, but it’s light on content and its progression forces players to deal with a lot of repetition. The game looks great, sounds great, and controls great (with a controller, anyway), so hopefully the developers get the opportunity to expand on it in a sequel.
Lonely Mountains: Downhillis available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, with a Switch version also in development. Game Rant reviewed the game on Xbox One.
